What did I do wrong???

[Steve_Miller]

Once the flux falls off it's gonna look like **** so you paint it as quick as possible and hope it doesn't break when someone is watching you use it. That's my philosyphy and I'm sticking to it.

Steve
(wannabee welder)

 

[easygo]

Ampa,
From the clearer pictures it seems you just welded that piece of plate on there to have more "meat" for the cylinder pin. I would say that will hold just fine the way it is for some time to come. Don't do a thing to that. If you have other pieces of scrap practice on that. You will be surprised how good a weld you can do with those little machines. I know many say it is junk but if that is the only tool you have it the best.

 

[Car Doc]

Some guys can weld pretty and strong some weld ugly and strong looks don't really mean much in backyard repairs as long as it sticks its the same principle different technique is all.

You can always grind it pretty if that's how you like it but its whats below the surface that really matters, penetration and a good mix in the puddle is where the strength comes from and experience.

Practicepracticepractice on pieces of scrap before taking on something you want to last is probably the best advice I can give and keep it up you are doing just fine I think.

 

[Bartcephus]

Ampa,

While those welds may not look good, my bet is that they will hold. I encourage you to keep on doin' what your doin' cause you will get better with practice. Don't give up, you'll get the hang of it.

Best Regards!

 

[evo803]

Practice is the key ! Get yourself in a nice comfy position and use some clean scraps. Practice without the power on moving the handle across the work so you are pulling the weld puddle. Once you feel comfy doing this turn on the power and strike the arc and be patient ,let the heat build a little and then start moving . I count to myself to help keep a rythum which helps me with bead size and not rushing. I have the Weld-Pak 100 and I prefer using the .030 flux core wire. The first 3 pics are done on 3/16 and 1/4 thick plate. The last is some oxy acet welding and the counting to keep the rythum is what really helps me when using gas someday I would love to try TIG !

 

[Shield Arc]

Good rule of thumb, anything that produces slag, drag the gun. With Mig, (bare wire gas coverage) push the gun.

Dragging the gun: When holding the gun in your right hand, start at your far left and move to your right.

Pushing the gun: When holding the gun in your right hand, start on the far right and move to your left.

 

[RonMar]

Ampa
From the higher res pics, I agree that the piece although not pretty, is not going anywhere. If those were your first wire feed welds, they really are not bad for a first attempt. Looking at the weld in the second pic from the left, It looks to me like you were moving too fast, and not letting a real good puddle build. It also looks like you had some false starts and position issues. I think you said you were using the hand held visor, so one handed welding can explain most of this. Another question is what tip do you have on the gun? If it is like I am thinking, it is the tip for innershield/fluxcore wire, that tapers down to a point that closely covers the copper inner conductor tip. If this is the case, I would reccomend that you get a regular mig tip for the gun. The regular mig tip is a larger diameter "pipe" section that screws on in place of the fluxcore tip and is designed to let the shield gas evenly difuse over the weld puddel. This is not necessary for a fluxcore weld, but that outer cup is great for positioning the weld wire for startup and for maintaining a good spacing while welding. As seen in this pic, I just drag the edge of the mig tip/cup along the base metal. Step or corner welds can almost be done with your eyes closed, if you are consistent with your hand speed, as the MIG tip rides in the groove maintaining perfect position. To weave, I will rock my hand to change the angle that the wire contacts the metal, but I will almost always keep the edge of that mig cup/tip in contact with the base metal... Even with this type tip as a guide, I most always use both hands on the gun, golf club style. The fluxcore tip is shown to the left. I only use that tip anymore if I am needing to get into someplace really tight...

 

[Jeepnford]

Is this also your first time welding? If so it looks pretty normal. I don't know anybody who started out with good welds. It takes a lot of practice.

 

[Willl]

If you decide to upgrade that little machine for gas, go with 100% CO2.

Funny you would say that, I just went from 100% CO2 to 75/25 and I'll never go back. Much, much cleaner weld.

 

[rswyan]

Practice is the key ! Get yourself in a nice comfy position .......

The importance of the highlighted portion above - a simple truth - cannot be over-stressed too much:

If you don't get into a relatively comfortable and relaxed position, it sure ain't gonna help matters ...

It's something that I've found to help tremendously .... and it's often something that I forget to do when I start to weld something ....

If I'm lucky, I end up remembering ...... before I'm finished with whatever it is I'm working on ... :laughing:

 

[timswi]

Good rule of thumb, anything that produces slag, drag the gun. With Mig, (bare wire gas coverage) push the gun.

Dragging the gun: When holding the gun in your right hand, start at your far left and move to your right.

Pushing the gun: When holding the gun in your right hand, start on the far right and move to your left.

Shield,
Thanks for the excellent advice you're giving here. Good stuff indeed.

 

[ampa]

Here are some new pic's of my two welders...I just noticed something I didn't notice before....it reads CORE/PAK on the front....so this is only a Flux core welder.....also the pics are much clearer now..... only now the flash from the camera reflecs off the shiny red paint of the welder ....Ampa

 

[Shield Arc]

Shield,
Thanks for the excellent advice you're giving here. Good stuff indeed.

Your welcome timswi! Just paying it forward.

 

[gauthier]

I always used to drag the bare wire,passed bend and tensile tests that way,so,,guess it depends on what your used to doing,uphill or down hill,,you can't push downhill,,well,,not advisable anyways.

 

[Berniep]

Here are some new pic's of my two welders...I just noticed something I didn't notice before....it reads CORE/PAK on the front....so this is only a Flux core welder.....also the pics are much clearer now..... only now the flash from the camera reflecs off the shiny red paint of the welder ....Ampa

Two things.
If that is where your knobs were set then you need to turn up the wire feed (left knob)to 7 or 8 and see how it is doing, the power is already at max on "E". A quick search didn't turn up much in the way of info so I couldn't find the settings chart but the max for this machine is listed as 1/4 inch so what you should be welding this material at near the maximum settings. See what the chart for your machine says to set it at.
Also make sure the polarity is set correctly. If it was for some reason set for gas from the factory then the polarity needs be reversed for flux core. The manual will tell you how to do it if it is possible to change it.
Just found the manual.
Here is a link, look on page 14 for the polarity info.
http://content.lincolnelectric.com//pdfs/products/navigator/im/IM891.pdf

 

[RonMar]

Two things.
If that is where your knobs were set then you need to turn up the wire feed (left knob)to 7 or 8 and see how it is doing, the power is already at max on "E". A quick search didn't turn up much in the way of info so I couldn't find the settings chart but the max for this machine is listed as 1/4 inch so what you should be welding this material at near the maximum settings. See what the chart for your machine says to set it at.
Also make sure the polarity is set correctly. If it was for some reason set for gas from the factory then the polarity needs be reversed for flux core. The manual will tell you how to do it if it is possible to change it.
Just found the manual.
Here is a link, look on page 14 for the polarity info.
http://content.lincolnelectric.com//pdfs/products/navigator/im/IM891.pdf

Having a bit of experience with the small lincoln welders, 7-8 will not work. These machines can be configured for several uses and different type wires. 7-8 will be way to fast for .035 flux core...

 

[Berniep]

Having a bit of experience with the small lincoln welders, 7-8 will not work. These machines can be configured for several uses and different type wires. 7-8 will be way to fast for .035 flux core...

I was just going from my experience on my Hobart 180. I know that it won't handle wide open on the wire speed but it certainly needs to be more than the 2 or 3 that is is in the pictures. Again the chart will get close and experience will fine tune.

 

[zman007007]

I also move the gun in a weaving motion as in from left to right when pulling it towards you. Thats what leaves that purty looking weld. zman

 

[wdchyd]

Ampa,

Years ago while trying to strike arcs with stick welders, the best jumpstart to welder training for me was watching someone else welding while they were drawing a bead......

Having them weld and you watching from behind (with your own shield) have them talk and explain what they are doing in real time, this will give you the view and perspective of what is expected for visibility.....one of the problems of learning is "What's it suppose to look like while you are welding"......

Also, get used to practicing before you weld the real thing (as others have said)......Controlling the puddle is the most important task.....

Worked for me, that was over thirty years ago......Wow, I'm old....

 

[arrabil]

Having a bit of experience with the small lincoln welders, 7-8 will not work. These machines can be configured for several uses and different type wires. 7-8 will be way to fast for .035 flux core...

I was just going from my experience on my Hobart 180. I know that it won't handle wide open on the wire speed but it certainly needs to be more than the 2 or 3 that is is in the pictures. Again the chart will get close and experience will fine tune.

I'm confused... why do you guys say 0.035 flux core won't handle wide open on the wire speed?