what do ya think of this weld

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 02-14-2008 00:02

I think you should break it and see if there is fusion at the root.

When you discover there is not.

Try loosing the fancy whips (unless they are a requirement) and run a straight bead.

Those pretty ripples are pretty tough to integrate with good fusion at the root when your short circuiting.

By the way... It looks beautiful and shows you have very good gun control

By Kix

Date 02-14-2008 13:35

Yes like Lawrence said, you have a good eye with good control. The weld looks pretty cold and probably doesn't have good root penetration and is probably lacking in the fusion area in some places. The mill scale will hinder your root penn and fusion especially when you're running a bit cold. Does that little machine have anymore umpFFFF to it? Crank her up some more if it does. If the actual stuff you will be welding on is thinner then that then you might be ok where you are.
If you want to whip or do circles then you will know you have it set right when you can stack your ripples a lot closer and they don't crown up on ya.

By Fredspoppy (**)

Date 02-14-2008 13:28

I might suggest that you grind the plates, to remove the mill scale, prior to welding. To illustrate the benefit, I like to have the welder grind 1/2 of a ~6" long plate and then just run a straight stringer bead down the full length. When you transitiion from the unground to the ground areas, the bead will wet out and look much better. It is really obvious when running stick electrodes, like E7018, but makes a big difference with all welding processes, especially with GMAW in short circuit mode.

I agree with the previous comment, in that you need to make a more continuous movement with the torch.

Both suggestions will aid in assuring adequate root penetration.

Good luck.

By Sourdough (****)

Date 02-14-2008 14:03

Everybody is right. Turn your heat up and your wire speed down. You'll get good penetration that way.

By jesusno2 (*)

Date 02-14-2008 17:02

unfortunetley the miller 35 is not really much for power that was on the #4 setting and 65 on the wire feed speed i was testing to see how the 030 wire ran in it i'm gonna crank it up full bore and try it again without the whips. seems to me like with straight co2 if kinda flutters alot on the higher amprage for some reason.

By aevald

Date 02-14-2008 17:19

Hello jesusno2, when you "crank it up" as you put it, you are going to be a little bit closer to the transitional point for globular transfer as opposed to the short circuiting transfer, this is likely why you are seeing a "fluttering" or feeling that it isn't welding very smoothly. At the higher settings with the straight CO2 you will likely end up with much more erratic spatter and also not see a nice even weld pool forming. If you have any welding books or get a chance, google " modes of transfer for GMAW" you may get a pretty good explanation of the differences that gas changes and arc voltage can make with regard to weld pool behavior. A little bit of food for thought. Best regards, aevald

By Kix

Date 02-14-2008 18:05

Is the #4 setting on the voltage the highest it will go? I'm not farmiliar with the controls on the miller 35.

By aevald

Date 02-14-2008 18:20

Hi Kix, I believe that his machine goes up to a #6 setting, I also believe that Lawrence made some references in regard to this particular machine a while ago saying that it was basically designed for short-circuiting transfer. It's been a while since I've been around this particular machine but I believe the upper-end operating volatage that it is capable of isn't enough to achieve spray, yet it is likely to be able to either operate in the short-circuiting or globular range. Just my $.02 Regards, Allan

By jesusno2 (*)

Date 02-14-2008 18:49

ok here was just a straight pass on # 5 heat range with no fancy whips in the modifyed gun positon(which is what i like to use. agin with co2 gas and the same wire speed.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/jesusno2/weldmiller35.jpg[/IMG]

By Fredspoppy (**)

Date 02-14-2008 21:23

Lots of improvement over the first example.

By Kix

Date 02-14-2008 21:31

Looking real good man!! Look at how the toes (edges) of your weld dish smootly into the base material. Thats what I like to see. Keep an eye on your contact tip to work distance. Keep it as close as you can to where you can still see what your welding. This will give you optimum performance. Grind you cup back if you have to. I like my tip to be flush with the end of the cup and even sticking out past it for open root butt welds. Keep up the good work.

By Stringer (***)

Date 02-15-2008 04:32

My boss is a sucker for the first weld because he's so swayed by 'esthetics'. (His word). If I've got to hang off a building by a cable attached to one of those plates then I'll take weld #2 every time.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 02-15-2008 09:05

could not have said it more eloquently than that stringer!!!

If you want to work it and put in those pretty laps you will have to use a lot more heat and basically be "pushing it thru" it is not necessary to make a good straight wire weld...and in the end it wastes wire and taxes the machine more. The weld you showed second is how you get it done. I would go a tad hotter tho with the same amount of wire.

By MDG Custom Weld (***)

Date 02-15-2008 12:01

If he is so swayed by the looks, do a break test example for him and I'll bet you can sway him the other way.

Take the first part you showed us and fold the weld over on top of itself showing the root of the weld. Just put it in a vise and crank it down, or clamp it to a table and beat it down with a hammer. I'm sure you will see the perfect triangle shape of the weld bead, and no parent material tearing away.

Now take the second part and do the same exercise. You should be able to demonstrate that with the lower output machines the whip is just putting more wire on top of the puddle, and not digging into the base metal. The part where you just turn it up and weld it straight should show better penetration and side wall/ root fusion.