Welding Tips and Tricks

It been a while since I've been on here. I'm a beginner and haven't had much time to practice with the Lincoln weld pak 100 that was given to me. I put some time in today and was wondering how these welds look on 3/16 angle using 0.35 flux core. Also how do I know if there is good penetration? What should I be looking for? Thanks any advice for this newbie is appreciated.

i sorry just realized these didn't post for whatever reason. Thanks again

Almost looks like you need to increase your wire feed speed. Have you calculated your feed rate?

Poland308 wrote:Almost looks like you need to increase your wire feed speed. Have you calculated your feed rate?

well nope, wasn't thinking about it. Thanks!!! I thought I had it saved, no dice. Where I can find it on website? first started out today I adjusted according to the inside cover of the machine.


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Sacman wrote:

Poland308 wrote:Almost looks like you need to increase your wire feed speed. Have you calculated your feed rate?

well nope, wasn't thinking about it. Thanks!!! I thought I had it saved, no dice. Where I can find it on website? first started out today I adjusted according to the inside cover of the machine.


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You are actually going to have to measure your wire speed. Hold the trigger for 6 seconds. Stop. Measure wire that is out of gun. Multiply by 10-to get ipm of wfs. And instead of cutting the wire, you can just release the drive roll tension and bring the wire back through the gun as to not waste.

Farmwelding wrote:

Sacman wrote:

Poland308 wrote:Almost looks like you need to increase your wire feed speed. Have you calculated your feed rate?

well nope, wasn't thinking about it. Thanks!!! I thought I had it saved, no dice. Where I can find it on website? first started out today I adjusted according to the inside cover of the machine.


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You are actually going to have to measure your wire speed. Hold the trigger for 6 seconds. Stop. Measure wire that is out of gun. Multiply by 10-to get ipm of wfs. And instead of cutting the wire, you can just release the drive roll tension and bring the wire back through the gun as to not waste.

Cool thanks! After I do that, how do I apply to what I'm working on? Is there more to this rule of thumb? It seems easy enough to do but I feel like there is more to it. Thanks for your help, Chris.


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If you have a volt meter that would be helpful too. You can measure your volts to have what they actually are. I would write all of this in the door of your machine. If you have all this info, you can accurately use somethin like the miller weld calcualator or we can help you more because your machines wire settings are different than the next machine so it increases the accuracy of our responses

Does your machine have the wire feed speed labeled in inches per minute or is it lettered A B C? Same question for voltage. Lots of the smaller machines use a simple number or letter to indicate a range of feed speed or volts. You may be able to find a cross reference chart on the web. But like Nick said an actual check is always more accurate. Then you can get some recommendations on settings to try or things to check out further.

Farmwelding wrote:If you have a volt meter that would be helpful too. You can measure your volts to have what they actually are. I would write all of this in the door of your machine. If you have all this info, you can accurately use somethin like the miller weld calcualator or we can help you more because your machines wire settings are different than the next machine so it increases the accuracy of our responses

Poland308 wrote:Does your machine have the wire feed speed labeled in inches per minute or is it lettered A B C? Same question for voltage. Lots of the smaller machines use a simple number or letter to indicate a range of feed speed or volts. You may be able to find a cross reference chart on the web. But like Nick said an actual check is always more accurate. Then you can get some recommendations on settings to try or things to check out further.

Nick, I do a volt meter, how would I test? Would it be each setting on voltage knob? Where would I test? Poland308 yes the welder voltage settings are a-d and wire speed is 1-10. I appreciate all help and advice, thanks again. Chris


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I found this in the operators manual I hope this helps a little. I tried the wire speed measuring . I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but I rolled the wire back so it was flush with the tip. I went to lowest setting with was 1 held for 6 seconds and came out to be just about 5 inches. Thanks Chris.

INPUT – SINGLE PHASE ONLY
Voltage/Frequency
115V/60Hz 115V/60Hz
Input Current
20 Amps - Rated Output 15 Amps - CSA Rated output
RATED OUTPUT
Duty Cycle
20%
Amps
88
Volts
18
CSA RATED OUTPUT
Duty Cycle
20%
Amps
62
Volts
20
OUTPUT RANGE
Welding Current Range
Rated DC Output: 30 - 100 amps
Maximum Open Circuit Voltage
32
Wire Speed Range
50 - 300 IPM (1.3 - 7.6 m/min)
PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS
Height
12.0 in 305 mm
Width
9.75 in 248 mm
Depth
16.5 in 419 mm
Weight
47 Ibs 21.4 kg
RECOMMENDED INPUT CABLE AND FUSE SIZES at RATED OUTPUT
Fuse Size
Input Amps
Power Cord
20 Amp
20
15 Amp, 125V Three Prong Plug (NEMA Type 5-15P)
15 Amp
12
15 Amp, 125V Three Prong Plug (NEMA Type 5-15P)
Extension Cord
Up to 25 Ft. (7.6 mm): Three Conductor #14 AWG (2.1 mm2) or Larger
Up to 50 Ft. (15.2 mm): Three Conductor #12 AWG (3.3 mm2) or Larger













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That does help to know its maximum capabilities.

By measuring outputs though, you can find the machines "sweet spots" for different types of welds and wire sizes. For uphill, being able to hit it at like 18.5 volts and between 220-230 ipm. or stainless at X volts and Y ipm, etc. It's also nice to have some settings you can pretty much hang your hat on as good. Then if something is going wrong- you know it is really going wrong, rather than it being just a bad set up for the type of wire and weld.

You can check operating voltage at the terminals where they connect to the gun block and clamp (+ and -) by having someone hold the pins of the voltmeter to the posts as you do a short weld.

PeteM wrote:That does help to know its maximum capabilities.

By measuring outputs though, you can find the machines "sweet spots" for different types of welds and wire sizes. For uphill, being able to hit it at like 18.5 volts and between 220-230 ipm. or stainless at X volts and Y ipm, etc. It's also nice to have some settings you can pretty much hang your hat on as good. Then if something is going wrong- you know it is really going wrong, rather than it being just a bad set up for the type of wire and weld.

You can check operating voltage at the terminals where they connect to the gun block and clamp (+ and -) by having someone hold the pins of the voltmeter to the posts as you do a short weld.

Thanks Pete, hopefully I can do that very soon and report back. Looking at the specs of this machine, is an ok machine? I kinda understand it but not 100%. Thanks


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They're actually quite good for their intended use. For home shop/hobbyist welding they're perfectly fine, and you can cover a lot of ground with it.

I firmly believe that good technique trumps all. Once you get some time on the metal with it and develop the techniques- no one will be able to look at a weld and say "That was done with a blah-blah-blah, and this was done with a (insert name here).

On the other hand, I've seen some crappy "welders" fail on some really nice machines. Like a brand new pipeworx just wasn't good enough for them...

PeteM wrote:They're actually quite good for their intended use. For home shop/hobbyist welding they're perfectly fine, and you can cover a lot of ground with it.

I firmly believe that good technique trumps all. Once you get some time on the metal with it and develop the techniques- no one will be able to look at a weld and say "That was done with a blah-blah-blah, and this was done with a (insert name here).

On the other hand, I've seen some crappy "welders" fail on some really nice machines. Like a brand new pipeworx just wasn't good enough for them...

Gotcha! Thanks for the input[THUMBS UP SIGN]


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Sacman,

What you're looking for on the voltage side is OCV, or "open circuit voltage", which is easy to determine with a voltmeter. At the wire feeder, you'll see the post connected to the feeder for electrode contact, and the ground (workpiece) connection. Ideally, you'll connect your voltmeter across these such that you don't have to hold them there. Unlock your wire feed rollers (gas off, of course), so you don't feed wire. For each voltage setting available to you, hit and hold the trigger and record the reading after it stabilizes.

Knowing this, along with actual wire feed speeds, will help you use weld calculators to set up for anything you're doing. Keep in mind, even the calculators are only starting points, and it's in the hands of the user to fine-tune for the specific application.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:Sacman,

What you're looking for on the voltage side is OCV, or "open circuit voltage", which is easy to determine with a voltmeter. At the wire feeder, you'll see the post connected to the feeder for electrode contact, and the ground (workpiece) connection. Ideally, you'll connect your voltmeter across these such that you don't have to hold them there. Unlock your wire feed rollers (gas off, of course), so you don't feed wire. For each voltage setting available to you, hit and hold the trigger and record the reading after it stabilizes.

Knowing this, along with actual wire feed speeds, will help you use weld calculators to set up for anything you're doing. Keep in mind, even the calculators are only starting points, and it's in the hands of the user to fine-tune for the specific application.

Steve S

Ok great,thanks Steve. I see what your talking about, what would be a good setting on the volt meter? Also could just connect one of the leads to the ground alligator clip and hold the other on the electrode contact? Thanks, Chris.


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Your OCV will be DC, and will range from 15V to 30V, or even more depending on the machine. If you have a 50V scale on your voltmeter, I'd start there.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:Your OCV will be DC, and will range from 15V to 30V, or even more depending on the machine. If you have a 50V scale on your voltmeter, I'd start there.

Steve S

Will do, thanks for the advice and your help. Gonna try and get it done asap and report back. Chris


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Otto Nobedder wrote:Your OCV will be DC, and will range from 15V to 30V, or even more depending on the machine. If you have a 50V scale on your voltmeter, I'd start there.

Steve S

Ok Steve, I did what ya said to do. Set voltmeter @ dcv200 and went thru each setting. With one lead on wire feeder electrode and the other on the ground clamp. This what I got

A-22.5
B-24.6
C-28.0
D-32.2

Thanks Chris


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That seems very high for operating voltage. Probably normal for OCV though.

PeteM wrote:That seems very high for operating voltage. Probably normal for OCV though.

Out of curiosity, because I don't know lol. Do you think that it will change under a load?


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Sacman wrote:

PeteM wrote:That seems very high for operating voltage. Probably normal for OCV though.

Out of curiosity, because I don't know lol. Do you think that it will change under a load?


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Yeah. Typically the OCV is (open circuit voltage) when the machine is on but not welding. Then when the circuit closes with the trigger depressed it switches to operating voltage with current and the welding begins.

Sacman wrote:

PeteM wrote:That seems very high for operating voltage. Probably normal for OCV though.

Out of curiosity, because I don't know lol. Do you think that it will change under a load?


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It should not change more than millivolts, since you have a "constant voltage" source for MIG. However, these numbers are very high for the machine you're using. You're sure the voltmeter was set for DC?

You "may" have to have someone record actual welding voltage, but if this varies from OCV that much, the voltage will change a lot with wire speed, meaning it's nowhere close to being a "constant voltage" source.

Steve S

How the pictures looked it was high voltage is made entirely be correct. And if it's the transformer based machine could have an internal short across some of the winding causing the high voltage.

Not really. I have a similar machine that reads similarly. When no welding is being done, the circuit is open, therefore the term OCV, or open circuit voltage.

32 volt max OCV is very typical for that line machines. Millermatics are typically around 30 also.

It's ChuckE, but useful enough-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_zBP-psFUk

Otto Nobedder wrote:

Sacman wrote:

PeteM wrote:That seems very high for operating voltage. Probably normal for OCV though.

Out of curiosity, because I don't know lol. Do you think that it will change under a load?


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It should not change more than millivolts, since you have a "constant voltage" source for MIG. However, these numbers are very high for the machine you're using. You're sure the voltmeter was set for DC?

You "may" have to have someone record actual welding voltage, but if this varies from OCV that much, the voltage will change a lot with wire speed, meaning it's nowhere close to being a "constant voltage" source.

Steve S

Hey Steve, here is the meter I used. I brought it for a repair on a clothes dryer and didn't wanna spend a whole lot of money on it considering I was hardly ever going to use it. It got the job done lol. I left it on the setting I used. I'm not very savvy with sort of stuff. I'll give it another go but with actual use and report back, Thanks Chris.


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