My first attempt at welding

[AVI_8]

Got everything set up today and tried out the machine on some 3mm angle.
Ive never welded before as you can see, the pictures are in order going from right to left on each picture.
Instead of going with the manufacturers recommended settings I spent far too long making constant adjustments when my first attempts looked like bird poo, ending back at the recommended setting on the last picture which was 5.3 metres per minute for the wire feed at a voltage of 19.5, this was showing in the region of 85-94 amps at that setting. I’m not getting a nice sizzle sound at that setting, it’s more of a succession of very rapid pops.

I‘m still not happy that either the settings are correct or my technique is correct, I‘m using the push method with the torch tilted to around 70 degrees, wire stick out around 1cm, Hobbyweld 5 set with a flow rate of 10Lpm, trying to maintain 5-10 MM from the metal, I was doing it at the edge of the workshop in a very light breeze with the door open.
Welder is Paton PSI 200
Your criticism is very welcome
Thanks

 

[Barking Mat]

Good start.

Keep practicing, playing with wire speed and travel.

 

[AVI_8]

Yeh I’ll have another go tomorrow, I’m just not sure what to adjust, might try to weld 2 pieces together to see how that goes, I bought some 3mm sheet, I’ll cut some strips and have a shot.

 

[LewisT]

I’m not getting a nice sizzle sound at that setting, it’s more of a succession of very rapid pops.

Mine doesn't sound like sizzling bacon either sounds more like you describe think its a transformer vs inverter thing.

Think the light breeze was blowing away your shielding gas the bubbly welds are porous, brown soot is another indication

 

[GRW]

I think on that welder (from memory) that your wire speed should be higher at 19.5v.... more like 7mpm.

 

[AVI_8]

Mine doesn't sound like sizzling bacon either sounds more like you describe think its a transformer vs inverter thing.

Think the light breeze was blowing away your shielding gas the bubbly welds are porous, brown soot is another indication

I’ll try again tomorrow Lewis, having watched loads of YouTube videos, thought the sizzling bacon sound was the sweet spot inventor or transformer, I’ll have the doors more closed, though I had increased the gas flow to compensate for the door open, it was quite high for a very slight breeze.
Its all a learning curve, trial and error, with lots of error!

What I’d like to know from a professional is do you think my settings are in the ball park from my original post, or do I need more wire speed and or current ? for 3mm steel

 

[AVI_8]

I think on that welder (from memory) that your wire speed should be higher at 19.5v.... more like 7mpm.

Ok, crossed posts, I’ll try that and see what happens, thanks

 

[GRW]

Ok, crossed posts, I’ll try that and see what happens, thanks

I had that model of welder for a while, and spent a fair bit of time trying to figure out settings myself. In the end I worked through the voltages in 0.5v steps, trying to work out the sweet spot of wire speed for the voltage, and making notes of which combinations seemed to work best.
I'm pretty new to welding myself - and found the huge number of setting combinations the Paton offers to be a bit bewildering (hence the efforts to narrow it down).
I think I still have the notes I scribbled down in the shed somewhere.

 

[AVI_8]

I have around 20 settings written down here, and can say that the max wire speed I tried was 5.9 and that had the wire pushing the gun back and had spat out wire into the pool.
Hmmm Lots of trial and error tomorrow that was with 20.3 volts
This looks very easy on YouTube, a bit like plastering walls
Got there with the plastering, welding is not so forgiving!

 

[GRW]

I have around 20 settings written down here, and can say that the max wire speed I tried was 5.9 and that had the wire pushing the gun back and had spat out wire into the pool.
Hmmm Lots of trial and error tomorrow that was with 20.3 volts
This looks very easy on YouTube, a bit like plastering walls
Got there with the plastering, welding is not so forgiving!

I struggled with the push technique to start with - had the same feeling of the wire stabbing etc.
If I used the drag method... I found I could get much nicer welds and feeling.
I think it was poor technique on my part, and that I was moving the wire out of the weld pool (I'd spent a year using a gasless mig and the drag method).

As I've seen others advise.... I now try to keep the torch at quite a steep angle, and move my head in front of the direction of torch travel - so I can see the weld pool better, my torch is at a better angle, and move the torch at a pace where the wire remains in the front of the weld pool & not ahead of it.

You can also try shortening the distance if the torch to the work (wire stick-out) and vice versa to get the weld working nicely.

(Note also that if your wire speed is too slow for the voltage you're using - the wire will burn back towards the torch tip - and can then seem to pulse as the burnt back tip cools and stops melting so it then feeds back towards the workpiece).

It's a fair bit of trial and error & practice

 

[AVI_8]

Oh yeh, that’s for sure, I’ll try and use some better techniques, thanks for your input, movIng the glove smoothly is proving not easy to learn. I know it wasn’t going to be a light switch moment, it’s a skilled trade, practice, practice and more practice, trial and error, then practice some more!

 

[stuvy]

Your initial travel speed looks too fast

 

[Morrisman]

I’m not getting a nice sizzle sound at that setting, it’s more of a succession of very rapid pops.

My R-tech 180 is the same, loud fast pops, no sizzle. I'm sure it's an inverter welder too.

 

[Mark 2]

Certainly the first pic is lacking in gas.
Is it a synergic machine?

 

[GRW]

Certainly the first pic is lacking in gas.
Is it a synergic machine?

The Paton isn't synergic.
It has 2 displays/adjustments (voltage from memory is something like 12v -24v, and wire speed in 0.1M/M increments from something like 2M/M to 16 or 17 I think.
A LOT of adjustment range (too much for my feeble brain).

 

[GRW]

Here's some notes I made when faffing with the Paton 160 trying to get my head around the setting combinations in case it's of any use to AVI8....

(Ones with double ticks I recall were ones that seemed to work especially well....though of course I can't recall why and exactly what I was test-welding on at the time

 

[AVI_8]

Here's some notes I made when faffing with the Paton 160 trying to get my head around the setting combinations in case it's of any use to AVI8....

(Ones with double ticks I recall were ones that seemed to work especially well....though of course I can't recall why and exactly what I was test-welding on at the time

View attachment 345256

Thanks all for your advice, yes I was definitely going too fast at the start.
GRW, thanks for your copy of settings, I’ll have a play with that.

 

[Bobupndown]

I've never mastered the push welding technique at all, I drag all my welds, seems to be acceptable but it's only diy for myself. It stays stuck together.

 

[Richiew]

A case of the blind leading the blind here, but take a look at this thread if you haven't already. All done on a Paton 250 so the same welder as yours, just a little more top end.

Tell us your fave volts/wirespeed settings.

I might have gone and purchased a new mig that uses actual volts and wire speed settings (metres per minute). I've done a load of googling to try and nail down some figures for 0.8mm or 0.030" wire and it is bloody confusing. Even the settings provided by manufacturers differ by quite a margin...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

Here's a weld of mine from today. I was in a get it done mood. I wasn't trying to win any welding competitions and it needs a bit more voltage to wet out more. This was 20.7 volts 6.8metres per minute. 1mm wire. 3mm plate.

I am using 5% co2 argon mix now but still getting the terrible splatter/spatter.

 

[AVI_8]

At the moment I can only dream of getting a weld to look like that.
Thanks for the thread info