Welding Tips and Tricks

hi guys just a quick upload of some of the work ive done.

i wanted to take more pictures but halfway through my boss told me it was a rush job so only a few pics.

these were welded more or less in the 6g position (it was an aprox 45 angle, you might notice the cap is in a different direction to the root, i rotated the pipe 180 degrees after the root to reduce distortion, but the piece was still welded in the 6g position

fixed 6g when welding left and right hands used

2" schedule 10s 304l stainless steel pipe to 90 degree elbow for a gas line.

i like my gap a bit wider than most but i use a 3.2mm gap with 53-56 amps using 1.6 wire, then 63-68 amps on the cap with a 2.4mm wire. i use a 3.2 gap simply because i like to see the pool flow into the root. plus a saw a example weld done by a welder at a big company and i took the advice he gave he and ran with it (it was one of the best ss root welds ive ever seen).

best way i can describe the technuiqe is slow down, as my mentor says "you cant rush on stainless". im still working on it as i would like a little more protrusion of the root when welding overhead, any advice ill be happy to hear from you.

any questions just ask

thanks guys

Moose,
Again fine job, not many faults to find there. You'll only get better with time and with the short time you have been doing this you seem to be well ahead of the curve. Great work, keep it up.

Len

P.S. I talked about it a little in a earlier post, it's not always favorable to have a lot of protrusion on the inside of process piping. It causes eddies in the flow and depending on what's in the pipe it can cause etching of the weld and pipe. It's usually best to check with the customer on this.

Moose,

I can't find any fault with that. I'm hard-put to find any flaw there.

As Len said, inner reinforcement depends on application, as I've welded with "minimal" inner penetration as a requirement depending on flow, but I'm not your CWI and I didn't read the WPS.

That, to me, looks F'n great.

Steve S

nice job, I have been a nuclear pipe weldor , and a nuclear inspector for many year, and your welds are as good as any I have seen. Having said that, I would like point out a couple of areas that you might take into consideration; 1, excessive cover pass reinforcement. 2, excessive root reinforcement.( minor IAW the end results).again,nice job,....question, what type of purge setup and purge gas did you use on the pipe joints......... ron

Agreed, just a little too much re-enforcement inner and outer but that all depends on your WPS. Bead consistency looks good.

Any reason you didn't walk the cup? I do both just like hearing what other pipe welders reasons are.. I find walking the cup helps me slow up...

Purge set up was 15-20 cfh these pipes were quite long, I allowed it to purge for about 3 minutes.


I didn't walk the cup because I'm not confident enough to do so, I didn't want to slip and create an oxidised area. Plus to be honest I wouldn't practice to walk the cup on schedule 10 pipe and risk blowing through the root.

Rick_H wrote:Agreed, just a little too much re-enforcement inner and outer but that all depends on your WPS. Bead consistency looks good.

Any reason you didn't walk the cup? I do both just like hearing what other pipe welders reasons are.. I find walking the cup helps me slow up...

I don't walk the cup below 6" pipe. Mostly because I'm not steady anymore. My hands shake, and when I try a repetitive motion like walking I will twitch, and screw it up. (Two significant head injuries may be a factor...) I find larger pipe both more forgiving of this and easier to manage as my weld angle changes more gradually.

Steve S

I agree with that Steve on small pipes he constant diameter change can be a challenge, I wasn't criticizing for not walking the cup but some guys preach it so I always like to see why others aren't doing it....

I'm not a big cup walker under 4" either, I can actually weld it quicker going back and forth and I've had my pipes tested both ways with no issues or advantage shown. If you understand how to ensure you have proper tie in and breakdown of the edges back and forth works just fine. Sometimes Im up against a wall or structure and cant cup walk anyways...real world is sometimes stuff is in your way.

FWIW- I wouldn't have walked the cup on sch 10 either.

I have seen guys walk the cup on 1/2 inch pipe and it looks good but sometimes you can see a lump in the tie ins, I'll try and get some photos of some.


I don't do much cup walking, 90% of the work I do is schedule 10, plus If my boss sees me practicing on plate or pipe he don't like it even though I'm willing to learn it.

Moose,

If your boss gets upset when you take a free minute to practice, he's an ass, and doesn't understand how his crew increases their value.

He should be ENCOURAGING you, so you become more productive and versatile for his crew. It sounds like he's struggling to maintain control, and wants you to play along.

Good luck with that!

Steve S

Agreed...what an ass clown. My boss actually encourages me to practice and try new things, you only get better with practice.

My boss is an alright guy, it's just I want to push my skills to the limit.

There's only two welders at the company my mentor and me, before I was an apprentice there was only one welder.

My mentor can't walk the cup so I have to learn from youtube videos.

Ever since I passed my codes in tig he's not interested.