Advice on welds

[Rabs]

My first attempt at welding.

I am using a sealey mightymig 150 set up in gas mode. I was welding inside.

The welds seem to be sitting on top of the metal.

The machine has 4 settings for heat. The is was on the second lowest. Wire speed on 3.

It's a car panel, old spitfire boot lid that I am trying to refurb for a planned larger car project.

Any advice from looking at the welds?

 

[Tigman]

what size wire are you using ? try turning your wire feed down and try a tack then turn up untill you find the sweet spot , you need the sound of sizzling sausages !

 

[Rabs]

Thanks I am using 0.6mm wire.

 

[Tigman]

you really need to play with the controls to find the best combination , try a thicker piece of metal lay a run of weld down with one hand and turn the wire feed knob up and down to see what effect it has then you will find the best position for it .
what type of gas and how much ie LPM are you using ?

 

[Rabs]

Hobbyweld 5 which is the argon mix rent free bottle.

 

[mike 109444]

Rabs looking at some of the weld you seam to have crap coming through from the other side of the panel. These look like little volcanos, where the impurities come through and muck up the weld. Much as Mr T has said you need to find the right, narrow band on the settings to match the metal being welded.
Sometimes you have to run the weld quite hot BUT not try to run a bead as it will blow through.
One way to try your settings would be by setting power to say 2 then turn wire feed right down to a creep then try a weld and you should find the weld will put, put as the wire is not feeding in quick enough and so not maintaining the arc, then turn the wire feed up one notch and try again and repeat until you start to get an arc to maintain. Then that is your starting point and you then go up from there. If you go to far up then the wire will start to push the torch back as the wire is feeding in to fast and cant melt quick enough. The sweet spot should be somewhere between these to extremes.
Where in Bristol are you ??

 

[Rabs]

Thanks Mike. I will follow your advice and appreciate the help. I am in Redland/henleaze close to junction of kellaway avenue and coldharbour road.

 

[Rabs]

Mike, Is that a mk1 Capri in your picture?

 

[mike 109444]

Mike, Is that a mk1 Capri in your picture?

It's a CONSUL Capri which preceded the MK1 Capri by several years !!
I'm over in South Bristol BTW

 

[Rabs]

Not to far away. Lovely car. My dad has a 1959 ford zodiac in a garage that's unfortunately rotting away!! By the time he had a chance to get to look at it properly with a view to starting to restore it, it was 2 far gone. A real shame. It was taken off the road in the 70's after my mums uncle had a small front end collision. Put away to one day get back on the road......unfortunately we do not have the skills!! I bought him a rough spitfire as we plan on restoring that together. It's stripped down to start repair but that's going the same way. That's why I am finally getting around to start learning welding etc. Should be an interesting project. Need to get on it. Carpe Diem.

 

[mike 109444]

Sadly Ford + time = rust !
Still my Capri although containing rust is not as bad as my first proper car back at the end of the 70's That was a Ford Cortina MK1 which I am sure had THEN more rust that the Capri had when I got it aprox 5 years ago and I have yet to finish it!
The attached images show an area that had about 5 layers of metal that came together at this point! and the floor + chassis and sill had to tie in as well.
And remember you can NEVER have enough clamps......