Our second welds.

[The Buddah]

Hello,

I'd just like to post the second atempt at welding for my son and i but before i do need a bit of advice regarding a noise comming from the welder.

When i turn the welder on sometimes there is a noise that sounds like a low pitched drill, it happened the first time i turned the welder on and it happenend again today after turning it on and off a few times to cut the end of the welding wire.
Is this normal? To me it sounds like an obstruction in a fan, if so why would the fan come on the first time you turn it on when you have not done any welding?

We done some small straight runs ( well as straight as we could get them).
A ninety degree but join.
Vertical weld.
Butt join to a 4mm thick plate with a peice of 2mm angle iron.
I also tried to weld a handle onto a peice of scrap.

How do you know if your getting the right depth of weld or strength?

Here goes.

Thanks mike.

 

[shenion]

Those welds look cold. Look at the edges, they should "wet" out onto the parent metal. The parent metal is cooling it too much before the weld can flow out. So, there is little fusion of the weld.

 

[R Kraft]

The fan on most of the machines comes on when you turn the power on,whether you are welding or not.
The fans will sometimes get bent in shipping,it should be looked at.
Usually you need at least 40amps per mm of steel thickness.
Most of your welds look pretty cold.
You didn't mention what amperage you were using, or if it is gas or gas-less
A weld should go all of the way through the metal.
To test if a weld is good, usually you will do a test piece and bend it.
It should break the metal by the weld,the weld should be the strongest part.
Robert

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

That looks like Gas welding to me,R Kraft...too shiny and neatish for Gas-less.

I'm no expert but I agree that the weld is not fusing at its edges.

 

[The Buddah]

Thank you guys,

Yes it is a gas welder portamig 185.
Cold weld? this means nought to me as im new to this.
Where am i going wrong?
How do you prevent a cold weld?
What colour should the welding be during the welding process?

Oh no i don't beleive it finally get another welder and there could be a problem with the fan.
I thuoght that dishing out a few extra bucks would get me a decent welder.
I purchased the portamig because it had good reviews and returned the sip back to suppliers at at cost of £40.

I supose i'll have to go through the process of making loads of phone calls contacting the suppliers to get this sorted.

Mike.

 

[shenion]

It is just you are using the wrong settings. You need to turn the voltage and wire speed up to put more heat in.

 

[The Buddah]

cold weld

It is just you are using the wrong settings. You need to turn the voltage and wire speed up to put more heat in.

Thank you for reply shenion.
I was using wire speed 3, course power 1 and fine power 4.
What do you think i should have set the power at?

Mike.

 

[shenion]

According to the calculator in the tutorial:

Says about setting 10 or course 2, fine 3. Adjust the wire speed accordingly for a good sound.

That is just a rough starting point.

Look at the power setting page on the tutorial. Th last pic shows what to look for. you welds look worse than the left one that is too cold.

 

[R Kraft]

You could have a look at this Miller manual,page 30 deals with cold welds.http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o1318f_mil.pdf
Robert

 

[The Buddah]

Right,

I tried my welder on setting 2.3 / 2.2 / 2.1 and 2.0.
The house fuse blew on all setting except 2.0 and i ran a weld about 2 inches long on 2mm steel .... see pic.

I hope this is good enough or atleast getting close as i can't turn the power up.
The weld going across the width of the steel section is my atept at butt welding tow pieces together.

Mike.

 

[shenion]

Getting closer. Left weld looks like torch angle may be a bit low.

You'll need a better power source wired and be sure to use a good extension.

Use a push technique to guarantee better penetration/fusion. It is shown in the 3rd pic in the tutorial here.

 

[awemawson]

In your earlier picturesw the metal is no way clean enough to weld. You need shiney metal every time as in your last picture. Coarse flap wheel or grinding wheel does the job.

 

[Ed.]

If you are maxing out and tripping out your house power then I would call in a sparky to add a higher amperage circuit to the switch board, that part is relatively easy and shouldn't be too expensive. If you can't get enough power to run your welder then the settings on it aren't going to be accurate not to mention that your power will fluctuate dramatically which will also affect the welders output.

If you add a higher capacity circuit breaker you will also have to check that the cable running from the switchboard to the socket where your welder is plugged in is also rated to take the power drain and that the distance isn't too great. That part can be expensive if new cable has to run through walls. The longer the distance the thicker the cable has to be. Another option would be to fit a 15amp external socket just outside your switchboard and then get a heavy extension cable with 15amp plugs and sockets on it to connect the welder, by heavy I mean about 4mm cable.

Talk to a sparky, tell him your problems and see what he suggest, because at the end of the day you cannot run heavy power drain equipment on normal duty circuits and expect them to perform properly or even safely for that matter.

If you do this, chances are you will get much better welds from your unit.

 

[octo0072000]

welding

you need a better power supply if you are blowing fuses and a heavy duty extension lead you will need a 4mm cable to the garage and 32amp breakers
as most of your welds are just sitting on top of the thick steel you need to do a lot more reading about welding have a look on you tube
try these

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk84t9HYSrU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pBBMNsRlT0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvjyFwLAPyU&feature=related

it's all about a learning curve and practice you need to find out what amps volts settings are on the porta mig if you are even thinking about going to make a roll cage for a landy see if you can find a welding shop near you speak to a welder show him what you have done and ask for a bit of help
on settings