Welding Tips and Tricks

Today I was welding some thin wall tubing, .075" counting rust inside and paint outside, to a 3/16" base. I tried my new 3/32" 6013 Lincoln rods. I could get a nice looking weld for less than an inch before blowing through at 70A. At 65A I couldn't keep slag out of the way and was getting inclusion. I tried both polarities. I used more rod angle than usual and tried to direct heat towards the thick base wash the weld up on the tubing. Running my Everlast 210STL.

Gave up and went back to my Fourney 3/32" 6011. I could run those at 45-50A with arc force at 0%. Never ran low arc force with these before which was different. Nothing pretty but I got ok welds and finished the project.

Other than bringing it home and Tig welding it, what else should I have tried? Obviously I need more experience with the 6013.

Sounds like rod angle and arc length issues. I'd point the rod straight into the joint and have very little drag. With a 3/32" rod, you shouldn't need to whip up.

But you also need to remember, the heat will rise to the top edge of the weld on your tubing, so some interrupted welds are not unreasonable to expect. You didn't indicate the OD of the tubing either?

Tubing was 4" x 6" rectangle. I knew I would leave something out.

Thanks for the response. I'll find some thin stuff and try different rod angle and arc length. I'm a complete nubbie at 6013. Just tried it because I had read it penetrates less and can used on thinner panels. It would be nice to have the skills for the next project.

So it was likely 0.062" not counting rust and paint. Part of the reason you were burning through. 5/64" E6013s @ 55-60A is what I would have used.

v5cvbb wrote:Today I was welding some thin wall tubing, .075" counting rust inside and paint outside, to a 3/16" base. I tried my new 3/32" 6013 Lincoln rods. I could get a nice looking weld for less than an inch before blowing through at 70A. At 65A I couldn't keep slag out of the way and was getting inclusion. I tried both polarities. I used more rod angle than usual and tried to direct heat towards the thick base wash the weld up on the tubing. Running my Everlast 210STL.

Gave up and went back to my Fourney 3/32" 6011. I could run those at 45-50A with arc force at 0%. Never ran low arc force with these before which was different. Nothing pretty but I got ok welds and finished the project.

Other than bringing it home and Tig welding it, what else should I have tried? Obviously I need more experience with the 6013.

i'm surprised you could do it with 6011 and not 6013. 6011 is usually a lot more aggressive and burns through.
without seeing pics, my guess is lack of travel speed, to long of a run and just over heating the thinner tube.
electrode negative normally helps with thin stuff.

have you got a link to the 6013 rods?
there is such a wide variety around that you need to be a little careful when selecting them.

tweake wrote:

v5cvbb wrote:Today I was welding some thin wall tubing, .075" counting rust inside and paint outside, to a 3/16" base. I tried my new 3/32" 6013 Lincoln rods. I could get a nice looking weld for less than an inch before blowing through at 70A. At 65A I couldn't keep slag out of the way and was getting inclusion. I tried both polarities. I used more rod angle than usual and tried to direct heat towards the thick base wash the weld up on the tubing. Running my Everlast 210STL.

Gave up and went back to my Fourney 3/32" 6011. I could run those at 45-50A with arc force at 0%. Never ran low arc force with these before which was different. Nothing pretty but I got ok welds and finished the project.

Other than bringing it home and Tig welding it, what else should I have tried? Obviously I need more experience with the 6013.

i'm surprised you could do it with 6011 and not 6013. 6011 is usually a lot more aggressive and burns through.
without seeing pics, my guess is lack of travel speed, to long of a run and just over heating the thinner tube.
electrode negative normally helps with thin stuff.

have you got a link to the 6013 rods?
there is such a wide variety around that you need to be a little careful when selecting them.

Lincoln Fleetweld 37. I tried to link to website twice and failed.

I didn't buy them for this project, but it's what I had with me. It shows 70-95A. I know I couldn't get them to run for me at 65A. I think the only reason 6011 worked was because I could weld at 45A with arc force at 0.

Yup, those pesky 6013s do have a lot of slag so running them low is not always a good measure. If you had pulse you would have been able to weld them with about 80A because pulse cuts the average amps down.

Oscar wrote:Yup, those pesky 6013s do have a lot of slag so running them low is not always a good measure. If you had pulse you would have been able to weld them with about 80A because pulse cuts the average amps down.

I would have bought that HTP with pulse but it wasn't dual voltage. Sweet little machine otherwise.

I see now that the 5/64" 6013 would have likely helped. Thanks.

v5cvbb wrote:

Oscar wrote:Yup, those pesky 6013s do have a lot of slag so running them low is not always a good measure. If you had pulse you would have been able to weld them with about 80A because pulse cuts the average amps down.

I would have bought that HTP with pulse but it wasn't dual voltage. Sweet little machine otherwise.

I see now that the 5/64" 6013 would have likely helped. Thanks.

You can "make it" dual voltage by using it on a voltage transformer.

That limits the portability though.

It does weigh 2x more than the welder, lol.

v5cvbb wrote:

tweake wrote:

v5cvbb wrote:Today I was welding some thin wall tubing, .075" counting rust inside and paint outside, to a 3/16" base. I tried my new 3/32" 6013 Lincoln rods. I could get a nice looking weld for less than an inch before blowing through at 70A. At 65A I couldn't keep slag out of the way and was getting inclusion. I tried both polarities. I used more rod angle than usual and tried to direct heat towards the thick base wash the weld up on the tubing. Running my Everlast 210STL.

Gave up and went back to my Fourney 3/32" 6011. I could run those at 45-50A with arc force at 0%. Never ran low arc force with these before which was different. Nothing pretty but I got ok welds and finished the project.

Other than bringing it home and Tig welding it, what else should I have tried? Obviously I need more experience with the 6013.

i'm surprised you could do it with 6011 and not 6013. 6011 is usually a lot more aggressive and burns through.
without seeing pics, my guess is lack of travel speed, to long of a run and just over heating the thinner tube.
electrode negative normally helps with thin stuff.

have you got a link to the 6013 rods?
there is such a wide variety around that you need to be a little careful when selecting them.

Lincoln Fleetweld 37. I tried to link to website twice and failed.

I didn't buy them for this project, but it's what I had with me. It shows 70-95A. I know I couldn't get them to run for me at 65A. I think the only reason 6011 worked was because I could weld at 45A with arc force at 0.

i suspect you went cold and slow, which causes work to overheat.
you need to run them fast enough to keep ahead of the slag. to run fast enough you need to run hot enough.

one of my early practise pieces was welding 1/16" or less wall thickness square tube to itself with 3/32" rods.

Tweake, you are likely right. I did try to move a little quicker to prevent it overheating and then I failed to tie into the tubing. I'm sure it can be done, just not by me yet. It's obvious I need to work on my thin material skills. It's something I find I need to be able to do regularly, though not this thin.

Thank you to everyone that commented. I'm here to learn. Welding is just a hobby for me but I try to use it anytime I can.