Gentlemen,

Tommorrow I am testing for a local ASME vessell shop.  The preliminary weld test is an unfamiliar procedure and I am asking for suggestions/advice from anyone experienced with the same parameters.  The test is a dual shield fluxcore, carbon steel, pull pen, open root, V bevel on 1/2" plate in the 2G position, straight CO2, 1/16th wire.  Examination is to ASME Sec IX B.31.3 Xray only, no bends.  I do not know the wire spec. they will be using, but I doubt it will be anything out of the ordinary.  They may be trying to re-engineer the wheel, but they are not trying to develop the concept of the wheel, if you catch my drift.  Let me say, I have welded a trainload of dual shield wire in many applications.  I have held certification with it for both D1.1 and Sec. IX B.31.1, but all the full pen applications I have used it for required either a backing strip, ceramic backing strip, non-consumable insert, or a tig root/hot pass with only a wire fill and cap.  My fluxcore pipe cert. was 6G, using .045 wire and was really just a walk in the park, it is after all a forgiving weld proccess.  I have never run anything but 1/16th wire through my own LN25 off my rig so the wire size is not any great concern.  My concern is trying to use this wire for the open root pass and producing an acceptable weld.  It seems like a rather brutal. teeth clenching bit of overkill- too much heat/amperage/voltage for a root pass- but hey- what do I know.  I plan to bevel up a couple of plates today and play around with a 3/32 land and varying gaps, but I wonder if any of you guys have already slayed this bastard and can point me in the right direction.  I will have the opportunity for a "practice" weld and the chance to pick the shop gurus brains on machine settings, fitup ect. but I really prefer to present myself as the competent, sesoned journeyman I am who knows how to handle a curve thrown my way- it builds their confidence and gives me leverage in wage negotiations.  Besides like I told the recruiter, it's always been my philosophy that if you don't ace the test, don't take the job, cause they'll always be lookin over your shoulder and hold it against you.  Just call me paranoid I guess, but I don't need the extra stress.  So fellas- any pointers?  Gotta do this tommorrow BTW, so prompt responses much appreciated.  Thanks in advance.