Welding Tips and Tricks

If u have not read my intro I'm from Australia and currently doing a boiler maker fast track course
Got stick, mig, flux core and oxy down pat pretty well.
Looks consistant, and have at least 90% root fusion. (Not bad for welding a couple months I recon)
(We only do open root welds in my class)
Just having trouble atm doing 2g tig (btw all flat plate)
Doing this on low carbon steel (mild) 6mm thick (just under 1/4")
45deg bevel 2mm land and gap.
Can get the root down pretty well just filling up is a pain. (Hot and cover/cap)
Using 2.4mm lanth, #6 cup, 12lpm argon/co2.
Our filler wire is quite thin, can't recall dia, will find out in a couple hrs.
Going to get new mask covers today as mine are getting little worn.
No gas lense kit with a stick out of less then 1/4"
Very tight arc! Aprox 1mm
Would be less than 22.5deg electrode angle
Tip of rod always shielded, well almost always.
Help!!

Is there an actual problem you're having?

Everything was sounding pretty normal until you got to the part about shielding gas. Are you sure you are using argon/co2? Straight Argon is the norm here this side of the pond.

Let us know and then we can give some suggestions

Jody


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Ok so the main prob is that it looks like ass lol
Bead stacks on cover don't sit over each other properly as when I do a 1F
Yes def using 75/25.
Ran out of 100% argon yesterday and had to use what we had around.
I'll have to take some pix when I get to school.
Could be just that I need practice, or I'm now thinking that electrode is too pointed.
Will try a flatter taper today.
Could even just be that I can't view as well as I should, hence getting new clears for my mask today.
I'll have to try and see if the filler rod has an aws number on it too, as I don't know this might be a problem??

My friend....

You cant be using 75/25 ar/co2.....

If you are, you are in serious trouble.... Where's your instructor???
That is like using gas in your diesel engine....
Get that 75/45 ar/co2 bottle off that welder, and REFILL YOUR 100% ARGON BOTTLE!!!!

Then if your still having problems, we might be able to help.

Not until.

~John

Lol instructor lol
Our teachers (and I use this term loosly) aren't like the ones in the USA.
We pretty much have to figure it out our selves.
They for the most part are useless.
When equipment goes down I end up fixing it coz I'm not waiting a week to do what I need to do.

I thought 75/25 would be fine for mild steel and pure argon was more an alluminium gas.
Well ya learn something every day.
I'll see what I can organise.


Btw there is a gas system for Diesel engines
Uses both at same time.
Called D-Gas

Drifta-X wrote:Lol instructor lol
Our teachers (and I use this term loosly) aren't like the ones in the USA.
We pretty much have to figure it out our selves.
They for the most part are useless.
When equipment goes down I end up fixing it coz I'm not waiting a week to do what I need to do.

I thought 75/25 would be fine for mild steel and pure argon was more an alluminium gas.
Well ya learn something every day.
I'll see what I can organise.


Btw there is a gas system for Diesel engines
Uses both at same time.
Called D-Gas

Wow!
I'm shocked!!
Everything Tig welded is with 100% argon.
You don't have anyone supervising you guys, making sure everything is correct??

~John

That's y I joined up here.
Was having root issues on stick till I looked on here and found the whip pause method.
Told the "teacher" and got a stupid look.

Asked one teacher to show me alloy mig.
"Err I don't weld alloy"
I was like, your a boilermaker, u weld everything!
No wonder there are students struggling.

An "Attaboy" to Jody for spotting the 75/25.

It's not true that "only" 100% argon is used in TIG, but the mixes are specialized for a particular purpose. 75/25 is horribly bad for TIG, because of the percentage of active gas. (No, CO2 is not inert).

Get back to argon, and let us know if you have further troubles.

Steve S

Your right Steve, I just didn't want to get to confusing, talking about all the special blend....

Drifta,
I just cant believe these "instructors" are doing there job...

I'm glad you joined here, and we're here to steer you on the right track....

~John

I'll agree I'm in adelaide doing my welding courses and you are told to do 2f and you pretty much have to figure it out on your own, same with other positions and materials

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Rob,
you should only be using 100% argon for what you are doing now. If you have not got any, stop welding - you won't achieve anything except waste time and put spins in your head. Do something else until you get some. Good time to prep up some bevels for later.
You say your wire is thin. You should be using 2.4mm filler for this joint. We use 1.6mm only as a stop gap when we run out of 2.4 for 6mm plate. Its not good for your learning process to use the wrong wire.

Is all this going on at a TAFE/SkillsTech college?

Sounds like you are doing very well regardless. Your going to get good help here, let us know how it goes when you get some argon.

Fill rod is aws er70s-4
1.6mm

Thats the good stuff but too thin. Any of the ER70S- fillers will do. See if you can scrounge some 2.4mm wire.

When I was learning, I had difficulty with the cap sagging in the 2G position. My teacher got me to do a stringer with 2.4mm wire on the bottom 2/3rds of the cap and a second stringer with 1.6mm wire to fill in the top. This worked pretty well for me until I learned to control the sag with one capping pass. Many people use stringers for the cap all the time and is a very acceptable method, whatever works best for you is the right way.
The second pass you should be able to fill the joint right up to flush with the one pass using 2.4mm wire and weave motion with the torch..

Drifta-X wrote:Help!!

http://www.ckworldwide.com/technical_specs.pdf

Download the manual (above) "Technical Specifications for Tig Welding" from CK Worldwide's website. It is a total of 8 pages. After printing this manual myself, I put the sheets in page protectors and then placed them in a 1 in. binder (25mm). While out in the shop, I have a quick-reference to refer to if needed.

The manual covers: Tig torch connection diagrams, Characteristics of current types for gtaw, Shield gas selection and use, Tungsten selection and preparation, Tungsten color code and proper torch use, Typical manual gtaw parameters, and Troubleshooting guide for gtaw.

Also, the chart below shows the amount of weld penetration achieved, depending on the included angle the tungsten is ground to.

Well I got it done today, once I put a new clear on my mask and ran argon I was all good.
Had some porosity issues, but that was due to students not shutting the entry door and the possition of my bay.
Shielded my bay with some cement sheet and all went smoothly!!