reading the puddle

[russellsh1]

i am attempting to learn to mig weld and i was told that i should learn to read the puddle. could someone in great detail describe how to read the puddle. pictures and videos would be very appreciated.

thanks all, russellsh1

 

[Iain Westland]

you need to practice to read it.

I work mainly on thin stuff, if the puddle gets too wet it blows through on me. I have to make both sheets melt but into a thick goo (warm flowing grease) rather than water.

for a guy whos first language is english, I am rubbish at explaining

sorry

iain

 

[brightspark]

click on the mig welding tutorial above in blue strip next to home

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

the wire and metal melts and creates a pool of molten steel.

If you take the heat away for a split second then it'll solidify. When you point the torch at one side of the weld pool it'll melt the metal on that side and the opposite side solidifies.

As soon as this happens you move the torch on again to the end of the new pool...but this is all so quick that it's a continuous movement rather than jumps.

You need to be aware that if the pool gets too big it'll drop through the metal and the thinner the metal the easier it is for the pool to get too big and burn through.

That's about it really, it's all down to practice. If you get some thin sheet and hold the torch in one spot for a couple of seconds you'll see the pool grow and heat up the surrounding metal then drop through. That'll give you an idea of what to look for when welding normally.


Regards
Peter

 

[fluxcored]

Hi russelsh,

I have'nt done MIG welding for quite some time. What works for me is to watch the sides, the width of the pool and the crown or top of the pool.

The sides I look for signs that it fuses properly to the 2 pieces being joined.

The width I try to keep constant for a uniform bead + it tells me a bit about how hot it's getting. The wider, the hotter.

The crown I try to keep the same height, also for uniformity but also to tell me how hot it is. If it flattens out I know it's becoming too hot and ready to blow.

So Peter's correct - the bead becomes wider + flatter when it's about to blow.

If you can't see that happening try counting from when you start until you blow a hole. You've now got a baseline and know when you must stop.

Regards