I am fairly new at welding so I just came here for some advice.So I have this welding machine.It only has a knob to make amperage higher and lower. I use 2.5mm electrodes,the metal i tried welding on to was also about 2.5mm thick.I cleaned it and tried and at first i got a lot of sticking,so i amped it up to the electrode recommended setting of 70, and it was sticking like a motherfucker, so i got it higher to about 80 and then beyond. I started getting a bit of a splatter and the arc was really hard to make upon contact.
My general questions are:
-Is getting an arc the first time you make contact just a thing of practice and i have to do 1000 more welds or is the machine here problematic?
And how can i improve a weld that looks too bulgey, i will show in a picture below but its just a small "hill" its not flattened like i see at a normal weld.
The bulging weld in question
My other welds i did a while back.Just wondering if they are ok or if i am looking for something else
>>989389
that welder isn't great for starting arcs. the best machines strike first time every time and keep the stick lit even when you're using it wrong - but the actual welds produced are no better.
honestly your welds look normal. i'd say you're good to go for basic farm-welding tasks like making brackets, shrinking bearing races, and welding nuts onto rounded-off bolts.
>>989391
top weld amperage too low going too fast
>>989391
make sure to use a dragging angle of about 30. keet arc tight
OP here
Fuck thanks guys. Will try to look into upgrading the machinery.
Gonna get at it again tommorow and see how it goes
Also any recommendations into a first more serious weld machine that is gonna be good at starting arcs?
>>989430
what are you planning to weld, in the future?
a better stick machine might not be the right choice.
>>989453
I want to weld a power rack and then my sister wanted me to weld a hanger for clothes drying in like a Y shape( two tubes joined on a main larger tube). All in all its just general farm welding i guess.
>>989418
What. You should never drag the electrode
>>989391
Go hotter and slower
>>989458
I doubt you'd need to purchase another welder, unless it's a real challenge to strike an arc and you are planning on using it a lot, i think they are expensive.
A working welder is a working welder, and your welds are certainly good enough for what you are doing, and they'll get better over time as well.
>>989391
Eh, if you're just welding a flat surface you should expect some bulge. When welding 2 objects try to have 2-3 mm space between them, weld will look flatter. Also, you're welding a bit fast.
>>989467
Yeah I also figured something like this, I mean today it was funny cause it was just sticking every single time, I didnt feel like I was really in control of the tool you know? I felt it was more like a game of chance when it will strike an arc and start welding. Any tips how to control this more? Any place where i can read more on improving technique, starting an ark and so?
>>989461
is this a language barrier thing?
the only time you'd have push angle instead of drag angle is to weld uphill.
or are you a MIG babby?
Welder here.
Others are right about needing to go hotter and slower. I think you should try welding thicker metal too, as a general rule if your pieces are as thick as your electrodes you might be too hot at the right parameters. Also you don't need to whip the electrode, dragging it at a constant speed to keep a nice puddle behind your arc produces nice welds 99% of the time in general purpose.
But the main question is what electrode are you using exactly? Just by looking at your welds I'm guessing it's 7014, but it's still important to know, different types react very differently from one another.
Still unless you're gonna make stuff that needs critical strength it's kind of nitpicking, your welds are pretty nice for a beginner.
>>989461
Are you high?
>>989461
if slag u drag scrub unless you like inclusions all in ur welds
>>989478
even MIG uses dragging angle if flux core
>>989482
Im using these.I literally have no idea what they are .Just my grandad said these worked with him,so I used them.
Thank you,really appreciate all the advice. I mean these are only straight welds I tried welding a round piece of pipe onto this profile and it didnt go over so well. But Im gonna keep on trying.
>>989509
Try going to a hardware store and pick up a couple of different electrodes, especially ones made for the type of current you're using, that might be the cause of your arc start problem.
>>989482
>euro with an AC buzzbox
it can only be 6013 rutile or 6013 rutile-cellulose.
>>989516
Really? That's the only thing you guys have for stick welding over there?
>>989471
I'm not sure, and I'm not as much of an expert as many of the people here probably are, but I could see a couple things causing a problem. Was the situation different from your other times? There might have been corrosion on the steel, or the ground was far from the weld, or the alloy was different. I've also had problems with impurities gathering in a pool on top of the weld and the wire not sparking when it hits that.
>>989517
no.
but OP's machine is AC only and has very low OCV, in this case there are no alternative rods.
>>989532
There are a fuckton of rods you can use with AC nowadays famalam.
The arc won't always be perfect but it'll work fine.
What is an arc? I'm trying to learn about welding but it seems very confusing to me. I've seen Oxy acetyl welding done but I don't know what the arc thing is
>>989544
There's no arc in O/A because it's simply not arc welding, it uses combustion as a source of heat.
>>989545
So the arc is the current that creates the heat, and the gasses are just there to protect the arc from the atmosphere?
>>989549
The gas' purpose is mainly to protect the metal while it cools and solidifies so that it doesn't get contaminated. It can also have other purposes in some welding processes like TIG with high frequency where it can help starting the arc without having to close the circuit by physical contact.
>>989553
Thanks. I'm still confused about the whole mechanics behind the arc. It's an electrical current that creates heat? Then why is the grounding clamp attached to the work piece?
>>989556
I don't know much about electricity (>tfw just a dumb welder) but the clamp is attached so that it can close the circuit and allow the current to circulate.
I don't even know if it's a proper "ground" per se.
>>989516
Um no.
EXX10 DC+ (DC reverse or DCRP) electrode positive.
EXX11 AC or DC- (DC straight or DCSP) electrode negative.
EXX12 AC or DC-
EXX13 AC, DC- or DC+
EXX14 AC, DC- or DC+
EXX15 DC+
EXX16 AC or DC+
EXX18 AC, DC- or DC+
EXX20 AC ,DC- or DC+
EXX24 AC, DC- or DC+
EXX27 AC, DC- or DC+
EXX28 AC or DC+
>>989556
The arc is the arc of electricity that jumps from the tip of your electrode to the workpiece. Have you ever taken a battery out of a car? Or at least jumped one? if you have you have seen what happens when you complete the circuit. Theres an arc jumping from the battery to the clamp. So that's what's happening when you're stick welding, and that melts the metal. The slag and gas made from the slag melting are what keeps oxygen from reacting with your weld.
>>989556
Hi anon, friendly electrical engineer here.
Current creates heat we know this. When you adjust the big knob you are changing the voltage rather than the current however the two are related by resistance, increasing the knob increases voltage which allows more current to flow.
The length of the arc depends on the voltage, a higher voltage will allow a longer arc and a higher current allows a thicker arc. The thickness of the arc and its current create heat that melt the electrode.
The ground clamp is not necessarily earth ground like your home electrical system however it is sensible for it to be so that you don't get a shock from touching the work and standing on the ground.
I am by no means a welder but it sounds like you are pressing the electrode against the work too hard. The sticking you feel is the electricity flowing, I don't actually know why this happens but its bad news because you need the arc to produce heat, if there is too good a connection there is no resistance to create the heat.
What I suggest you do is instead of jabbing the probe into the work like a hamfisted oaf you try gently tickling it to get started quicker. Don't push the electrode into the work once it's melted, just keep it in the puddle.
>>990060
>What I suggest you do is instead of jabbing the probe into the work like a hamfisted oaf you try gently tickling it to get started quicker.
This. Also with some electrodes in some contexts it works really well if you just scratch the flux on the side of the tip of the metal (like when you light a match).
It took me fucktons of hours of practice to know what to do in which circumstances but now I'm able to light the arc on the first or second try every time.
>>990060
>The thickness of the arc and its current create heat that melt the electrode.
Voltage also affects heat (W=VA and all). This doesn't usually come into play within a given welding process because changing arc length (within operating parameters) only changes voltage a little. However, different processes use different shielding gases that produce significant differences in heat for a given amperage. X amps of stick welding is much hotter than x amps of argon TIG because stick operates at a much higher voltage. Similarly, swapping argon for helium in TIG can let you weld aluminum with DC- (which offers the best control) because helium has about twice the arc voltage as argon, and so gets a lot hotter.
>I don't actually know why this happens
When bare metal at the end of a welding rod touches a grounded surface, it produces a short that can instantly spot weld it in place rather than ignite the arc. Part of the solution is to make sure that there is flux right to the tip (cut/grind any exposed metal sticking out where the flux was damaged). The machine and settings can make a difference, but it's mostly technique if the rod is in good shape. Using light pressure, scratch the tip of the rod quickly (but with tight control) across the surface, so that it's less likely to stick in one place even if the bare metal does melt before the flux gets going.
you don't press the electrode into the pool, keep it 1/8 or 1/4 above the workpiece
>>990437
Don't listen to this guy, he is joshing you.
>>990644
you definitely don't touch the pool, slag inclusions out you ground out. as close as possible so the pool has room to spread. measurements are easiest to go by for a beginner
