Thank yall. I appreciate the info. I have to say that this is the most informational site out there and I am very happy I stumbled upon it!!

If you dip your tungsten in your puddle, does it automatically leave a piece in there or does the tungsten actually have to break off to be seen on X-Ray

Yeah I am about a hour from LaPlace in walker. My kids live in Metairie.

Lol, thanks Steve. It is for Ohmstede this particular job is at the DuPont plant in LaPlace.

The test this morning turned out to be a 2" XXH 6G tig root, tig fill and 7018 cap. Thanks to Jody's videos I nailed it!! The first coupon was supposed to be tig all the way out, then one with a tig root and hot pass. But the root and fill passes were.good enough that the inspector told me to j...

If it is allowed I would run stringers on the cap with fluxcore. I have welded a lot of it and I find that if you set your voltage and wire speed correctly you can simply.drag the weld around the pipe and it comes out slicker that a baby's butt. I'm not saoying that you aren't doing great, but it lo...

I am scheduled to take a 6G GTAW/SMAW test in the morning to start running some turnarounds. I am not sure whether it is going to be 2" or 6", but I plan on following jody's instructions to a tee bc this is something I want bad. I have been welding for the most part of 17 years, but for th...

sorry you busted out but how can anyone take and pass a test if the joint spec calls for a chill ring and they plumb ran out but had you take it anyway???[/quote] Not having the chill ring wasn't a big deal. I thought it was going to be though. I just butted the coupons up and ran the first pass li...

Interesting about the remote. I generally weld my caps with a 3/32 7018 (not sure of the conversion to mm but I an guessing it is 2.0mm) at about 100 amps, with a smooth side to side motion. For 6-8 sometimes I sweep ahead a little onto the bottom of the coupon. Like a slight / motion instead of jus...

Pretty much what I thought. Do you think 85 amps are too much for 3/32 309L on 2" sched 80?

Slag is always more difficult to remove in a fillet, in any position. It "keys" into the corners, as well as any undercut present. While you're practicing this (you'll develop your own technique with experience), for a fillet in the flat position, I'd hold a rod angle of 30*, not 45 (30* ...

We don't do a lot of 7018 open root pipe here in the states, but from what I can see it looks like a nice root. What was your gap set at? You were using a remote like a thumb control with stick? That is kind of weird. As for as the 6010, yes it is a fast freeze cellulose electrode. It is really quit...

Recently I busted a 2" sch 80 6g welded with 309 stick. It was supposed to have a backing ring, but they were out of them, so I just butted it up. I was using 3/32 rods and running about 80-85 amps. I took a similar test a few years back and passed it with flying colors. I just can't for the li...

Seems like arc force/dig control is more useful when rooting pipe with 5p+. Due to the fact that the rod has a tendency to snuff out when burning inside the pipe.