Here are a few thoughts as they rolled off my head. Excuse the ones that seem a little off. Thats just how it is for me. The nice thing about the 2" is the fact you can go up each side with one rod. No need for starts and stops.
1) Make sure you can get as comfortable as possible on your weak side.
1.5) Start in a bind, finish easy. (Added)
2) On the bottom when welding from the easy side, start up past bottom dead center to make your start on the hard side a little easier to see.
3) On the bottom, If I aint gettin sparks on me, I like it. I push the rod through and keep the arc and most of the spatter on the inside. This helps get a little mor reinforcement on the root if needed.
4) Experiment with how the rod goes in the stinger. By properly positioning the rod you use the roll of your wrists as you go around the pipe to help maintain a good angle on the rod in relation to the pipe.
5) Stick a file in the end to prop on if you need to or if it helps just a little. (Dont weld it in on the root)
6) Clean your lenses.
7) If the booth has an adjustable height, use it. Some inspectors like it set in one place. If you can set it in that "one place" make it where you are most comfortable on your weak side. If it swings, and they don't care, swing it (there nothing that says you can't but some inspectors like to improve upon the code requirements).
8) If you burn through with the 7018, I suggest you keep on truckin with a tight arc trying to fill the hole. If I ever stop, I can't get em filled with 7018 without a grinder. I keep on going and they never show up on film or they bend just fine. You cant see it on film unless it drops through. A very small weave over the root with the heat concentrated on the sides and fast across the middle will usually keep from burning through. Excess grinding on the root makes it easy to burn through. If you are allowed to grind, don't remove the ripples onless you are prepared for that burning through.
9) Stagger the starts and stops on the bottom to keep from getting them all built up in one spot. File them if you need to.
10) When filling the groove, try to stay aware of what kind of valley or notch you are creating with each bead. If you are forming a bead that will come right up to the edge of the bevel, bring it the rest of the way over to flatten it out and avoid the valley.
11) I usually end up a little low on top. I try to even it out a layer or two before capping.
12) The maximum cap on a test that thickness is usually in the 1/8" range. I usually try to max that out on pipes that will be RT'd.
13) If your beads on the cap are crooked or uneven, you can straighten them with a file or weld BEFORE depositing that last stringer. If you are allowed to file and have time.
14) Make sure you know what is required and is not allowed. All the code says is usually small in comparison with what some inspector has in his mind to make sure "ONLY THE BEST" welders make it.
15) Practice 1st if you can. If you can get comfortable and confident, its just another weld.
16) WELDITUP and let the QC man sort it out. Good bad or other, its a skill to be proud of
17) My wife, kids, dogs, horses, .... still like me even if I bust a test. All the busted tests in the world won't take welding from me.
18) If you can, use three tacks. One top, one bottom and one on one side. Then weld the un-tacked side 1st. This may open the gap on t he tacked side just a little.
Hope this helps some.
It's totally a standard test. That's one of the first test you take when you go out on a job as a pipefitter/welder. It gives you a very broad range of stick welding qualification.
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