weld pac 100

[uhmgawa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( What about supporting the pieces your are welding? Can you hold one and not get shocked? As long as you dont get too hot through the glove> bw )</font>

The open circuit voltage for common stick and mig welders can
be as high as 70V or so. When you are drawing an arc that drops
down to 30-40V. So you might get a tingle if you tried.

But the greater concern is making sure the shower of
molten metal and UV is deflected from you. 'Deflected'
is rather important as you don't want to be garbed in
anything which can hold flying hot metal such as upward-
open shirt pockets or cuffs of any sort.

 

[BrettW]

Gary, does it help the joint if you go over it more that once? I'm eventually going to build an ROPS and I need it to hold, or hope it never has to. I'd rather learn a new skill, get a new tool and have some fun than spend money and have someone else do it, I plan to reinforce all joints with extra steel. bw

 

[davesisk]

Brett:

I would never discourage anyone from trying anything new. In fact, I'd generally strongly encourage anyone to learn something new. Being able to weld and make "stuff" out of metal is pretty darned cool.

However, I would strongly discourage you from making your own ROPS as a first project. The purpose of this big steel hoop is to save your life, and I don't think you want to have any questions in your mind about whether it will hold or not. I certainly wouldn't. Make a 3PH attachment, or a metal welding table, or just about anything except a ROPS.

If you're really opposed to buying one (which, IMHO, would be your best course of action, since you know it's done right and it meets the necessary structural requirements to save your life), then I'd suggest that you find some local welding or fabrication shop, private individual, instructor, whatever and have them make it and let you watch. Find a person with welding experience (and the right equipment) who has made several ROPS before, explain to them that you want to learn this skill, but you want to observe a professional for something this crucial. You get what you need plus you get to learn.

Just my humble opinion,
Dave

 

[BrettW]

Thanks Dave, I'm in no hurry for this. I just need it to be done in about 1 year from now. So I'll build some other projects first including practice welds and then really try and bang them apart to see if the welds hold. I think between doing that, and taking a class, and some other projects I'll be OK. I do appreciate your comments. The last thing I want to have happen is to need a solid ROPS and not have one. To all you guys, thanks again, Brett W semper fi

 

[thefarm]

I have a Lincoln 100 Weld Pac and I like it.I use flux core wire.At the time I had to drive 40 miles to get tanks replaced,now almost every automotive store has tanks.The only thing I don't like about it,is that it will overheat and the breaker in the welder will kick off.Wait 10-15 minutes,it comes back on.The fan is not big enough to keep the unit cool.This is using it none stop in summer temps for 1/2 an hour.I just keep some cutting or grinding on the side to do.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Brett,

Again, I'm no expert in the field so I'll just tell you what I've been taught. One of the things we did in class was what you describe. It was called a multiple pass and was done not unlike the way bowling pins are arranged with your first weld being the '1' pin. That's the most important bead because it's the one that actually directly attaches the two pieces of material. The second bead attaches the first to one piece, the third attaches the second piece to the first bead, etc.

I don't know if there's any limit to how far you take this. We did six beads in essentially three layers. A couple things I'll mention here are to make certain each bead has cooled before laying the next bead and to make sure the welds are even. One of the ways we were graded was on how evenly the welds looked when viewed from the end (how evenly the weld sat in the 'V'). There is a tendency on horizontal and overhead to get more of the weld on the lower piece (just due to gravity) so you need to 'cheat' toward the upper piece a little to compensate for that. That way when you're done your weld should look like the enclosed area in an inverted 'A.' It should be even along each piece of metal from the point of attachment up each piece and level across the visible surface of the weld. Adding the extra steel you mentioned (in the form of gussets) will greatly increase the strength and stability.

Again, I'd like to emphasize I'm probably about the least experienced "welder" you could ask these questions. I believe I'm giving you good answers here based on what I've been taught in a classroom/lab setting.

Speaking of which, how is your quest for a class to take going for you?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hey GARY, how you been? The reason you let it cool was because you were welding on small practice plates and it got hot fast,normally,when you are welding on some thing you don,t let it cool down,unless its small and it is warping or you are making a hole and you need to let it cool a little,actually most procedures call for a min. preheat and once you get it to that temp. you keep it there as a min.,other procedures,like gas pipelines,say you HAVE to put the second pass,[the hot pass],in no later than a certain amount of time after the root,or stringer bead. Stacking you beads as you described,is one way to make multiple pass welds,weaveing one on top of the one before it is another way,most pipe is welded in this way except in some industries,horazontal joints are done by stacking the beads,gravity again.The first bead or root bead,is the most important one,but they are all actually important,you can have lack of fusion,slag intrapment,cracks,in your fillers and cap passes as well as the root,and a pretty cover pass does not guarantee you that the whole weld is good,its a good indication. RICHARD GAUTHIER

 

[bnixon]

Hey RICHARD,

Let me preface this question with this. I just bought a Lincoln buzz box and have never welded anything in my life before this weekend. So I am very green.

So here is the question.

If you are staking beads with a stick welder do you have to chip out the slag before you run the next bead or do you just weld over it?

thanks,

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Yes, a chipping hammer and hand brush are min. requirements for cleaning your base metal and your weld bead before putting another one down on top of it,A power brush and grinder do a better job and is faster,also if you got a grinder,you can grind down those humps,bumps and dingle berries that we all get before putting your next pass on and when you are finished.If your metal is very cold or is damp its also a good thing to take a torch and heat the welding area to hand warm before welding and dry it off,also a torch will burn off any oil and grease. RICHARD GAUTHIER

 

[Rch]

Welding Book

Lincoln Electric has some excellent and cheap books on welding-see New Lesson in Arc Welding.
Hobart runs a web site simular to TBNhttp://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/ Like TBN, don't be afraid to register. I never got any junk mail. They have some tutorials like "Welding 101" /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif