Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey everyone, I'm currently going into my 4th week of pipe welding school. I'm having a few problems with my caps from 4-5 and 7-8. My caps just get very lumpy and I undercut the shit out of it. Anyone have any suggestions or know of any videos that might help me?? My roots are "almost" good enough for an X-ray, but still have a few flaws. Hot pass and fills are near perfect.

Its tricky there,the key is being on top of the problem on every fill on the way out.if it is getting proud in the middle on the previous passes it gets magnified every time.
it is evident in your second pic,must be your last fill before capping,on the right hand side of the pic.you cant cap over that and not have the same problem.

My fill pass tie ins have gotten a lot better since that photo was taken and I grind the high spots flush. However, I was told when coming from 6 o'clock up. I should "cheat" and drag the puddle instead of pushing. Something about too much heat build up?

Watch this pro run a 5g.

Halfway thru the video.
Hope this helps,
~John
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr4FEpH9hg8

AKweldshop wrote:Watch this pro run a 5g.

Halfway thru the video.
Hope this helps,
~John
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr4FEpH9hg8

Yup!!! That totally helped me get a visual. Looks like he was dragging the puddle for a bit vs pushing on the cap.

And the first few weeks of my class. We were told to
Imagine the pipe has a clock and the rod the clocks hands. Always to have the rod aimed at the center of the pipe. By "cheating" it looks like the angle of the rod is different. I'm assuming to blow off the heat

Changes the push of the arc force. Let's your puddle chill out enough that gravity doesn't send it to hell. Keep on keepin on bro.