Welding Tips and Tricks

I am welding a support onto a trailer. The support is a section of pipe that is about 4 inches long and thickness of 3/16 in. welding it onto the side of the trailer frame with pipe end to frame. I am new at this and have used hobart wire and max voltage and speed of wire at about 6. The wire does not hold and will just pull loose. No penetration. Please help. What should I do?

Hi there,

Holy crap man, get some one to teach you before you weld anything that could mess someone up. Get a welder to do this job. grab a spare shiedd and watch real close. Its easy to weld but you need to been shown a few pointers otherwise you can head of in the wrong direction.

Mick

Thanks for nothing. Obviously I need help and I thought that was what this forum was for. Not so from your opinion. Must be only for those who know how to weld and therefore is of no use at all.

Mick is right. Get someone who knows what he/she is doing. It would be highly irresponsible to give someone who knows little to nothing about welding advice on something that may alter the structural integrity of a vehicle frame and therefore put lives in danger.

rwlowhorn wrote:Thanks for nothing. Obviously I need help and I thought that was what this forum was for. Not so from your opinion. Must be only for those who know how to weld and therefore is of no use at all.

Don't think anyone was bustin' your balls.........Obviously your welds are not working for you. All the explaining here is only goning to get you so far. best to learn the right way first hand!!!

Hi there,

First off. My most sinceer apologies. I didnt mean to put you down. As you said this is a site to help people. Even complete noobs, learn about welding.

How ever, As you are new to welding, you really must practice on scrap before attempting any project. And if at all possible get some one who knows how to weld to look at your practice welds and give you some pointers.

As for the welds not bonding as you said, the machine may not have enough power for the material that you want to weld. And if you have not be shown how to manipulate the torch correctly, the molten metal just washes over the base metal. This is called lack of fusion or "cold lap" This can also be caused by having too much wire speed, a poorly fitted joint or a incorrect welding angle. All these things really need to be shown first hand as they cannot be adiquately explained over a forum.

So please keep practicing, seek some one on one advice and please please please keep coming back to Welding Tips And Tricks because it is a site for everybody from the greenhorn to the seasoned pro.

Again i apologise if i sounded arrogant and i hope i havent put you off the site or, god forbid, welding in general.

Kindest regards
Mick

This is more a question than an answer - Are cold laps/lack of fusion defects in short-arc welding more common if the steel is anything other than cleaned to bright metal before welding? Wondering about welding over steel that might have black scale, galvanize or paint on it?

I am more familiar with stainless or nickel alloys where a clean surface is important.

Kinda sounds to me like the polarity is wrong for the wire.

Steve

[quote="James Kelly"]This is more a question than an answer - Are cold laps/lack of fusion defects in short-arc welding more common if the steel is anything other than cleaned to bright metal before welding? Wondering about welding over steel that might have black scale, galvanize or paint on it?

Yes, anytime you are dealing mill scale, galvanize or paint you should grind it off if possible. You will be able to burn through lite mill scale but usually when you are working with thicker material ie plate or thick piping its to thick and will mess up your welds, can cause lack of fusion, porosity, under cutting. Galvanize can be welded through but can cause porosity in the welds and I recommend getting a respirator cause that stuff is nasty to breath. Paint can cause porosity, as well not running smooth because sometimes it will not ground properly and again wear a respirator or do it in a well ventalated area cause it stinks.

[quote="rwlowhorn"]I am welding a support onto a trailer. The support is a section of pipe that is about 4 inches long and thickness of 3/16 in. welding it onto the side of the trailer frame with pipe end to frame. I am new at this and have used hobart wire and max voltage and speed of wire at about 6. The wire does not hold and will just pull loose. No penetration. Please help. What should I do?
I agree with mick. You should definetely get someone who can teach you proper techinque before doing a project like that, someone teaching first hand is the best way to learn so you can watch what they are doing and see the puddle. As far as the no penetration goes, not knowing what machine you have, I am going to guess that if your machine is maxed out on the amps, the machine is not powerful enough to weld the material you are trying to weld. If you are using 110v welder on 3/16 that is definetely pushing the machines limits. If you flip the cover of the machine and look at the chart on the inside of the panel it should tell you if you machine is capable of welding that thickness of material. If you see that thickness of material is on the chart than use the settings for that material. But again try and get someone to show you first hand.