Thanks for the response. Were these welds always back gouged or were they sometimes left as open roots?

A company has contacted our school looking for welders and sent a copy of the WPS that they use to qualify welders and it calls for 7018 open root, fill and cap. This is the first open root 7018 procedure that I have encountered. Is this a common WPS that I somehow overlooked because I have been hav...

Cutting with compressed N2 will help, but grinding disks are probably cheaper! Every little bit helps, though. Do you have a good dryer in line to eliminate moisture/compresser oil? Also helps to use a new tip, and set the current low enough to drag the dip directly on the aluminum (say, 40-50A? sl...

You said side bend test so I am assuming the plate was 1" thick or thicker. It is important to know which part of the weld failed, ex. lack of fusion with the base metal, root pass, or something in the middle of the weld because of how the passes were stacked in. With a face and root bend test,...

It was most likely a teardrop caused by dipping the tungsten in the molten pool and then the tungsten sucks up the parent metal. My students keep the path to the grinder hot when first learning to tig. Cut or snap off the teardrop and resharpen and keep your clearance as uniform as possible. And eve...

Usually 6010's will perform just fine with moisture that is present in the air (in NC anyway). To help your learning curve, keep arc force at 30% and try a crescent motion )))))))))))))))))) or a D motion DDDDDDDDDDDD (overlapping of course) or a circular motion and work on keeping your beads straig...

Steve, I have to agree with you on some welding classes. Not just misinformed but dangerous. I taught agriculture mechanics in high school for 32 years and tried to help with the welding curriculum across the state but we had so many old timers who would not change. Now I am an old timer but I am st...

Alexa is spot on about watching the end of the rod because the toughest part of sticking a root pass in is judging how far to stick the rod in. Just for fun I have had some of my students lower the plate and put the root in from the bottom while watching it from the top. It gives a different perspec...

You are exactly right about the spool and drive roll tension. I have reduced both and it has solved most of the problem. Having a student slam down a spool of wire and breaking the spool is a problem I have not been able to deal with successfully. But I am thinking that the price difference for the ...

If Jody does a root pass with stick it will probably not be with 6013. You will never run into a WPS that calls for it in a open root because it is not allowed for any code level work that I have ever heard or read about. 6010 or 5p or 5p+ or cellulose rod is called for in all of the open root codes...

I teach at a community college part-time (I'm retired) and our dept. head places orders and we order whatever the lws can get us the best deal on. Cheap wire on a flimsy plastic spool can cause feeding problems because the sides of the spool will flex out and the wire will jamb into the crack. We ar...

I would weld it downhill if at all possible. If it must be welded uphill then you will probably have to trigger the gun. I have a co-worker who can get a stack of dimes look by triggering the gun.

Kevin

How thick of metal are you planning to weld? 180 amps is really high for stick, but I have found that amp settings can be subjective according to the shop/power supply/welder that you are working with. I would recommend something like the Millermatic 212 or something similar from one of the other ma...

There is a reason why so many people use 75/25 gas and ER70 S-6 or 3 wire when GMAW welding....................it works. It feeds well and if you are on some really thin stuff you can trigger the gun.

Kevin

I jamb a root pass in. Keep the rod at 90* and stick it straight in. Sparks should be coming out the back of the root or inside if it is pipe and it will make a different sound than other welds. Save the whip for the hot pass.

Kevin

Pin holes often happen when re-lighting a partially burned 7018. 7018's do not have a lot of arc force and take a second or so to get warmed up. If the welder has hot start then turn it up. If not then long arc the rod for about one second and then settle in to weld. File the end of a partially burn...

Your problem is not arc blow. If a 7018 looks like it is gouging the base metal ahead of your puddle then your amps are too high or your arc length is too long or both. Tighten up your arc length (if needed) and turn your amps down. Except for your amps it should be welded like a flat weld, just inv...

What scares me is the fact that 6013's are being used in a welding school situation. Even when I taught welding as a part of ag. mechanics I eventually got ac/dc welders and a 50 lb rod oven for 7018's. I have a couple of horror stories about equipment being welded together with 6013's.

6013 is listed as a general purpose rod and it has always been popular because it is easy to weld with. A lot of teachers who teach a shop class where welding is just a part of the class like to use it because of their skill level or not having experience with other rods. Small buzz box welders are ...

Depends on the equipment you have available to you. If you have a saw that will miter the corners then I would go that route. If not then do what you have to do. Notching is more time consuming but can be done. Overlapping looks like crap and the bottom will not be level. If fit is critical, be care...

DCEP-reverse polarity-used for almost all DC SMAW (stick welding) because the electrode is consumed. DCEN- straight polarity-used for almost all DC GTAW (tig) because the electrode is not consumed. Straight and reverse are confusing terms that are finally being left out of a lot of welding literatur...