Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey all, I got a Zeny (cheap) flux core welder awhile back and I've been trying to learn how to do some basic welds with it on steel. Recently, I bent the neck of my tow dolly and need to replace the bent section of steel with fresh tube. I have been practicing all day at doing some basic welds and getting my settings/technique dialed in. I ended up with a test piece that looks like what is attached. It's a bit spattery, but to my untrained eye it looks decent enough... it certainly holds (as you can tell the one piece bent long before the weld even thought of giving up - I beat on it while it was in the vise.) Also those extra passes are just some test passes I did before the fillet weld.

Any general tips from those better than me out there? Any obvious worrying signs?

(1/8th inch thick, 2" wide strap steel was used here for reference)

Honestly they look cold. But that’s to be expected if your working with the cheap end of the fluxcore machines.

If the grading was similar to school I wouldn't give you a fail, but would probably give you a D, below average.

as above, cold. not enough amps for that thickness.

have you got a model number for the machine or specs?

if your going to work on anything important, like a tow dolly, then throw flux core welder away and get a decent mig or frankly a stick welder. a stick welder is much better to learn with and for doing small bits its much easier and quicker.

lordcupkake, just for having the balls to post up pics of your welds on your 1st post, I give you a 4/10 for the welds, but +3 for having the balls to post up pics without anyone asking! The collective welding world can be so cruel on cold welds, ask me how I know So your combined score (for now) is 7/10 because it shows you really want to improve your technique and are willing to receive and and all criticism. Now crank up that heat, and get more practice welds under your belt!

Like Oscar said...kudos for being brave enough to post pics!

I'm not an expert, but other than the already mentioned fact that they look cold, it looks like your travel speed changed as you went along. The ideal is to have your voltage and wire feed set just right for the travel speed you're using. If you go faster or slower the settings really need to be tweaked a bit.

Before you start a bead do a dry run with the torch to make sure you've got the proper torch angle, are reasonably comfortable, and nothing will get in the way to slow you down or snag on your glove, shirt, etc. It makes a big difference if you can rest the support hand on something and slide along....trying to just freehand the torch doesn't work well (in case you're doing that).

Thanks to everyone who has posted a reply! This has helped steer me in the right direction definitely. I have dont some more practicing since (and installed a dedicated circuit so I never have to worry about blowing the breaker anymore...). I believe I have gotten notably better since the original post.

Things I tweeked:
-more heat
-lower wire feed speed
-more consistent motion
-shorter stickout distance
-i got a halogen light that is bright enough that I can see where I'm starting to weld much better

Here would be a couple examples of my welds after a bit of practicing. Once again, to an untrained eye they look a lot better and the slag come off much more like it's supposed to. If anyone has any more tips based on these photos let me know!

Also as someone pointed out above I am considering picking up a stick welder at some point I've heard different people say they are good to learn on so I might go grab a used one of those Lincoln AC225's that everyone seems to have.

lordcupkake wrote:Also as someone pointed out above I am considering picking up a stick welder at some point I've heard different people say they are good to learn on so I might go grab a used one of those Lincoln AC225's that everyone seems to have.

It's very useful to have, but see if you can find a DC one. DC is sooooo much nicer.

With a name like lordcupcake, you have either never worked in a welding shop or you DEFINITELY work in a welding shop. Not a lot of in between there