up hand welding stick

[davidjohnperry]

thanks for the advice every one
wish i could have more time to cut the rot out get some plate in there and have it all flat in stead of lapped al the time my dad interfears tomuch. i want to take pride in my work not just wack it in there

 

[shirazman]

Yes, cheap buzz boxes are more CV (constant Voltage) than CC (constant current). As you reduce the gap, the current increases. Also, due to the low OCV, as you increase the gap length the arc duty cycle decreases.

Usually the lower the OCV, the less they are CC. Even good transformer machines have a current slope with arc length.


Inverters are really the only true CC machines as they use feedback to always maintain the same current.

Lincoln Electric used to have good pages about the issue, but they have pulled lots of the useful stuff from their site.

Miller does mention transformer vs inverter current slopes: http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/articles/index.php?page=article108.html

You can quote all the electrical theory you want and it probably is true but stickntig is right... if you want to cool the weld tighten the arc.. dont care what stick welder you use. Ive been an all positional stick welder for nigh on 30 years

 

[davidjohnperry]

.if you want to cool the weld tighten the arcQUOTE]
this may sound dumb but hey lets take a shot

cool the weld like stich welding in mig ?

and im guessing tighten the arc bring the rod closer to the work peice

 

[StickNtig]

You can quote all the electrical theory you want and it probably is true but stickntig is right... if you want to cool the weld tighten the arc.. dont care what stick welder you use. Ive been an all positional stick welder for nigh on 30 years

Thanks

 

[shirazman]

.if you want to cool the weld tighten the arcQUOTE]
this may sound dumb but hey lets take a shot

cool the weld like stich welding in mig ?

and im guessing tighten the arc bring the rod closer to the work peice

With mig welding really all you can do to cool the weld effectively is use the steel you are welding to disperse the heat i.e. weave the weld. With stick if you tighten the arc, bring the rod closer to the work piece, you can change the appearance of the weld i.e. it would "bead" the weld then try and lenghten it and it will flatten the weld. Get a piece of 8mm flat bar or similar and practice. Draw straight lines on the steel and weld to them, do one with a tight arc then the next with a lengthened arc and see the difference. Another advantage of long arc when welding is if you suspect slag inclusion you can lengthen the arc hold it for a second and burn the slag out but you can use that as you become more experienced

 

[shenion]

You can quote all the electrical theory you want and it probably is true but stickntig is right... if you want to cool the weld tighten the arc.. dont care what stick welder you use. Ive been an all positional stick welder for nigh on 30 years

Yes, but have do done it with a £40 buzz box?

Both Lincoln and Miller mentioned how these el-cheapo's are backwards.

 

[davidjohnperry]

i will try that mate thanks for that they say this type of welding is the hardest to do.
i know now that they are right very right indeed :-)

 

[shirazman]

Yes, but have do done it with a £40 buzz box?

Both Lincoln and Miller mentioned how these el-cheapo's are backwards.

I have many a time. As i said this is the electrical theory and stats of the welder. It has absolutely nothing to do with the practical aspects of welding. When you tighten the arc on any stick welder its almost like smothering a flame. I know this because I have been welding for years as i suspect looking at where stickntig works so has he. Try it for yourself

 

[shenion]

I have many a time. As i said this is the electrical theory and stats of the welder. It has absolutely nothing to do with the practical aspects of welding. When you tighten the arc on any stick welder its almost like smothering a flame. I know this because I have been welding for years as i suspect looking at where stickntig works so has he. Try it for yourself

I have seen cheap boxes that if you shorten the arc the current goes way up and so does the heat.

One was a $0.99 flebay deal (surplus). Was not even worth that.

It seems to be a characteristic of those 110A or less welders that go for almost nothing new. That is why I always recommend a 130A or up as they tend to work more like a real welder.

Any decent welder will be more constant current, longer arc will have more voltage at the same current so more heat.

The real cheap ones are more constant-voltage and a low voltage at that.

 

[davidjohnperry]

Brought some 3.2 nexus rods 6013 and a 17 pound grinder so on my next welding wednesday gunna get this perfect i hope been watching vids on youtube to

 

[rich r]

I'm now fairly happy with my horizontal fillet welds, so have been following your adventures ready to attempt some vertical ones. So I picked 2.5 rods (even though I know it'll be easier with 3.2s) and set the current to 80A on my Aldi buzzbox. I got similar results to yours, patchy, with it sticking to one side more than the other too.

So I dropped the current to about 70A, and made sure I was dragging the rod up the joint- angled about 75 degrees, so it wasn't getting smothered in the slag. And the results were a lot better.

After a couple more attempts with a slight weave I'm finding the welds are a lot nicer looking. I think the thing that made the biggest difference for me was concentrating on keeping the arc as short as possible and right in the corner.

Cup of tea, then I'll grind it all off and use up the rest of the rod doing it again and again. It's certainly possible with a cheap buzzbox to learn arc welding - but it takes a lot of practise, and this forum's great for reassuring us beginners that we will get there eventually!

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Cup of tea, then I'll grind it all off and use up the rest of the rod doing it again and again. It's certainly possible with a cheap buzzbox to learn arc welding - but it takes a lot of practise, and this forum's great for reassuring us beginners that we will get there eventually!

I'm currently learning with a 12 year old buzz box...its ok, its gotten me so far but its rather low duty cycle is getting in my way.. It does take lots of practise but when you begin to produce decent looking welds, its all so worth it!