new welder question

[dennisleary]

Hey I'm new to welding and wanted to get an opinion of the welds in the attached photos.
I'm using a mig welder set at 22 amps, with a wire speed of 330.
Am I running too hot? Or is the wire speed too fast/slow?
thanks for looking -

 

[Shield Arc]

Without hearing the sound of the weld, makes it hard for me to help much.
I would first try slowing down the wire speed a little. And also slow you travel speed down too!

 

[yomax4]

22 Volts right? Looks ok. Spatter is kind of a thing of the past but not knowing your equipment or gas it's difficult to evaluate that. Weld On !!

 

[Oldpath05]

Sound is one of the first things I go by, something like frying eggs and bacon, but if your a vegetarian that wont help.
If the arc is to cold that will create more spatter, lack of fusion at the weld toe's, weld wont flatten out as good. To hot will make the wire burn back in the tip easier and/or burn through thin gauge steel. Travel to fast could cause under cut at the weld toe's, if you can catch you finger nail at the side of the weld>under cut. Try to keep the weld bead centered in the joint and Keep the shinny metal to a minimal, spatter sticks to it easier.
The upside is your weld wasn't that bad, also mig is easier that stick.

 

[IslandTractor]

It would be useful to try to weld a couple of flat pieces of same gauge metal together to form an inverted T (just like all the instructional manuals suggest practicing with for first welds). That way you could 1) check the reverse side for evidence of heat/penetration and 2) cut the piece in half and inspect the weld directly. It's tough to do either of those things with the test weld you did on square tubing.

 

[LD1]

How thick is the tubing?

My personaly welder dont have wire speeds of volts to go by. Only arbitrary numbers. But the miller 350P at my past job and older miller at my current job, 24v and 400ipm seem about the sweet spot for 3/16-1/4" metal. And sometimes I even creap it up to 25-26v and 500-550 IPM just depending on joint configuration. Welding heavy wall square tube, is one of the times I will increase the wire feed, to fill the large radius from the tube.

20-22v and ~300IPM is about where I would be welding 1/8" material

 

[Sodo]

What's your pattern?

 

[dennisleary]

thanks for all this, I really appreciate it

 

[dragoneggs]

How thick is the tubing?

My personaly welder dont have wire speeds of volts to go by. Only arbitrary numbers. But the miller 350P at my past job and older miller at my current job, 24v and 400ipm seem about the sweet spot for 3/16-1/4" metal. And sometimes I even creap it up to 25-26v and 500-550 IPM just depending on joint configuration. Welding heavy wall square tube, is one of the times I will increase the wire feed, to fill the large radius from the tube.

20-22v and ~300IPM is about where I would be welding 1/8" material

Yeah I wish I had volt/amp info rather than the arbitrary numbers on my Miller 211. I know you really don't need it but it would be nice to know and compare when someone gives you that kind of info.

If those welds are from your first day... you are off to a better start than I was! This is where I struggle... when welding a radius or gapped joint. I now try much harder to get my gaps and fit ups tight.

 

[Shield Arc]

I now try much harder to get my gaps and fit ups tight.

You're better off with a gap. There is a reason pipe is welded open root.