verticle up mig problems

[blueynielsen]

hey guys any tips or advice on achieve a consistant result welding 10mm mild steel plate with 0.9mm wire verticly up.....please help.
i.e. ICICLES and how to avoid them forming.....
cheers bluey.

[Skipper]

Low, low heat and adjust wire speed accordingly. The way I figured it out was to keep trying and keep turning the heat and wire speed down until it started working. Can you weld verticle up w/ stick? I use about the same weave pattern/ technique on my mig when going vertical up. Maybe some of the other guys can give you better adv w/ the mm stuff. 10 mm is what, about 3/8. Probably want to put a good bevel on that steel and depending on the application run a root pass w/ a 6010 or 7018 then cap it off w/ the mig and then again I may be way off. I have been wrong before.

[blueynielsen]

thanks skipper any help at this stage is a bonus and I reckon you might just be on the money with the bevel, this a T weld i'm attemping.

[G Austin]

Here is a link to a video I made showing some uphill in progress. Try backing down on your voltage and wire speed to the minimum for that wire diameter and then work your way up from there . Here is the link to the video. I also have what settings I used on the page . I hope to make one a little better soon but this may help.

http://www.weldinginspectionsvcs.com...GMAWUphill.htm

[taylorkh]

Turning the heat down will help some but may also weaken the weld. I have found that the key to a verticle is technique. Basically pause.... on one side of the weld until the puddle forms then jump (real quick) to the opposite side to the top of the previous puddle on that side. Pause.... until the puddle forms then jump to the first side. Do not even think about the middle. It will take care of itself.

If you have the option you may want to consider dual shield wire. Flux code and gas shielding. I played with some last week. Really sweet. Not as nasty as self shielding flux core. Enough flux to help hold a verticle in place. Real flat bead compared to solid wire. It sounds more like a spray transfer than a short arc.

It will also weld real hot like self shielding flux code. Just for laughs I decided to try and weld a 3/8" butt weld in a single pass (flat, not verticle). Turned up the Esab to 33 volts and 600 IPM of .045 wire. Measured 400+ amps. Made a nice 3/4" wide bead all the way thorogh (3/16" gap, no bevel). After about 5" of run I smelled something horrible. Seems I had caught my aluminum coated backhand pad on fire

Back to your question... concentrate on the sides. Pause... jump pause...

Good luck,

Ken