Did you weld them non-stop from tack to cap? I think the pipe temp plays a big factor, especial on small bore.
I run 5/32 70+ at 135amps but, I haven't filled and caped with 6010 in a long time. Some of my caps look slick and some look like ass also. Just depends on the day & the amount of coffee :)
By Cumminsguy71
Date 02-19-2011 13:48
Edited 02-19-2011 13:57
I have not run much 5/32 caps but on my ranger when I was toying around seems like I had it pretty low. Think they call out 100-165 amps on the 6P+ and seems like on my ranger I would set it around 120 ish' maybe a bit more or less, just depended on how it was flowing out, how hot the piece I was welding on was. I ran some on full lengths of 6" pipe though so heat was transferred better and could run it a bit hotter with the 5P+ which runs 90-175 amps I believe is what Lincoln calls out. The days I used it they looked good(for a 6010 rod) but have to agree some days you look at your 6010 cap and think, dang! Am I good or what, other days you look at it and start looking for the guys to start wrapping it quick!! Not that it's undercut or pinholed just don't have that nice gorgeous bead.
On my 250 I'm running 1/8" 5P+ in 2nd gear, around 70 and that is start to finish on full lengths of pipe. Did some 4" 90's, 4 to 3 reducer and 4 foot section of 3" pipe connected to the hot tap at home one night to get ready for the next day and after getting things heated up had machine cranked down to 2nd gear, 55 but back out on the job it had to go back up to 65-70. On my hot pass I'll have a longer arc to help burn out the funk and be moving along pretty quick but with the cap I end up shortening the arc a bit to cool her down give a bit more puddle control then throw in a bit of a swirl. When I get a chance to play around here at the house I try all kinds of crazy stuff, hotter, colder, shorter arc, longer arc, swirl left, swirl right, whip etc., etc. Then again I'm not one to keep swapping settings on the machine, I like to get it set and roll the whole way out. Might be different if I had a remote but I don't.
Sorry, not a "pipeliner" but have run over 2000 feet of the green pipe in the last 6 months and most of the caps looked excellent, something you'd write home about. There are some though where you'd stand back and look at the welder settings, check the temperature outside, think about how you felt, am I sick? Cold? No, feel good, check welder settings again, scratch head and say, why does this cap look like azz?? Don't know if any of this will help out or not, looks like mindless babble for the most part! LoL!
Shawn