The start of my welds has a hole in them

[Joe 90]

The first 15mm of my welds can sometimes have a hole in it with slag in it. The rest of the weld is real good.
It feels like it takes that 15mm till the weld sounds better, could I be starting too slow.
Ill get a couple of photos tomorrow if it happens again

 

[Tom O]

Sounds like your running a bit cold maybe?

 

[arther dailey]

no gas at start?

 

[123hotchef]

no gas at start?

not with stick

 

[123hotchef]

The first 15mm of my welds can sometimes have a hole in it with slag in it. The rest of the weld is real good.
It feels like it takes that 15mm till the weld sounds better, could I be starting too slow.
Ill get a couple of photos tomorrow if it happens again

what rods are they? are they new rods?

 

[brightspark]

its under ark welding no gas involved do what I do have a striking plate on the return clamp . strike the rod up on that then transfer to job it works a treat as the rods already hot stops a cold start and spatter all over

 

[arther dailey]

ha, agree with b spark exactly what I do ,my rods are rarely used so find it pays to use this method on old rods.

 

[Joe 90]

 

[Joe 90]

The first weld is the start of the stick, then when the stick is warm the second side is no problem. They are new magmaweld sticks.
When I start it feels like it's puddling up on me and I move on, should I be holding back?

 

[123hotchef]

that looks like slag in the weld

 

[mtt.tr]

Going before puddle has established

 

[Brad93]

Damp rods

 

[Tigman]

It looks to me as if you are not in the centre of the joint and played your arc more on the vertical side of the joint , put a big tack at both ends first clean off thoroughly then
weld off the tack ,simple

 

[Richard.]

It could be a combination of a few things and a simple sacrificial run on plate would cure your problems. It looks like a slag trap and your arc has wondered up the side wall so a little bit of start up arc blow might be the cause. Play around with the work return cable and see if it cures it. Definitely a cold start there and very likely the temp and dampness of the rod might be contributing to this. Get some whacked in the oven for a while and use them hot as that might help.

 

[Joe 90]

My father said the earth cable was too hot when he tried to take it off a couple of times, is that what you mean by the return cable? The rods are new, tried other new rods and still doing it and they are kept dry and warm.
It's an old oil cooled welder if that makes any difference

 

[Joe 90]

 

[mtt.tr]

It could be a combination of a few things and a simple sacrificial run on plate would cure your problems. It looks like a slag trap and your arc has wondered up the side wall so a little bit of start up arc blow might be the cause. Play around with the work return cable and see if it cures it. Definitely a cold start there and very likely the temp and dampness of the rod might be contributing to this. Get some whacked in the oven for a while and use them hot as that might help.

You should see the earth clamp on our 40+ year old welder. Golf ball lump of snot

 

[brightspark]

My father said the earth cable was too hot when he tried to take it off a couple of times, is that what you mean by the return cable? The rods are new, tried other new rods and still doing it and they are kept dry and warm.
It's an old oil cooled welder if that makes any difference

return = earth cable .if the ends are warm re make them off and fit new lugs. there crimped on

 

[davidjohnperry]

Is it a 6013 rod your using the combination could be a few things as mentioned before
Arc blow which is caused by science I can't be explain with my screen cracked but the solution is to either use lo hi rods which don't suffer that so much or start with welding towards or away from your earth clamp and move it around your work piece
Next could be damp rods which also has been mentioned keep rods stored in a dry warm area or use a run on and off tab start on the tab and it should be warm by the time you get on to your welding project

 

[Paul.]

Arc blow is really only a DC issue, and not as common as many think, this is just poor starting technique and cold electrodes, if the return is getting hot then all the welding current is not getting into the arc, deal with the poor connection on the return, then get into the habit of striking a cold electrode on a scrap piece of plate to warm it up and I suspect that the problem will go away