Welding Tips and Tricks

HI CAN ANYONE HELP I ALWAYS NEVER PUT ENOUGH WIRE INTO THE WELD POOL GIVING ME A FLAT RUN OR A RUN THAT IS SUNK OR MISSED EDGES BUT WHEN I AM WELDING IT ALWAYS LOOKS ENOUGH WIRE WHAT AM I DOING WRONG

Sounds like your not putting enough filler in the pool. Solution-Put more filler in the pool.

THAT'S MY PROMBLEM WHEN I LAY THE FILLER WIRE INTO THE GAP IN THE PIPE AND START TO FEED IT IN I CAN'T TELL HOW MUCH WIRE I PUT IN OR HOW LITTLE HAS GONE IN I ONLY LOOK AT THE WELD POOL AND WIRE IS IT MY SPEED OF TRAVEL THAT IS GIVING ME A FLAT RUN ON THE INSIDE OF THE PIPE

Switch to a larger diameter filler rod, or practice feeding in the smaller diameter filler wire more aggressively. The more quickly you can melt filler rod into the molten weld puddle, the more the puddle will cool down and not grow so large.

Also, holding a tighter arc (closer arc to work distance) will focus the heat more and concentrate the heat into a smaller area, and not let the puddle spread out as wide. It may be a matter of developing the right timing of when the puddle is the right size for depositing filler

If you let the puddle grow too wide for the material thickness, you can have over penetration which would leave the front side of the puddle flat, and a big blob hanging down on the back side. You may also be on the verge of blowing a big hole through your work.

cheers guys for the tips gonna start getting that rod pushed through

I know I had the same problem when I started tig'n, specially with stainless and aluminum. All I did with stainless is tap the rod into the puddle twice instead of once before movin forward, and with aluminum, I just filled that sucker more than I thought it needed, and everything started to come together. Thats why I said you probably just need to fill the puddle a bit more. Do a joint, note pen, then next time when you think youve added enough, add just a bit more and see if that helps ya.

does anybody know if you can get tig finger outside of america or get it delivered

Do a search on the forums, there was a thread about it about a month or so ago, maybe inthe tig forum or general shop talk forum.

You said that you were laying the wire downin the grove. That leads me to think that you were running the wire over and not pickin the wire up and dabbing it in the puddle. Those other posts are right on. Keep your filler rod free slow down and dab more in the puddle. Don't lay your wire down in the and run it over. good luck...Practice, Practice, Practice:)

If your doin the lay wire technique try usin a thicker diameter wire.

Same problem with me. Thanks for this posy. As I also get some instruction from here.

hotmetal wrote:HI CAN ANYONE HELP I ALWAYS NEVER PUT ENOUGH WIRE INTO THE WELD POOL GIVING ME A FLAT RUN OR A RUN THAT IS SUNK OR MISSED EDGES BUT WHEN I AM WELDING IT ALWAYS LOOKS ENOUGH WIRE WHAT AM I DOING WRONG

Tig welding can be a bit confusing at times. Sometimes if you are concentrating on getting fusion and penetration, the actual apperance of the weld can suffer. If you are not bound by a specific number of runs, ie in the weld procedure, dont be afraid to put in another filler run. Then worry about the cap. The cap should be put on when the groove is very nearly full. I was told around 1-1.5mm deep, because you dont want much weld metal flowing around on this last pass.

Remember, its not the size of the runs its the number of runs. If you try to lay in big fat runs you could end up with lack of fusion.

Hope this helps.