Welding Tips

Misc Welding Tips
(Written by several members of the BBS)
1. Positive gun, Negative ground when welding sheet metal.

2. Negative gun, Positive ground when welding heavy steel.
(Reverse Polarity)

3. Slow the feed down to get penetration.
Fast wire just stacks the weld up on the stock you are trying to weld.

4. Flux core wire sucks rocks for anything.
It spatters, it won't penetrate, it doesn't hold worth beans, and it
makes a mess of your welds.

5. Always get an Argon/ Carbon Dioxide (75/ 25% Mix) bottle and mild
steel wire.

6. For aluminum wire, welding aluminum, Positive gun, Negative ground.

7. Always use the correct size tip for whatever wire you are using.

8. KEEP YOUR TIPS AND NOZZLES CLEAN!

9. Don't assume you are not going to get a jolt if you touch or hold the
work together with bare hands... because you WILL!!

10. Learn to STITCH BACK AND FORTH while you are welding.
Nothing like controlling the puddle and penetration with the stitch.
11. DC Reverse Polarity for overhead work.
12. Uphand for vertical seams.
13. Use heavier wire for thick material so you can run more heat but
still get it to the seam.
14. Straight CO2 is OK for mild steelwork.
15. The contact tip should be set back about a wire thickness from the
edge of the nozzle.
16. Use an anti-spatter dip for the nozzle and tip.
17. NEVER run a wire welder without protection (Leathers) if going
overhead or vertical [I have the burn marks to show for it].
18. Always use a "vee kerf" (if at all possible) for a good strong seam.
19. Hesitate just a bit after starting to build up some heat before
moving the wire, especially if it is a continuation of another bead, and
needs to be pressure tight.
20. Likewise, when ending the circular pass on a pressure vessel,
hesitate and pool the weld against the tail end of the other bead
21. Always wear a welder's cap or skullcap to keep your hair protected
and the back of your neck.
22. When welding materials of different thickness, concentrate the heat
on the thicker of the two, you will have enough heat to penetrate the
lighter metal and it will keep you from burning a hole in your work.
23. Make sure you tack your work all together, especially when working
with light material, this will maintain the proper fit of your work and
help keep your work from distorting and warping.
24. Make your self comfortable before you start, if your not your work
will show it, lean, sit, grab, whatever it takes to make yourself stable
and steady, you'll be much happier in the end.
25. If you have an area you want to protect, you can buy anti-splatter in
spray cans, use it generously
26. For the most part whenever you are welding it should sound like eggs
frying just make sure your skin isn't the sausage cooking
27. For your buddy that is helping you, remind him to 'watch his eyes'
before your strike your arc, dark glasses help some
28. If for some reason you are welding something that is galvanized,
either burn or grind off the coating and make sure you have great
ventilation because inhaled galvanize fumes can make you really sick.

29. For out of position work with stick or wire, set it up so that you
weld INTO the better position as the bead progresses instead of steadily
getting more OUT of position.... Just a little way of rewarding yourself
as the rod gets shorter or you get more tired of holding that MIG gun.
30. If you can see that you may run out of stick before you can complete
the seam with the ¾ rod now in the holder, drop that rod and start with a
new one to avoid a stop-start which can cause a leak.
31. For the real out-of-position work with stick, use a Jackson
rotary-squeeze holder and then cut the bottom 2" off the sleeve. That way
it fits in the palm of your hand doesn't interfere with clearance, and
the tightness keeps it cool rod after rod.
32. Make the last ten feet of your cable detachable. Make that last ten
feet of #4 cable for flexibility, and the rest of the cable can be
heavier gauge. This will also enable you to carry both types of holders
in case you have to use a rod so big that the Jackson rotary-squeeze
won't swallow it.
33. When you set up your rod pouch, drop in a length of ¾" PVC pipe, thin
wall. Use the pipe to hold the smaller rod while the big size is on the
outside. That way, you don't have to crawl out of the hole and go to the
truck for a bigger rod. Sometimes you can adjust the heat easier by
changing rods than getting up on the truck and changing the machine. For
example you run 5/32" for the stringer pass, and you carry 1'8" for the
hot pass. No changing the machine.... It works perfect. In large vee-kerf
welds, the first pass is called the "Stringer" pass. It ties the material
together.... Actually forming the bead on the INSIDE of the pressure
vessel or pipe, and that leaves a partial vee still available for the
second pass which is the "Hot" pass...used to fill the vee.... hot so
that it blends the first pass and the two sides of the seam together and
the vee is then filled completely. The third pass is the "Cover" pass
(you go back to the bigger rod here) and it "mounds" the weld, giving it
more cross-sections for strength. So stringer-hot-cover in that order.
Stringer seals the inside and gets rid of the gap...hot is for
waterproofability...and cover is for strength.
34. Find somewhere to store your rod where it will not draw moisture.
Under the hot water heater in the garage if this is a home-based shop, in
a commercial setup, use and old refrigerator with a light bulb in side
it.
35. ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK to see that the tapered plug-ins on the welder
are really in there firmly.... Twist them and really get them secure.
Loose fits will destroy the welder.
36. Make sure that whatever ground clamp you use, BOTH JAWS are
energized...that is both jaws are carrying current. If it is NOT that
way, add a short cable with an eye both ends to go from jaw to jaw. This
also works wonders on battery jumper cables. Make sure that the ground
clamp has a good "footprint" on the material to transfer current.
37. Before welding something critical with a cold machine, run a small
bead on some scrap to heat up the coils a little.
38. Protect your machine from shop dust with a dust cover, and avoid
sending grinder dust and cuttings in the direction of the welder.
39. Use a leather sleeve over the entire MIG gun/cable/hose assembly to
prevent damage. Be sure to pay attention when you install it and get the
leather segments so they SHED sparks and not TRAP sparks. Tape the sleeve
to the end of the mig gun.
40. For tight spaces, use the slide-front helmet instead of the flip
front. Make your chipping hammers out of cotton picker spindles; they are
free in cotton growing areas
41. Before welding on or near gas tanks, read the posts of yore covering
that issue.
42. A clean weld is a happy weld.
43. When welding aluminum, always use a stainless steel bristled wire
brush, not just a regular wire brush.
44. When the rod sticks to the material, break it away fast!!! You've got
a dead short going.
45. Murphy's law of welding-the spatter, sparks, and fumes will always
travel in the direction of the welder, so be prepared.
46. Before you strike an arc, make sure that it isn't going to affect
anyone else. Arcs will bounce off of anything (windows, shiny cars, metal
tool boxes, etc.)
47. Just because you can weld it doesn't mean it's right (i.e. don't weld
tow hooks, etc. without a detailed knowledge of their metallurgy, etc.)
48. Beware really pretty welds...they usually are indicators of the fact
that you just welded your piece together _____(backwards, upside down, 2
inches to the right/left).
49. Always use a helmet-don't assume you can close your eyes to tack
something together. Eyelids aren't nearly as thick as they seem to be.
50. Never be so good a welder that you can no longer afford to take
other's advice.

51. On portables, always check the fuel situation BEFORE starting so you
don't end up risking your life adding fuel to a hot machine. Better yet,
if the portable is permanent on a truck, nurse the welder from the truck
fuel tank with an electric fuel pump connected to the "run" circuit on
the welder, and use a fuel-pressure regulator located at the welder carb,
and set at the lowest notch.
52. If the portable is equipped with "idle down", disable the idle down
if you are going rod after rod after rod. The engine is better off
staying at weld RPM, especially if it is air cooled.
53. Some portables like the Miller Roughneck are little powerhouses for
their size due to the fact that they are High Frequency AC. That's 120
cycles instead of 60, so pay attention to the kind of setup it is. If the
welder makes 60 Cycle 110V for the grinder at 1800 and welds at 3600 or
even 3000, that's going to be a hi-frequency AC and is head and shoulders
above the shop buzz box.
54. Some of the old "Bullet-Head" Lincoln upright (and horizontal)
Motor-generator welders are virtually bulletproof, but they require
three-phase power. You CAN fail one of them by not doing a good job of
dialing the current. When you move the current control on any detent-type
dial, "Feel" for the spot where the pole is so you don't leave it half on
and half off the contact and destroy the "pineapple" in the control
section.
55. If you are trying to do more work with a pint-sized welder than it
was supposed to do, you can cheat a little by using a rod too small for
the job. The rod will burn hotter, but the high current will destroy the
flux coating. So, what you do is just use the front half of each rod. We
are talking emergency conditions here, not routine.
56. You can; as Gregg says; use a second rod as filler to close large
gaps. Be sure to knock the flux off the second rod first, and this should
NEVER be depended upon as a high-strength weld.
57. You can weld cast iron with NI rod. You must weld about ¾" of seam,
then take the chipping hammer and peen the heck out of the weld to
relieve stress, then weld another ¾".
58. To weld with a lot of gap to fill, use a horseshoe motion and make
the sides long, so you get rid of the heat at the main puddle. The longer
you can stay out of the main puddle the more it will cool.
59. When welding two pieces of vastly different thickness, remember to
spend a lot of time heating up the thick piece so you will get good
penetration, just as was mentioned above. You cannot set the machine to
not burn through the smaller thickness, you have to be WELL OVER that
heat or you cannot get a good tie-in to the thick material.
60. The time that you take getting a good fit-up . . . torching and
grinding . . . will be returned to you DOUBLE in the time saved welding.
And do not forget the most important tip:

61. Buy the most ugliest, loudest, awful skull hat you can find:
A) Nobody will take it.
B) It the only way you can get away with wearing it around town.
C) Most people are identified by it, all you see when one welding is the
back of the head.
D) Wear with pride: it like saying " I is a welder" even if you cannot
weld. (Mine has flowers on it.)
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I will add that this was sent to me from Jay Anger