Welding Tips and Tricks

Yes, it's a janky setup, my 300 dollar 30% of the parts have broke and replaced with all the wrong parts. Comments welcome, heh.
Seriously though, what causes the worm holes I am getting, it's like the cup was drug without the cup touching? Travel speed, wire feed speed? Too expensive to experiment too much. This is the first time I have welded stainless flux core vert.

drizzit1aa wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 11:11 pm it's like the cup was drug without the cup touching?

Might be there was not enough stickout. What is the manufacturer's recommended stickout?

Other possibilities: Voltage too high, wire not stored correctly.

Jack

The joy of flux core!
This is one that does your head in till you nut it out. Usually porosity is cause by not enough gas cover, however wormys are usually from too much. We have guys that run mig type gas flow for flux and keep getting this. I have found 14 lpm in workshop and 20 lpm for onsite/infield repairs. Gas for staino flux is a bit different aswell but not by much. Reduce gas flow and it should get better. If not kick your torch angle upward slight and add half a volt.
It is gas/gas from flux, not escaping in time, its going to be too much gas flow or not enough melt on wire, or by the looks of it both.

Also, how is that torch angle working out, not too much washout on top?

Jack Ryan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 1:04 am

drizzit1aa wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 11:11 pm it's like the cup was drug without the cup touching?

Might be there was not enough stickout. What is the manufacturer's recommended stickout?

Other possibilities: Voltage too high, wire not stored correctly.

Jack

I have it pretty close, I can pull back some. It's china wire, Amazon special, 81 bucks for a 10
# roll instead of 186 from weld supply, didn't come with any recommendations I saw.

Gdarc21 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 3:09 am The joy of flux core!
This is one that does your head in till you nut it out. Usually porosity is cause by not enough gas cover, however wormys are usually from too much. We have guys that run mig type gas flow for flux and keep getting this. I have found 14 lpm in workshop and 20 lpm for onsite/infield repairs. Gas for staino flux is a bit different aswell but not by much. Reduce gas flow and it should get better. If not kick your torch angle upward slight and add half a volt.
It is gas/gas from flux, not escaping in time, its going to be too much gas flow or not enough melt on wire, or by the looks of it both.

There isn;t any porosity, I am running 15 on gas flow, no washout, it has a landing the wire is laying on, in any case I need that downward angle to miss the tube that sticks out (like the one on the bottom but another at the top also), guess I could try to get the gun sideways to straighten it up a bit. I have a 5" 3 jaw incoming so I can go horizontal with my cheapy positioner https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RY ... UTF8&psc=1
and waiting on a new positioner with a digital read out to get in the states https://www.arc-zone.com/light-duty-pos ... 101?cPath=& and it doesn't hurry (supposed to be in Friday) I'll cancel that one and get this one. https://www.woodwardfab.com/product/wel ... -capacity/

drizzit1aa wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:13 am

Jack Ryan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 1:04 am

drizzit1aa wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 11:11 pm it's like the cup was drug without the cup touching?

Might be there was not enough stickout. What is the manufacturer's recommended stickout?

Other possibilities: Voltage too high, wire not stored correctly.

Jack

I have it pretty close, I can pull back some. It's china wire, Amazon special, 81 bucks for a 10
# roll instead of 186 from weld supply, didn't come with any recommendations I saw.

I think you should pull it back (an uncomfortable amount compared to solid wire), the flux has to preheat.

Jack

Wormholing is porosity just kinda in a different catergory, You could give a dash more stickout, may help but I dont think it will fix it, try up a half a volt at a time till it gets under control. Are you using the right gas for staino. They take different mixes.
If so press button to get flow through for a sec, put torch down and turn off gas, if pressure in regulator drops at all in 15 mins, go looking for the leak. Any leak that doesnt drop pressure within 15 mins is not ideal but wont change your day.
This definitley a technique issue and because you have it semi automated you can get an accurate idea of what it is.
Other than the worms it looks good so that eliminates travel speed, wire quality and Id guess, even gas etc. If the gas is right, Try to up your volts, 0-5degree drag angle, play with stick out on scrap and see what happens. You really have two variable to tune now its either more heat or stickout, the increase in stickout will preheat the wire but in my experience it wont be enough to undo that entirely. I probably wouldnt change gear out or anything until you get it sorted.

drizzit1aa wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:26 am
There isn;t any porosity, I am running 15 on gas flow,

So this is not a gas-less flux core wire but rather a gas-shielded SS Flux core wire? If so, what is the required gas as specified by the manufacturer

Drizz, when you welded the lower part of the piece, was your gun pointing upwards or was the piece turned upside down? I don't see the critter tracks in the lower weld. What was different there? Was there some type of cleaning agent prior to the weld on the top of the piece and did you allow it all to dry IF you used any?

Oscar wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:31 pm

drizzit1aa wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:26 am
There isn;t any porosity, I am running 15 on gas flow,

So this is not a gas-less flux core wire but rather a gas-shielded SS Flux core wire? If so, what is the required gas as specified by the manufacturer

It is a gased wire, I turned my gas up to 30 which gave me a perfect bead. I was like, okay my reg. is bad, but the next one went right back to blah. As for manufacturer recommendation, I got no info. with it, $100 less for a 10# spool than weld supply. I bought it from amazon. Guess I can try to track down the manufacturer's website but probably all in Chinese.

Would you mind posting the wire size, what length stickout you are using, and what gas mix? Is the wire 304, 308, 309?

BillE.Dee wrote: ↑Fri Mar 11, 2022 11:12 am Drizz, when you welded the lower part of the piece, was your gun pointing upwards or was the piece turned upside down? I don't see the critter tracks in the lower weld. What was different there? Was there some type of cleaning agent prior to the weld on the top of the piece and did you allow it all to dry IF you used any?

I bought a 5" chuck with reversible jaws for this job, they sent me 2 chucks both have inside and outside jaws, not reversible, so I can't turn it around. Not sure what happened with the bottom other than fit up, the tops have a gap around the pipe I have to gap. The bottom slips over a lip with a weld bevel on the thicker outside.
As for angle at the bottom, my torch holder isn't long enough to get any farther down to weld upwards like I know I should. If you know of a better holder, I would love it if you put up a link for me.

cj737 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 11, 2022 1:48 pm Would you mind posting the wire size, what length stickout you are using, and what gas mix? Is the wire 304, 308, 309?

I concur on all these points. Also, what is the class designation of the wire from the label on the spool? For example, mild-steel MIG wire is usually ER70S-6, Gas shielded flux core can be E71T-1C/1M, etc. What does yours say, drizzit1aa ?

cj737 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 11, 2022 1:48 pm Would you mind posting the wire size, what length stickout you are using, and what gas mix? Is the wire 304, 308, 309?

.035, 1/2", 75 argon 25 co2, 308LT1. Sorry just saw this. I pulled it back to 1 1/4"on the last one I did before I hit the hay and it looked okay. I'll repost in a few hours on an update.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DZFNBH8?re ... tails&th=1

drizzit1aa wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:26 am I am running 15 on gas flow

I missed this part. With gas-shielded flux core wires that usually require a long stick-out, you need a large nozzle to get good coverage and thus need quite a bit of gas flow. IMO, you're skimping out on the gas flow by only using 15 CFH. Use a 5/8" cylindrical nozzle (or conical but no less than 5/8" orifice) to get good coverage, and use 40 to 45 with 3/4" to 1" stick-out. Granted I've not used SS FCAW-G wire, but my recommendation is stemming from having used E71T-1C/1M gas-shielded mild steel wire.

Oscar wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 4:45 pm

drizzit1aa wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:26 am I am running 15 on gas flow

I missed this part. With gas-shielded flux core wires that usually require a long stick-out, you need a large nozzle to get good coverage and thus need quite a bit of gas flow. IMO, you're skimping out on the gas flow by only using 15 CFH. Use a 5/8" cylindrical nozzle (or conical but no less than 5/8" orifice) to get good coverage, and use 40 to 45 with 3/4" to 1" stick-out. Granted I've not used SS FCAW-G wire, but my recommendation is stemming from having used E71T-1C/1M gas-shielded mild steel wire.

There are usually a few things playing against each other and I might have suggested up to 30 mm stickout in my earlier post except for the out of position setup that might compromise gas coverage. Porosity is generally present because of some sort of contamination or because the contamination is not being mitigated or removed during welding - I am assuming a properly prepared joint - clean and good fit.

As you have worm holes, there is a lot of contamination and/or negligible cleaning during welding allowing a lot of gas to be produced which is coming out of solution as the metal solidifies and being trapped under the slag. This might be because of a lot of contamination (eg poorly stored wire) or minimal removal during welding.

I suggested increasing your stickout because it looks to me like you don't have near enough to preheat the flux. I think that alone will improve the situation but as Oscar says, you might need to increase gas flow as well.

The AWS code for the wire might help if the requirements of the wire are similar to others with the same code (not always the case).

Jack

Okay, I got it. whoop, thanks all!

so was it the stickout or the flowrate?

I believe the main issue was stick out. Since the outside pipe I was given can be pretty much oval ( I can't tack and smack it perfectly round) and I don't adjust the stick out fast enough during welding I will get a short wormhole effect. Course I ran out of gas today and my Miller gas gauge that came with it said 50 instead if 15. I threw the first one away guess it's time for this one to be tossed.

What is better, 75 arg. 25 co2 or 100% co2 for Flux Stainless? I have to get another bottle tomorrow might as well get what works best.

If you have your settings dialed in for 75/25, stick with that. But 100% CO2 works well for stainless MIG in the future. If you are going to do a lot, would be well worth getting a tank (cheaper)