Welding Tips and Tricks

Greetings all,

Does anyone have any helpful tips in regards to SS SMAW?

I need to test in about a month.

3/8" 304 stainless steel plate test, 3G and 4G positions using 308L-16 electrodes.

My boss was kind enough to order me a test coupon kit from www.trieng.com. 3 coupons with backing strips so I can run some mock tests.

Help a brother welder out. My job depends on it.

Thanks and stay safe....

Stainless MMA/Stick/SMAW, in those two positions in particular, is a delicate balance of heat control and travel speed. In Europe, they've gotten quite smart about it, using a remote (pedal or hand amptrol) to regulate heat input. The North American user is relegated to using travel speed to control heat input. It's super-easy to get a spot too hot, and have your puddle simply drip out on your toes. You must stay alert to the width of your puddle; This will tell you the relative heat input versus metal temperature in front of you.

My two cents. I always had a challenge with the welds you're testing, and never did get enough practice to master them.

Steve

I've done about 10# of 316. And a little more than that of 309. It feels watery. It takes a while to get used to the slag as well it looks spongy when your welding. Like tig on aluminum there's a fine line between welding ok and then having everything just drop out. I have a real hard time with slag inclusions on vertical up or 6 g on pipe.

"Watery" is an excellent description, Josh.

In my first attempt, that was what I observed; The transition from "This is going well," to "This went to hell," is a fine line.

Steve

Well damn, perhaps I should talk with my PM and maybe run a different process like FCAW.

The project I'm working on is inside a 120 foot shaft. I'll be welding stainless steel brackets on the walls to hang scaffolding. I'll be working inside of a man cage suspended by a crane. Fun fun fun.

Those are the jobs you never forget. Take your time don't let others rush you. If you don't like the look of a weld grind it out till you do. Other people's safety rely on it. Jobs like that are the ones you get extra respect for not having rework. Don't worry about the fact that every person who goes down the scaffolding after it's installed will be eye balling your work while saying things like ( I could have done a better job then that) !


Oh! And become one with the basket. Work the sway into your weave.

Fcaw on stainless is pretty similar to regular steel (imo). I've never done stick on stainless, but have done a bit of fcaw. It was no big deal.

Easy10pins wrote:Well damn, perhaps I should talk with my PM and maybe run a different process like FCAW.

The project I'm working on is inside a 120 foot shaft. I'll be welding stainless steel brackets on the walls to hang scaffolding. I'll be working inside of a man cage suspended by a crane. Fun fun fun.

That does sound like fun,

Hopefully you can throw some pictures up here of that.

For sticking S.S It is very true what's been said already, very fine line there.

I find that whipping the rod occasionally as it starts going south can help keep the heat input accectable and not blob out on you. Other than that, I would assume you are pretty well versed in what you are doing,.

Olivero wrote:

Easy10pins wrote:Well damn, perhaps I should talk with my PM and maybe run a different process like FCAW.

The project I'm working on is inside a 120 foot shaft. I'll be welding stainless steel brackets on the walls to hang scaffolding. I'll be working inside of a man cage suspended by a crane. Fun fun fun.

That does sound like fun,

Hopefully you can throw some pictures up here of that.

For sticking S.S It is very true what's been said already, very fine line there.

I find that whipping the rod occasionally as it starts going south can help keep the heat input accectable and not blob out on you. Other than that, I would assume you are pretty well versed in what you are doing,.

All I can do is practice and run some test plates to get comfortable enough to get certified but at this point, I don't feel comfortable taking this cert. test for SMAW.

Even with the practice, I keep reaching that fine line between HELL YEAH and OH F**K.

I'll take my PM out for beer and bowling this week and push the FCAW idea instead.

Easy10pins wrote:

Olivero wrote:

Easy10pins wrote:Well damn, perhaps I should talk with my PM and maybe run a different process like FCAW.

The project I'm working on is inside a 120 foot shaft. I'll be welding stainless steel brackets on the walls to hang scaffolding. I'll be working inside of a man cage suspended by a crane. Fun fun fun.

That does sound like fun,

Hopefully you can throw some pictures up here of that.

For sticking S.S It is very true what's been said already, very fine line there.

I find that whipping the rod occasionally as it starts going south can help keep the heat input accectable and not blob out on you. Other than that, I would assume you are pretty well versed in what you are doing,.

All I can do is practice and run some test plates to get comfortable enough to get certified but at this point, I don't feel comfortable taking this cert. test for SMAW.

Even with the practice, I keep reaching that fine line between HELL YEAH and OH F**K.

I'll take my PM out for beer and bowling this week and push the FCAW idea instead.

Why not get super serious and propose to TIG it?

Because who likes tig welding in a hole suspended by a crane.

Running a compressed gas cylinder or even a hose down in a hole requires even closer monitoring of air quality. I'm not sure what kind of shaft he's going to be in but unless it's a pipe open on both ends with good ventilation I'd be cautious. But even the ss stick has requirements for ventilation because of (hexavelantchromium) not sure of the spelling.

I would love to TIG in a hole suspended by a crane, sounds like serious fun.

Hexavalent chrome is dangerous in any case, TIG, MIG or stick.

You could get the PAPR ( i think is how its spelled) with the new Panoramaxx helmet and THEN you'll be good to go

Or the Miller version or 3 M or whatever, maybe that's not enough or maybe you hook a hose to the intake of the fan shooting your air in there and just make sure your buddy up there is not a prankster.

Poland308 wrote:Running a compressed gas cylinder or even a hose down in a hole requires even closer monitoring of air quality. I'm not sure what kind of shaft he's going to be in but unless it's a pipe open on both ends with good ventilation I'd be cautious. But even the ss stick has requirements for ventilation because of (hexavelantchromium) not sure of the spelling.

Well, considering argon is heavier than air, and the amount he is using, I would assume it would be allright.

Long hoses man, that's all I gotta say, could be done. But whatever is best for him, I would just take it all the way

Here's a pic of the 120ft shaft.

Haven't touched a TIG torch in over a year but I'm good to go with SS FCAW with Tri-Mix. I'm not too concerned about ventilation but will keep that in mind when I pull the trigger for the first weld.

(if you have trouble viewing the image, right-click and open in a new tab)

Easy10pins wrote:Here's a pic of the 120ft shaft.

Haven't touched a TIG torch in over a year but I'm good to go with SS FCAW with Tri-Mix. I'm not too concerned about ventilation but will keep that in mind when I pull the trigger for the first weld.

(if you have trouble viewing the image, right-click and open in a new tab)

DUDE! That looks like so much fun

I LOVE vertical work, and always have. Maybe I'm an adrenaline junkie, maybe I just like being comfortable with stuff that scares the crap out of everyone else. The most fun I've had working was at altitude...

Steve

Otto Nobedder wrote:I LOVE vertical work, and always have. Maybe I'm an adrenaline junkie, maybe I just like being comfortable with stuff that scares the crap out of everyone else. The most fun I've had working was at altitude...

Steve

One day I want to weld something, hanging upside down, and while roped off the side of a building.

One of these days, and I will make sure to get pictures of it

Olivero wrote:

Otto Nobedder wrote:I LOVE vertical work, and always have. Maybe I'm an adrenaline junkie, maybe I just like being comfortable with stuff that scares the crap out of everyone else. The most fun I've had working was at altitude...

Steve

One day I want to weld something, hanging upside down, and while roped off the side of a building.

One of these days, and I will make sure to get pictures of it

The ones that get iffy are when there's nothing to hang from and your to high for a lift and too far for a crain. So you climb out on the pipes your welding on.

Olivero wrote:

Otto Nobedder wrote:I LOVE vertical work, and always have. Maybe I'm an adrenaline junkie, maybe I just like being comfortable with stuff that scares the crap out of everyone else. The most fun I've had working was at altitude...

Steve

One day I want to weld something, hanging upside down, and while roped off the side of a building.

One of these days, and I will make sure to get pictures of it

I've done it ...a lot of it...one time I was underneath a Big ol I beam W 20 or somethin like that. I had to weld the thing together and then fishplate it...full pen welds all the way around. So there wasn't enough scaffold material for the scaffold builders to build a scaffold but this thing had to get done last week. So I hang there by my Drings and do this. When I got to the bottom the helper I had with me asked what my plan was for this part of the adventure. I told him we need a heavy sling and a leather jacket or 2. So I hung under the beam and laid back flat, and told him to throw the sling under the beam and my shoulders and my head and tie it together to hold me up. He tied my feet up around the top of the beam and laid the leather on my belly and chest. Tied my skid lid to the beam in case it would fall off my head with my trusty fibremetal hood on it. 3 hours or so later I was done and very sore and tired

Ok, after weeks of practice I think I have a handle on SMAW SS but the stops and starts are going to be my downfall.

I can't cant restart like other rods: strike an arc ahead of the bead and drag it start as that will put a lot of garbage in the weld that will/may surface once I start the next bead. Unless I'm wrong.

I do stainless pipe welds all the time and I strike my arc just where I want to start welding, stainless rods work like that, with 7018 I start ahead like you do.
I also travel fast at the beginning to get my starts look smooth if you travel same speed at the start as you do on rest of the bead you get that ugly lump at the start, that you have to grind off.

I hope you can make any sense I am trying to say here, I am very rusty on writing english

FAILED once again.

I took the 3G/4G stainless SMAW test again today and both pieces ended up breaking my heart.

I will not attempt this test again.

Perhaps this is a sign for me to move on from this current gig and expand my welding knowledge more with another company.

SS smaw can be a mother! Don't give up if there willing to pay you to test

Poland308 wrote:SS smaw can be a mother! Don't give up if there willing to pay you to test

You're right, SS can be a mother. One spec of slag can ruin your day. Overhead I long-arced for a nanosecond and it was enough. It left a nice little pocket with a piece of slag. 3G, it was my tie-in which looked good on the surface but the heartbreaker broke it.

The company paid for the previous test. I paid for today's test. We are over budget and behind schedule so I doubt my company will pay again. Although it's cheaper to keep me as a contractor will charge $75+ an hour for what SS needs to be welded.

Unless the company wants to pay for another test, I'm not going to bother anymore with it. With the minimal amount of welding left at this project, I'm not sure it's worth for me to stay and NOT be welding.