Today sucked

[deereman75]

No it doesn't! If you were welding vertical up on your fillets, I've seen arc blow a lot of times in the last inch or so. Sometimes you can counter it with rod angle, other times you need to place the ground clamp at the top of the plates, and weld towards the ground clamp. But not being there it is really hard for me to understand exactly what is going on.

Well I am going to be making some videos for longevity. If this is still happening, you will be able to see it. I will try moving the ground clamp, then beating the snot out of it. If that doesnt work, then I will try the tombstone, to see if that works.

 

[ChuckE2009]

Dont worry bud, we all have days like that. Just stick with it (pun intended) and you'll be good...

About your ground... What is your ground clamp like? Literally every stock clamp I've seen... Well... Sucks!!

If you go to HF or TSC, you can get a sweet ground clamp for $10 to $20. I put a TSC clamp on my Hobart 187 and it was like using another machine. Its a simple upgrade that I highly recommend.

I like the Tweco-style clamps myself, buy whats important is the contact area. How much is there? Those stock clamps usually just have like 8 little points, but a good beefy clamp will have atleast a couple square inches of contact space. It makes a huge difference. Good luck

 

[deereman75]

Dont worry bud, we all have days like that. Just stick with it (pun intended) and you'll be good...

About your ground... What is your ground clamp like? Literally every stock clamp I've seen... Well... Sucks!!

If you go to HF or TSC, you can get a sweet ground clamp for $10 to $20. I put a TSC clamp on my Hobart 187 and it was like using another machine. Its a simple upgrade that I highly recommend.

I like the Tweco-style clamps myself, buy whats important is the contact area. How much is there? Those stock clamps usually just have like 8 little points, but a good beefy clamp will have atleast a couple square inches of contact space. It makes a huge difference. Good luck

This one isnt too bad, it has some copper jaws. I will be going to air liquide in a few weeks, and I think I will pick up a tweco clamp there. I wish we had hf and tsc here. The closest thing is princess auto, and thats about an hour away, and they dont have those clamps. They are a lot like harbor freight, with a lot of high end name brand stuff, along with the chinese stuff. There prices are higher though. I will be back out there tomorrow, seeing if I can get it to work.

 

[Ken45101]

Okay, I have to ask, what does beating on the metal accomplish? (Besides being a vent for one's frustrations?)

 

[deereman75]

Okay, I have to ask, what does beating on the metal accomplish? (Besides being a vent for one's frustrations?)

I hear that strong impact can cause or disipate magnitism. For example, if you point an iron bar north-south, and beat it with a hammer, it will become a magnet. Made to sense to me, but I hear it is true.

 

[weldermike]

Deerman, whats up bud! Have you tried different rod angles it will help sometimes, or is it blowin like an animal?

 

[Shield Arc]

Okay, I have to ask, what does beating on the metal accomplish? (Besides being a vent for one's frustrations?)

I didn't know there was a technical reason for it! I beat on anything or anybody that makes me mad or I don't understand.

 

[undercut]

Okay, I have to ask, what does beating on the metal accomplish? (Besides being a vent for one's frustrations?)

Bear with me with the following link. It seems it is directed more to schoolchildren but it walks through the rationale so much better than some of the other links I could find.

Demagnetize: Does Hitting a Magnet Weaken Its Magnetic Strength? | Education.com

 

[spo307]

No it doesn't! If you were welding vertical up on your fillets, I've seen arc blow a lot of times in the last inch or so. Sometimes you can counter it with rod angle, other times you need to place the ground clamp at the top of the plates, and weld towards the ground clamp. But not being there it is really hard for me to understand exactly what is going on.

ditto

 

[Ken45101]

Bear with me with the following link. It seems it is directed more to schoolchildren but it walks through the rationale so much better than some of the other links I could find.

Demagnetize: Does Hitting a Magnet Weaken Its Magnetic Strength? | Education.com

Okay, thanks for the link. That explains beating vs. magnetism.

But......what's that have to do with weldability?

Ken