Welding Tips and Tricks

Greetings,

My employer dropped a bomb on me today. Next week they are sending me out to take a weld test. SMAW 4G Stainless Steel 316L-16

Unfortunately, the only stainless steel certified welder got fired this morning and now the urgency is on me to get certified.

I've never ran a bead nor struck an arc with stainless steel rods but I'm determined to pass this test on the first try.

Any helpful hints or tips would be greatly appreciated. I don't like flying blind like this but my employer really isn't giving me much of an option. LOL.

I thought 7018 was a carbon rod. Not that it won't stick to SS but in my limited knowledge I've never heard of a test for 7018 on SS.

I am probably wrong. I know the rods are for stainless only. I believe the proper designation is 316.

I hope to find out some more details today.

I'll snap a picture of the actual box of rods.

You will be fine. 316 and 309 stick isn't terrible. Jody has a vid on it. It feels sluggish. And the slag looks foamy to me when your getting a good bead. Don't get in the habit of relighting the same rod odds are starting out it will leave slag inclusions. 316 stick is susceptible to that even in the best situations. This is the rod that you definitely want to be wearing a respirator for! And keep good ventilation.

Not sure if I'll be running these same rods for the test but will be using them on the job. And being that I work outside, ventilation isn't an issue.

Thanks for the reply. I'll look for more videos after work today.

SS Stick has a narrower "plastic" range than CS.

What I mean is that it is easier to get too much heat in a SS weld, and have it suddenly drip out on you. I typically run an SS rod about 10% lower amperage than the same size carbon rod. Be very fast across the middle, and hold on the toes, as that "watery" nature of SS makes it easier to leave inclusions if you're not back on the other toe fast enough.

A wire wheel in your grinder is your friend... slag from SS rods can be particularly stubborn in corners, and you have less chance of cooking it out on a subsequent pass because of how fast everything is happening. If you're allowed to grind between passes, do it.

Your employer is going to need you to pass this, and should be willing to give you practice time, so take full advantage of it.

Good luck!

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:SS Stick has a narrower "plastic" range than CS.

What I mean is that it is easier to get too much heat in a SS weld, and have it suddenly drip out on you. I typically run an SS rod about 10% lower amperage than the same size carbon rod. Be very fast across the middle, and hold on the toes, as that "watery" nature of SS makes it easier to leave inclusions if you're not back on the other toe fast enough.

A wire wheel in your grinder is your friend... slag from SS rods can be particularly stubborn in corners, and you have less chance of cooking it out on a subsequent pass because of how fast everything is happening. If you're allowed to grind between passes, do it.

Your employer is going to need you to pass this, and should be willing to give you practice time, so take full advantage of it.

Good luck!

Steve S

Unfortunately, I have no practice time before the test unless the school let's me run a few beads to get familiar. I cannot use the SS rods at work as they are an expensive commodity according to my Supe. So basically I am flying blind and hoping for the best.

This construction project is already over budget and 2 years behind schedule.

Maybe I can sneak a few rods from the workshop and practice in between pipe jobs.

As long as you focouse on the basics arc length, angle, and travel speed you will be ok. Remember what Steve said about amps and the slag. You will do fine.

Easy10pins wrote:Greetings,

My employer dropped a bomb on me today. Next week they are sending me out to take a weld test. SMAW 4G Stainless Steel 316L-16

Unfortunately, the only stainless steel certified welder got fired this morning and now the urgency is on me to get certified.

I've never ran a bead nor struck an arc with stainless steel rods but I'm determined to pass this test on the first try.

Any helpful hints or tips would be greatly appreciated. I don't like flying blind like this but my employer really isn't giving me much of an option. LOL.

Is this an open root plate test? If it is then I think its very hard to do it without any practise.

Svetsare wrote:

Easy10pins wrote:Greetings,

My employer dropped a bomb on me today. Next week they are sending me out to take a weld test. SMAW 4G Stainless Steel 316L-16

Unfortunately, the only stainless steel certified welder got fired this morning and now the urgency is on me to get certified.

I've never ran a bead nor struck an arc with stainless steel rods but I'm determined to pass this test on the first try.

Any helpful hints or tips would be greatly appreciated. I don't like flying blind like this but my employer really isn't giving me much of an option. LOL.

Is this an open root plate test? If it is then I think its very hard to do it without any practise.

I don't believe it will be open root and we will be testing with 308 or 309 stainless rods.

Ok, then it aint so bad test to take, but still it would be better if you could do some training before the test.
I wish you luck and hope you nail it.

FAIL!

I went in with high hopes and expectations but in reality, I wasn't ready for this test. Not in the least...

- perhaps it was not having welded anything in the 4G position in the last 5 months.

- perhaps it was not being overly familiar with the SMAW stainless steel process.

- perhaps it was my employer for firing the only welder certified in SMAW stainless steel, then rushing the 2 remaining welders into a cert. test having offered no preparation for the test.

I'm not sure how to feel about this. On one hand, I'm a welder. Albeit a brand new welder to the field - I should be able to adapt and adjust to the material and filler metal. On the other hand, I've never welded with SS before. All preceding cert tests were successful due to weeks of practice to dial in everything. For my SMAW plate cert, I practice for a full week, failed the first test, practiced another week and nailed it without issue. The same for my SMAW pipe cert.

I drove 3.5 hours after a full day of work, slept, woke up early only to fail and drive back grinding my teeth the entire way wondering if I failed or the entire situation was SNAFU from the beginning.

Gentlemen, I thank you for the advice and thank Jodie for the tips and tricks. At the end of the day, the King and the Pawn are back in the same box and here I sit with a tumbler of Macallan 18 on the rocks to celebrate - simply because I can.

It's going to be interesting tomorrow morning at work as a cert. welder is needed and neither of us (the 2 welders who failed this morning) can complete the necessary task.

Good night, sweet prince.

Easy10pins wrote:FAIL!

I'm not sure how to feel about this. On one hand, I'm a welder. Albeit a brand new welder to the field - I should be able to adapt and adjust to the material and filler metal. On the other hand, I've never welded with SS before. All preceding cert tests were successful due to weeks of practice to dial in everything. For my SMAW plate cert, I practice for a full week, failed the first test, practiced another week and nailed it without issue. The same for my SMAW pipe cert.

I drove 3.5 hours after a full day of work, slept, woke up early only to fail and drive back grinding my teeth the entire way wondering if I failed or the entire situation was SNAFU from the beginning.

Gentlemen, I thank you for the advice and thank Jodie for the tips and tricks. At the end of the day, the King and the Pawn are back in the same box and here I sit with a tumbler of Macallan 18 on the rocks to celebrate - simply because I can.

It's going to be interesting tomorrow morning at work as a cert. welder is needed and neither of us (the 2 welders who failed this morning) can complete the necessary task.

Good night, sweet prince.

Well, no one enjoys failing a test but under your circumstances they didn't give you much of a fighting chance.

I'll give you credit for recognizing that you weren't prepared (not your fault) still this can be a learning experience.

"In failure keep your head up, in success keep your head down"

If you never fail it's probably because you aren't stretching to find your true capabilities or limits. You must push beyond what you know to learn something new and to figure out how to improve.

I am more than certain that if I had the chance to run some plates, to understand how the SS filler metal flows so I could adjust my settings, body position and such, I would have had a successful test.

Even with the few root passes I made this morning, I learned a bit but I could not recognize why things were going wrong nor reconcile my errors.

I'm more determined to complete this certification... If my employer allows it.

What rod did they have you use for the test? 309

LtBadd wrote:
"In failure keep your head up, in success keep your head down"

Wise words. In failure, keep your head up to see the next opportunity. In success, keep your head down, as you're now a target for those who didn't succeed."

I had reservations about this test without preparation, but I didn't share them. Encouragement was what you needed. We've all busted a test. Anyone who hasn't, hasn't taken many.

This is not your fault; an employer who has a real need should have the wisdom to allow practice time. I was allowed ten hours practice just to re-qual for my ASME, because as the only code welder in the shop, I had to pass.

Steve S

Poland308 wrote:What rod did they have you use for the test? 309

316L-16

Otto Nobedder wrote:

LtBadd wrote:
"In failure keep your head up, in success keep your head down"

Wise words. In failure, keep your head up to see the next opportunity. In success, keep your head down, as you're now a target for those who didn't succeed."

I had reservations about this test without preparation, but I didn't share them. Encouragement was what you needed. We've all busted a test. Anyone who hasn't, hasn't taken many.

This is not your fault; an employer who has a real need should have the wisdom to allow practice time. I was allowed ten hours practice just to re-qual for my ASME, because as the only code welder in the shop, I had to pass.

Steve S

I appreciate the encouragement. I had reservations too but put my game face on regardless.

It will be interesting how my employer handles this tomorrow.

I do believe it was a setup.

Although my superintendent apologized for the hail mary pass of a welding test they set up, it seems this whole ordeal was more about teaching the new superintendent a lesson.

Had the new guy not be so hasty to fire the only welder with a stainless steel cert. we wouldn't be in this predicament.

Now there's rumor the company is trying to hire the guy back even though he's already found a new job.

This place gets more interesting every day.

I do not like being played as a pawn in company politics. In your place, I'd be suspicious of anything I was asked to do outside my routine, for quite some time.



Steve S