Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi Jody

I have seen a lot of line pipe welded downhand using 6010 5P. The pipe is typically relatively thin 1/8" wall material - pretty close to structural steel. Typical is a very narrow open root done with a smaller rod and a single hot/cover pass with 1/8" rod. The resulting weld is about 3/32" proud of the parent pipe, shows almost no ripples and has an angle of +/- 60 degrees to the parent pipe at the edge of the bead. Typical inspection requires 10 - 20% X-ray inspection - no Ultrasonic. No grinding is done except on the tieins. The pipe is prebevelled at about 45 degrees with a 1/32"? land. The weld are is "buffed before the root pass, between passes, and after inspection with a knotted cup wheel.

I am interested in the settings and rod techniques required to do this, but can find no videos nor BBS threads that detail this process.
Thanks,
Cam

Jody just did a 6010 6g uphill whip n pause pipe test, this weeks video check it out @
http://www.welding-tv.com

The 6g position test video used TIG for root. This means different position and different process. Interesting, video, but does not answer the requested specs in the original post.

Thx

Hey

Ive seen lots of videos of down hand pipe, but none on such thin material, What is the pipe used for?

Mick

Believe it or not, the pipe is almost standard 3" & 4" gathering line for oil and gas wells in North America. The line is rated for a maximum operating pressure of 1000 psi if I recall correctly. Most pipe like that is jacketed with a plastic coating over a thin tar base. The ends of the pipe are left bare from the factory and the weld and bare pipe is covered with heat shrink sleeves after the x-ray inspection is done. I seem to recall a minimum of 10% xray inspection for sweet gas (no or minimal H2S) up to 100% for sour service (with higher levels of H2S). Some standards go to a 6010 root and 7018 cap for higher MOP, larger pipe, or high H2S. After the xray inspection, the line is pigged by pushing a drift sized pig through it to ensure there isn't any boogers too far inside from excessive penetration. After the xray inspection, pigging, and the sleeves are installed, the pipe is "jeeped" or inspected for coating holidays before being lowered into the trench (4' burial depth is typical). After burial and backfilling, the line is pressure tested by displacing to water or freeze proof fluid and pressured up to 125% of MOP. After a successful test, the test fluid is urged and the line is put into service.

There are lots of interesting other details like bored road crossings and cathode bed installation, but I digress...

camdigger wrote:The 6g position test video used TIG for root. This means different position and different process. Interesting, video, but does not answer the requested specs in the original post.

Thx

My link takes you right to a 6g, 6inch, 6010 pipe test, not the specs you were describing though.

John

Hey,

Thanks for the info, learned something today.

Mick

AKweldshop wrote:

camdigger wrote:The 6g position test video used TIG for root. This means different position and different process. Interesting, video, but does not answer the requested specs in the original post.

Thx

My link takes you right to a 6g, 6inch, 6010 pipe test, not the specs you were describing though.

John

Yes, you posted a link to 6010 uphill whip and pause. Right rod, wrong direction.

camdigger wrote:

AKweldshop wrote:

camdigger wrote:The 6g position test video used TIG for root. This means different position and different process. Interesting, video, but does not answer the requested specs in the original post.

Thx

My link takes you right to a 6g, 6inch, 6010 pipe test, not the specs you were describing though.

John

Yes, you posted a link to 6010 uphill whip and pause. Right rod, wrong direction.

Good luck finding a 6010 video with as good of arc shots as Jody's, I'll keep my eyes open for a utube video tho.
John

I'm sure I've seen one - watched so many on Utube I can't remember for sure who uploaded it -but it's worth looking through the video's of that guy with the collection of like every model SA200 from the 1940's on.

here's his UTube channel... good stuff!!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/FieldRes/videos

noddybrian wrote:I'm sure I've seen one - watched so many on Utube I can't remember for sure who uploaded it -but it's worth looking through the video's of that guy with the collection of like every model SA200 from the 1940's on.

I think the guys name is FieldRes. And yes he has an awesome collection of sa 200's. From what i can remember he does have some downhand 5p videos on small bore pipe. He vacated his channel but still has quite a bit up and a lot of them are worth watching.

Well, I saw some 1/2" wall 48" being welded downhand the other day. Pipe is 1/2" wall internally and externally coated carbon steel. The largest I've ever seen done downhand. I think they are using the local equivalent of 6010 downhand. There is no way to spin the pipe as they are assembling and welding in the trench. This is part of a hundred mile or so long fresh water line. Weld bead appearance on the last pass is rippled and what I would expect from 6010 on a heavy wall.

BTW, I found some 6010 downhand here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHWqMC6ykEk He is rolling the pipe to keep the weld in the 1:30 to 3 o'clock position though. He is not welding in position as the pipeliners do.

I looked at Field res's stuff. I've probably seen as many welds done from that far away as the young fella has done in his life.

xAZAZELx13 has lots of downhand, in position videos on YouTube , but none have the up close arc shots that Jody has. Still, its worth checking out. They're all on the pipeline.

That guy is cool. He has answered lot of my questions.

Downhand welding is mainly found under the API1104 code and is used for mainline pipeline. The reason the use downhand is for production as it is much faster than running LoHi. 5P 1/8 is usually run between 70 and 90 amps depending on wall thickness and travel speed. Some may run hotter and some may run colder. It is not very often that you see 6010 run all the way out on a joint but it does happen. 70+ 80+ are the norm for fill and cap after the bead is done with 6010. As far as personal preference, lincolns fleetweld 5P is crap and i call it fire wire. The 5P+ is a much better rod to run for a root pass.

Arizona SA200 wrote:Downhand welding is mainly found under the API1104 code and is used for mainline pipeline. The reason the use downhand is for production as it is much faster than running LoHi. 5P 1/8 is usually run between 70 and 90 amps depending on wall thickness and travel speed. Some may run hotter and some may run colder. It is not very often that you see 6010 run all the way out on a joint but it does happen. 70+ 80+ are the norm for fill and cap after the bead is done with 6010. As far as personal preference, lincolns fleetweld 5P is crap and i call it fire wire. The 5P+ is a much better rod to run for a root pass.

The 5P has its place, its not as smooth as the 5P+, but it freezes faster for plugging leaks on the pipeline.

We run 5P+ all the way out on our grade b pipe (x42/x52). Anything higher in strength is 6010 root and a 7010, 8010, or Hippy rod out.

If anyone wants more info on downhill pipe, just pm me. I willing to help out as much as possible, downhill is a totally different animal than uphill. Gap, bevel, land, rod size, and heat run completely different.