Welding Tips and Tricks

Ok, so I'm doing a trial for an apprenticeship. It's been amazing so far and I'm learning a bunch. One process I'm currently using i'm unsure about, and when i asked the boss he didnt explain the whys. So, here I am.

Basically, I'm welding a lug into a 34mm thick piece of mild steel. Im using a big idealarc arc welder, set on ~600 amps which is plugged into a wirefeeder with 1.6mm fluxcore wire and using gas.

What reasons are there for this set up? Arc welder with a wire feeder, fluxcore with gas? If there's even the slightest breeze, i get porosity. Is there any difference in how an arc welder with wirefeeder behaves and a regular mig welder? Other than this set up being live all the time.

One other question. I was cleaning the away some splutter from the gun, and had my hand on the metal part, i put my other hand on the table and got zapped whilst wearing heavy duty welding gloves. Is that potentially dangerous if i weren't wearing gloves? Wasn't a big shock, but it was still rather... shocking when you're not expecting it.

Just gonna say it though. Welding with 600 amps is a bloody rush. My hands feel like over cooked jerky though.

Sounds like dual shield. Common on thick production pieces. Check under some of the recent threads about dual shield wire welding.

mck90 wrote:Basically, I'm welding a lug into a 34mm thick piece of mild steel. Im using a big idealarc arc welder, set on ~600 amps which is plugged into a wirefeeder with 1.6mm fluxcore wire and using gas.

What reasons are there for this set up?

Dual shield flux-core is what you're running. The addition of the gas allows for a very easily cleaned slag coating, deeper penetration, bigger beads and just a generally better weld than self-shielded wire, all things being equal. Relatively little manipulation is required. As you noted, it is not as suitable for welding in outdoor or draft environments.

One other question. I was cleaning the away some splutter from the gun, and had my hand on the metal part, i put my other hand on the table and got zapped whilst wearing heavy duty welding gloves. Is that potentially dangerous if i weren't wearing gloves?

It's potentially dangerous with or without gloves, though it's usually just a light zap. Happens to everyone with a live electrode setup at some point. Now is a good time to learn to avoid that. Doesn't take a lot of electricity to throw your heart out of rhythm or something like that.