Please critique the weld quality (photos enclosed)

[ovrszd]

I am a certified welding inspector/examiner and I also have my own company doing welding, training and procedure consulting along with custom welding and fabrication. I will tell you that it looks like the hinges were welded in the field after the main parts were fabricated and painted. You can tell the welds were cleaned and painted in place which is common, but they used a mig process with not enough heat or penetration. I would not accept these welds for the simple fact that they will not hold over time. The welds will fail causing gate to fall and possible damage or personal injury could happen which makes it a safety issue. I would think if you called a supervisor or manager and politely explained your concern that they would make an effort to fix. Also, if they charged you for powder coating, I would address that too because powder coating can not be "touched up" after welding. So just be sure exactly what you are paying for. Remember, you are the customer paying for a product or service and should be getting quality work. You could also mention hiring a certified welder to fix welds and they should pay for that service.

Very well stated.

My first thought was contamination. Paint or worse powder coating.

 

[flyerdan]

Is that take-out/salvaged material? It looks too weathered to be newly done.
I worked in OI fencing for a long time, welding on something that has been coated requires taking it down to bare metal for a ways around the weld, and it still doesn't weld as good as fresh steel. We would always match the post and gate end hinges as a set, then have the posts coated so they could be set while the gates were being built.
Since the gate construction/hinge welds are markedly different, I'd suspect that they build the gates to a standard and add the hinges later.
The hinges are called barrel hinges; they have about a 9/16" pin on the top and the bottom has a zerk and a steel ball bearing that the pin sits on.

 

[Will S]

I like the Grease Zert for the Pins ! As a Novice at welding . I'm see no prep at all ... No touchup paint, No wire brush or disc marks . He burned through the paint and his wire feed heat was too low .

 

[plowhog]

Since the gate construction/hinge welds are markedly different, I'd suspect that they build the gates to a standard and add the hinges later.

Among many job problems, the original hinges were the "wrong ones." So the hinges were field replaced.

 

[GeneV]

I don't weld very often so when I do sometimes my welds look like that...and when they do grind them out and redo them.

 

[blee03]

 

[GeneV]

Ain't no shame in the grinding game, when warranted.

 

[Goode62]

I do my own welding. Fence, corral, trailers,…etc. This work was not done by a “welder”. I don’t claim to be a welder but my welds look way better.

 

[oneal hicks]

Amperage too low resulting is a lack of penetration. Easy to see the heat and the travel speed were way off. Looks as though the welds are filled with slag making for a very faulty weld.

 

[Kschwennsen]

In my opinion, don't sign off on those gates. you paid way too much for those to get a weld that looks that bad. they knew it was bad and tried to clean it up by grinding it some. They should be smooth clean fillet welds with proper penetration.

 

[CaptTomJ404]

I am having fencing/gates installed. Steel material that is/was powder coated.

The photos are for hinge welds for heavy gates. 6x6 steel posts and steel gates to cover a 16 foot opening.

Before approving the job, I'd like to make sure the weld quality is sufficient for long term reliable use. Except I do not know how to evaluate the quality of a weld. Does this work look right to you?

Holy Schnikes!!!! Terrible welds. Those open pockets and stacked spots are going to trap water and rust big time. Almost like they used Flux core wire instead of proper shielding gas. Me no likey....me no pay.

 

[PA Plumber]

Brought me out of the woodwork on this thread...

Looks like a heavy duty gate/fence system.
The welds can be fixed/replaced.
I would want this corrected even if it meant splitting the cost with the installer to have a welder come out and make it right. Or...just hiring someone to come out and fix it up.
I am sorry for your hassle. Unfortunately, this type of work is getting more and more prevalent.
I am curious to see how this turns out.

 

[kjack1960]

I am having fencing/gates installed. Steel material that is/was powder coated.

The photos are for hinge welds for heavy gates. 6x6 steel posts and steel gates to cover a 16 foot opening.

Before approving the job, I'd like to make sure the weld quality is sufficient for long term reliable use. Except I do not know how to evaluate the quality of a weld. Does this work look right to you?

It looks like they were welded in the wind using a wire feed welder with argon . I change my wire out to flux core that doesnt require the use of argon that just blows away in the wind when welding outside . I am a do it yourself person and can do a better job than that . I would be worried that he had enough heat with the argon blowing away to penetrate well enough to hold , looks mostly like surface weld to me .

 

[PJC3006]

I am having fencing/gates installed. Steel material that is/was powder coated.

The photos are for hinge welds for heavy gates. 6x6 steel posts and steel gates to cover a 16 foot opening.

Before approving the job, I'd like to make sure the weld quality is sufficient for long term reliable use. Except I do not know how to evaluate the quality of a weld. Does this work look right to you?

have to agree with kjack1960. In terms of quality, crappy welds. If wire feed was used, and because of size, It was dirty metal and, or, shielding gas was not used or flow to low allowing oxygen to affect weld puddle. I have a Lincoln 120v buzz box and crank the shield gas rate way up when welding outside always get a better weld than that for an amatuer welder.

 

[rocco611]

looks like it was done with a low current mig welder. I would have them fix it . Use the proper welding equipment grind out most of the weld, then weld them with the proper current with better penetration. I would grind them out and stick weld with 6011 rod.

 

[bartjoebob]

I am having fencing/gates installed. Steel material that is/was powder coated.

The photos are for hinge welds for heavy gates. 6x6 steel posts and steel gates to cover a 16 foot opening.

Before approving the job, I'd like to make sure the weld quality is sufficient for long term reliable use. Except I do not know how to evaluate the quality of a weld. Does this work look right to you?

I'm no welding expert and can't judge how strong those bonds are But I know rust forming when I see it, and look at all the cavities in the weld! How's that not going to cause more that in the elements? Also maybe my standards are a little high but if paying a professional welder to do work like this I expect to see them laying dimes. This looks high school shop class level

 

[Bikenstein]

The guy who installed these is not a welder by any sense of the word. I've had total rookies run a bead first time better than what I'm looking at. I welded for 49 years. Oilfield, offshore, shipyards, job shops, power plants, construction, industrial, pipe, tubes, water towers, everything from airplanes to artificial legs to gorilla zoo cages. It doesn't take a lot of weld to hold plenty of weight, but other factors to consider or the strength and penetration of where the weld starts and stops. If that is a weak area, it can cause even a good weld to eventually fail, such as leaving a crack in a crater at the end of a weld. I can't even tell where most of these welds start or stop. You can't tell much at all except the machine was set too cold and a lot of ugly stuff was ground off. They need to be ground out and welded over. As for powder coating, it's hard to tell from the photos but it seems there are a lot of flaws in that paint job for it to be powder coated. You must have done a flat or semigloss black. I also owned a powder coating outfit with a huge oven and never did a job that looked that bad from the pics. I could be wrong on that but it would be hard for me to trust a guy who would have a "Welder" like that do the installation. I would check into it or have someone you can trust look at it. Good welds don't need to be ground on.

 

[mgstevens]

Yikes! I have only been welding - flux core - for about a year. Only a handful of projects, and my welds are already better than that. Although I've had a few (or more) that looked like this, I would never ask someone to pay for something as unacceptable as this.

Best suggestion: Get it fixed by a good welder, which is the right thing for your property. If vendor agrees to pay/split/etc you are lucky. I would not let the vendor who did this try again.

 

[slimsboy]

C- at best , more likely D+ , would not pass muster on an oil rig

 

[kpsp50]

I have taught high School welding at the end of the year my students could weld better than that that is a $10 an hour job if that good luck I would get a professional welder out there that is certified while the guy is there that did the welding and let them 2 hash it out