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HI GUYS. THIS IS MY FIRST POST SO I'LL INTRODUCE MYSELF. MY NAME IS MATT, I'VE BEEN WELDING FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS, THROUGH MY HIGH SCHOOL. GRADUATED LAST YEAR. I'M NOT A NOVICE WELDER, AND HAVE DONE SOME INDUSTRIAL WORK AND SOME CUSTOM TUBE FRAME FABRICATION. I CAN ARC/MIG/TIG/OXY WELD, WITH MOST OF MY SKILL IN ARC AND MIG, SOME LIMITED TIG, AND OXY.
NOT SURE HOW MANY OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE SKILLS USA/VICA ORGANIZATION, BUT IT IS A TRADE CLUBS ORGANIZATION THAT PUTS ON CONTESTS EACH YEAR. I WON MY STATE COMPETITION AND PLACED 2ND AT NATIONALS LAST YEAR. I WAS INVITED TO BE PART OF THE PROCESS TO SELECT ONE PERSON TO REPRESENT THE UNITED STATES AT THE WORLD SKILLS COMPETITION IN SWITZERLAND NEXT YEAR. RIGHT NOW THERE ARE 19 GUYS IN THE PRELIMINARYS.
MY PROBLEM IS WITH THE 2 7018 PLATES REQUIRED. THESE ARE SET WELD PARAMETERS SO DONT JUST TELL ME TO CHANGE THEM. THE PLATES ARE 3/8" PLATE, 60 DEGREE V GROOVES WITH 3/32" ROOT FACE. ROD IS 3/32" 7018 THAT MUST BE RUN ON AC.
MY PROBLEM IS THE POROSITY STEMMING FROM THE AC CURRENT. IT SHOWS UP AT RANDOM TIMES, UNPREDICTABLY. I CAN RUN SEVERAL RODS CLEAN AND THEN HAVE ONE WITH A BELT OF POROSITY THROUGH MOST OF IT. THE 3G PLATE HAS A ROOT GAP OF 1/8" AT THE START, 5/32" AT THE FINISH. IF YOU LOOK AT THE PICTURES IN THE PAGE I'M GOING TO LINK TO, THE PICTURES ARE NAMED SO THAT YOU CAN TELL WHAT THEY ARE. THE WELD SEQUENCE WENT LIKE THIS: ONE WELD CLEAN, ONE WELD DIRTY, ONE WELD CLEAN, ONE WELD DIRTY. THIS IS WHEN I BEGAN TAKING PICTURES. YOU CAN SEE THE POROSITY IN THE GROUND OUT AREA FOR THE TIE IN. I RAN ANOTHER ROD AND GROUND IT, AND IT WAS CLEAN AS YOU CAN SEE. THERE IS ALSO A PICTURE OF THE ENTIRE ROOT PASS, A PICTURE OF THE ENTIRE ROOT FACE, AND A PICTURE OF THE ROOT PASS GROUND OUT TO SHOW THE 2 AREAS OF POROSITY. SORRY THE FLASH MADE IT HARD TO SEE.
THERE ARE ALSO PICTURES OF THE 3G CAP PASS, THE 4G CAP PASS, THE 4G ROOT PASS, AND THE 2G TIG ROOT PASS. ANY COMMENTS ON THESE ARE WELCOME, I HAVE NEVER RUN WEAVES BEFORE, ALWAYS STRINGERS, SO THE WEAVES ARENT PRETTY. THE 4G PROBLEM IS WITH ROOT CONCAVITY. ITS BAD ENOUGH TO CAUSE CONCERN, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE 4G ROOT PICTURE. LIKE I SAID, I HAVE LIMITED TIG, AND MOSTLY ON ALUMINUM, SO THE TIG ROOT ISNT NICE EITHER.
ANY COMMENTS ARE APRECIATED-
MATT
NOT SURE HOW MANY OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE SKILLS USA/VICA ORGANIZATION, BUT IT IS A TRADE CLUBS ORGANIZATION THAT PUTS ON CONTESTS EACH YEAR. I WON MY STATE COMPETITION AND PLACED 2ND AT NATIONALS LAST YEAR. I WAS INVITED TO BE PART OF THE PROCESS TO SELECT ONE PERSON TO REPRESENT THE UNITED STATES AT THE WORLD SKILLS COMPETITION IN SWITZERLAND NEXT YEAR. RIGHT NOW THERE ARE 19 GUYS IN THE PRELIMINARYS.
MY PROBLEM IS WITH THE 2 7018 PLATES REQUIRED. THESE ARE SET WELD PARAMETERS SO DONT JUST TELL ME TO CHANGE THEM. THE PLATES ARE 3/8" PLATE, 60 DEGREE V GROOVES WITH 3/32" ROOT FACE. ROD IS 3/32" 7018 THAT MUST BE RUN ON AC.
MY PROBLEM IS THE POROSITY STEMMING FROM THE AC CURRENT. IT SHOWS UP AT RANDOM TIMES, UNPREDICTABLY. I CAN RUN SEVERAL RODS CLEAN AND THEN HAVE ONE WITH A BELT OF POROSITY THROUGH MOST OF IT. THE 3G PLATE HAS A ROOT GAP OF 1/8" AT THE START, 5/32" AT THE FINISH. IF YOU LOOK AT THE PICTURES IN THE PAGE I'M GOING TO LINK TO, THE PICTURES ARE NAMED SO THAT YOU CAN TELL WHAT THEY ARE. THE WELD SEQUENCE WENT LIKE THIS: ONE WELD CLEAN, ONE WELD DIRTY, ONE WELD CLEAN, ONE WELD DIRTY. THIS IS WHEN I BEGAN TAKING PICTURES. YOU CAN SEE THE POROSITY IN THE GROUND OUT AREA FOR THE TIE IN. I RAN ANOTHER ROD AND GROUND IT, AND IT WAS CLEAN AS YOU CAN SEE. THERE IS ALSO A PICTURE OF THE ENTIRE ROOT PASS, A PICTURE OF THE ENTIRE ROOT FACE, AND A PICTURE OF THE ROOT PASS GROUND OUT TO SHOW THE 2 AREAS OF POROSITY. SORRY THE FLASH MADE IT HARD TO SEE.
THERE ARE ALSO PICTURES OF THE 3G CAP PASS, THE 4G CAP PASS, THE 4G ROOT PASS, AND THE 2G TIG ROOT PASS. ANY COMMENTS ON THESE ARE WELCOME, I HAVE NEVER RUN WEAVES BEFORE, ALWAYS STRINGERS, SO THE WEAVES ARENT PRETTY. THE 4G PROBLEM IS WITH ROOT CONCAVITY. ITS BAD ENOUGH TO CAUSE CONCERN, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE 4G ROOT PICTURE. LIKE I SAID, I HAVE LIMITED TIG, AND MOSTLY ON ALUMINUM, SO THE TIG ROOT ISNT NICE EITHER.
ANY COMMENTS ARE APRECIATED-
MATT
Lo-Hy on AC is a little messier than on DC but I think what told about always running stringers, is IMHO not hard and fast. You CAN run weaves and especially if you are getting porosity, which could be from bad rod, or mill scale, dirty backup bar. As you travel along your weld make small arcs (curves) back and forth to stir it up. This is something you have to see, to really understand what I'm talking about. You know you have arrived when your slag will peel up behind you by itself.
IT TAKES 5 RODS TO GO THE LENGTH OF THAT PLATE, SO THERE ARE 5 TIE INS IN THE ROOT PICTURE, I PERSONALLY DONT THINK THEY ARE VERY IRREGULAR AT ALL. IF YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE EXCESIVE PENETRATION IN THE START OF THE 3 AND 4G PLATES, I WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH RUNNING THE WELDS HOT TO PREVENT POROSTIY. THE RODS ARE FROM AN OVEN, ONLY OUT AND HOUR MAX BEFORE THEY ARE USED. I WILL NOTE THIS IS NOT A TRUE ROD OVEN, BUT A 2'x1 1/2'x1 1/2' STEEL BOX OF 1/4" PLATE WITH A FLOOD LAMP IN IT, BUT IT STAYS PRETTY HOT. 
WHERE DID YOU SEE THOSE PICTURES? I'VE WANTED TO SEE THEM FOREVER! I TOOK SECOND PLACE IN THE SECONDARY THIS YEAR, WERE YOU AT THE SHOW? MY NERVES ARE WHAT MESSED ME UP THERE TOO, THE FIRST DAY THE WELDERS WENT IN, WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A ADJUSTMENT DAY, TO GET USED TO THE MACHINES, THE AREA, READ A PRINT, AND TACK UP THE MAIN PROJECT. WE DID A ARC PROJECT, A FLUX CORE PROJECT, AND A TIG PROJECT. NEITHER THE ARC NOR FLUX CORE PROJECTS FROM THIS DAY COUNTED, but THE TIG WAS THE only TIG WE GOT TO DO, AND THIS IS WHAT I HAD TO DO FIRST PROJECT, FIRST DAY, WITH NERVES ON HIGH, I WAS SHAKING LIKE MAD, AND NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT WAS JUST UGLY 
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