Welding Tips and Tricks

I will start with some back ground info. I take my vehicle off road. Sometimes things break and welding would be a great option. A small welder that can be run off an inverter is my plan.

I picked up this welder.




The goal is to weld with as small a rod as possible because I don't want to over load the inverter and I don't want to carry pounds of rod with me. I want a do everything set up. 1/4" material with a 1/16" rod, multi pass for sure. LoL.

I picked up a pound of 6013 1/16", because that is all I could find in that small of a rod. I ran almost the whole pound today with good results in the flat and horizontal but poor results in the vertical. I have ran 7018 1/8" vertical with no problem. All advice is welcome, start with basics like rod angle amperage, whip and pause, etc.

Here are the multi pass horizontal and flat welds.

Are you able to run 90-100amps without blowing the breaker???

I would get 3/32 7018....

My 2 cents.

~John

Yeah, you'd need one helluva inverter to run any substantial wire.
Vertical up with the little wire isn't much different than with 1/8" or 3/32".
The wire is a little flimsy though so it's harder to keep it steady when weaving
a pass. Watch it closely you can see it vibrating. lol.

Here's a thought, you got room for a second alternator? There's a lot of
plans on the web for DIY welders with a modified alternator. Then all you need
to carry is cables, rods, gloves and a hood.

I'll try some 3/32 7018 today and senjoy how it does. I think it will be too much for the little welder. I have looked at the alternator welder, but I won't give up my air conditioning to put in a welder. LOL.

blaz wrote:I'll try some 3/32 7018 today and senjoy how it does. I think it will be too much for the little welder. I have looked at the alternator welder, but I won't give up my air conditioning to put in a welder. LOL.

Those welders do better with 6011 (3/32" and 1/8") and 6013 (3/32").

Either of those rods will get you back out of the woods man.

The welder isn't particularly efficient, output 70 amps already pulls 20amps 120v at 20% duty cycle.

I wouldn't use 1/16" rods to fix equipment btw.

I tried larger rods today with no luck. The small welder pops a 15 amp breaker when welding with the 3/32" rods.

What I did learn is that supporting the 1/16" rod helps drastically. Pushing the rod into the V with force prevents the slag inclusions. This will do fine for me. I let a outlet of guys at work try it with 1/16" Rod and both of them tripped the breaker by long arcing. I never had that issue.

Why wouldn't you fix stuff with 1/16" rod? A properly done multi pass weld should be strong.

Those welds with 1/16 6013 will not keep 1/4 inch steel glued together....

Get some 3/32 6011.
Around 50-70amps....

See if your set-up can run it....

blaz wrote:I tried larger rods today with no luck. The small welder pops a 15 amp breaker when welding with the 3/32" rods.

What I did learn is that supporting the 1/16" rod helps drastically. Pushing the rod into the V with force prevents the slag inclusions. This will do fine for me. I let a outlet of guys at work try it with 1/16" Rod and both of them tripped the breaker by long arcing. I never had that issue.

Why wouldn't you fix stuff with 1/16" rod? A properly done multi pass weld should be strong.

It pops breakers because you need to run it on a 20 amp circuit for the higher output. (I noted that in my last post)

Like AKwelder said, 3/32" 6011 should run, and they will penetrate way better than 1/16" anything.

A 1/16" rod tops out about 45 amps, you don't heat up the base metal enough to make a proper weld on anything you would repair on the trail.
A 3/32" 6013 or 6011 around 75+ amps will do ok for those temporary repairs.

You could also use whatever means that are availible to you to preheat the base metal as high as possible. That will aid in penetration. Think small oxyacetylene torch(or MAPP or propane since its safer). Maybe even some kind of induction heater. Any heat will help.

Might also try 5/64 rods. I've heard of em, but never seen em. It might give you a bit better results.

A 20 amp outlet is not an option for me on the trail. I am trying to run 1/16" rod so that I can do temporary fixes on the trail to get back to the highway. 5/64" rods worked fine too, but the inverter in the vehicle may not keep up.

Please don't take offense to this question.

If you can weld 1" plate with a 1/8" rod, why can't you weld 1/4" with 1/16" rod? I can easily put a hole through 1/8" plate with the 1/16" rod so I think penitration on a properly prepared joint should work.

I know this is very unconventional useager but I am a little out side the box at the best of times.

I really appreciate the feed back. I will follow up with some pictures. I may even do a bend test on 1/4" plate.

When you are welding 1" thick metal, your bevelling it first down to 1/8" and sloping up the sides. So in reality your welding a piece of 1/8" metal on the root pass(its a bit more complicated than that but thats the basic of it) then filling it in with your rod.

The problem with 1/16" rod is the current-carrying capacity. Think about it, that 1/8" rod doesn't have 4x as much surface area, it has 4 SQUARED as much surface area. Thats alot more metal to carry the higher current. Current equals heat. Heat is what makes your welding possible. Thicker metal takes more heat to melt obviously.

Try taking your bevel down to a knife edge and running those 1/16" rods on it. Also, if you want to weld 1/4" steel with em, I would definately say stick with 6011 versus 6013. 6013 is a shallow penetration rod, 6011 is designed for deep penetration.

Also, be sure you pack a grinder with you. Your not going to have much play with fit up with 1/16" rods.

Just so you know, Hobart makes a battery-powered mig welder specifically targetted at off roaders for your specific need(welding your rig back together to get back home). It's kinda pricey but it'll give you a far more reliable weld.

Actually, I think wiring a couple batteries in series and running 1/8" 6011 would be a much better and probably easier idea for what your doing. Just need a couple sets of jumper cables and a little practice.