Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello all,

I'm looking for tips on keeping my capping stringers neat and tidy on a 6" Carbon pipe in the 2G position.

The problem i'm having is the bottom most bead of my cap just does'nt sit down right, it's reasonably convex in appearance and the bottom toe of the bead does'nt really look like it's blended/burnt in well enough, by putting in a poor first stringer bead i'm not giving myself a chance to make the cap look good, i've tried a slight weave, a straight drag and everything in between, i'm also having trouble controlling the puddle, Root, HP, fills 1&2 are all fine, i also have no trouble in the 5G position, it's just the 2G that's kicking my ass at the moment! any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

P.s. Forgot to mention, i'm using 6013 on DCEN @ 104A and i'm leaving 1-2mm of a "land" so the bottom bead of the capping run can sit on it rather than filling out flush before i cap.

6013? On pipe?

Try it DCEP. The puddle will quench much faster and stay where you put it. 6013 is a common AC (60hz) rod, but isn't too picky about +.-, or AC.

Steve S.

Otto Nobedder wrote:6013? On pipe?

Try it DCEP. The puddle will quench much faster and stay where you put it. 6013 is a common AC (60hz) rod, but isn't too picky about +.-, or AC.

Steve S.

Thanks for the reply, I'll give it a go.
I'm capping @104A on the negative, what would be a ball park Amps for capping on the positive??

Now that you mention it, I wouldn't be surprised if you don't end up around 115A.

Let me know how it goes, as I've never used 6013 for a pipe weld.

Steve S.

Otto Nobedder wrote:Now that you mention it, I wouldn't be surprised if you don't end up around 115A.

Let me know how it goes, as I've never used 6013 for a pipe weld.

Steve S.

Had a go today but in the 6G position, i ran it at ~106A, i seemed to have a little more control over the weld pool but at the cost of a lot of penetration(maybe a little too much), you could really see it gouging out the bevel and previous stringer beads.
I think i will try it on the + for my hot pass and fill runs and switch it to - for capping and see how that goes.