Welding Tips and Tricks

After all the searching I've done I decided to ask a pipeliner buddy of mine if he knew of such a rod. He said "sure they're called 27P rods. Cantankerous rods to get used to due to the thin flux coating but work good once you get used to them. Particularly at starts, if you lift the rod slightly striking an arc the weld looks like moonbase 1. Gotta keep a very tight arc. Run on plates help alot for structural work."

So here it is: http://www.esab.ae/ae/en/products/index ... ode=410633

E8018 vertical downhill rods.

Very tempting for a video ain't it. You know its gonna eat away at you until you do.

Hello everyone,
My name is Aaron and my message is for help concerning a pipe cert i'm in the middle of trying to take. It is either going to be done on 3" or 6" steel pipe done in the 5g position. I'm in school currently and have about a week left. I have already took two ther certs one mig 3g plate and tig 2f plate and passed both. My question is this. My instructors cant seem to find the correct code for this process to show me the exact measurements min. and max. of the length overall once the pipe is welded. I had everything beveled and ready at 30 % and they tell me that its not 8" overall that it might be 9" or even 12". So I have no time left and I'm freaking out because of time and the fact I paid extra for this cert. Please help. my email is midwest_813@yahoo.com or you can even call me 419-632-3046. Thanks a bunch . Need help asap.

I have seen 7014 used downhand on pipe and plate.

anyone here ever welded 7018 down hill? i have.. not fond of it

If you can ask to see their welding procedure it should detail which rod they use and uphill vs downhill. If you are doing a welder qualification for a contractor they should have a qualified WPS you are certifying against.

Midwest_813 wrote:Hello everyone,
My name is Aaron and my message is for help concerning a pipe cert i'm in the middle of trying to take. It is either going to be done on 3" or 6" steel pipe done in the 5g position. I'm in school currently and have about a week left. I have already took two ther certs one mig 3g plate and tig 2f plate and passed both. My question is this. My instructors cant seem to find the correct code for this process to show me the exact measurements min. and max. of the length overall once the pipe is welded. I had everything beveled and ready at 30 % and they tell me that its not 8" overall that it might be 9" or even 12". So I have no time left and I'm freaking out because of time and the fact I paid extra for this cert. Please help. my email is midwest_813@yahoo.com or you can even call me 419-632-3046. Thanks a bunch . Need help asap.

I don't think "code" is the word you're looking for. They (better) know what code. It will be AWS D1.1 structural, ASME IX boiler and pressure pipe, API oil and pipeline, etc. You're going to have to narrow the field if you want anything resembling a pre-approved procedure and accompanying specifications.

What sanctioning body are you seeking the certification for? AWS?

Steve S

7018 is all position not all progression, made for uphill unless WPS says different

Hi guys, first off, thanks for letting me in, i am from Slovakia and i am proceeding thru basic TIG test, where i learn lap joints, flat plate joints, horizontal and uphill welds, i started with basic carbon steel, then get some skills and then i tried stainless steel, it went all done, it was fun and i made it in 2 weeks, then i moved to pipe welding and first off i started weld on table with my pipe fixtured, made weld, then turned it, welded again, etc. Then they showed me some king of 6g position and i used metal prep like Jody learned me from videos, i made tacs, but then i started to weld from 6 o clock position uphill, they told me i have to make it free handed with no fingers helping me to stable arc and so on, so i was mangled in weird position my hands were shaking and i couldnt make any good weld, i kept sharpening my tungsten after almost every weld, it was all bad. I tried lots of techniques and i got little better but still its not acceptable for me.

Here are my questions and things i found problematic for me
-Will i be better welder by doing free handed welds without fixing my hand on metal for stable arc? I just dont think so, because if i prep my hand and rest my finger on pipe, i make decent weld in almost every position, but free handed, its bad...

-i was using Fronius MagicWave 2200 Job in welding school, it is 4000$ machine with all kinds of settings, including pulse, ac/dc, 220 amps capable, HF start, etc, it has also water cooled torch, but the torch had buttons for starting arc but it is really hard for me to reach that button in weird postions when doing 6g test weld, thats why i ask if its better to go with fancy expensive torch with 360 angle head settings, without buttons but buying pedal instead, or if i should stay with that torch and learn with that ?

-next thing was my rod, when i was trying to do dip technique adding rod to puddle it sticks to puddle or somewhere else everytime so i dont know what am i doing wrong, i tried different angles, tighter arc, longer arcs, my rod just got glued almost everytime i sticked it to puddle and tried to take it out, hard to explain without showing... thats why i stayed with lay wire technique almost in every weld i made...

-next thing is tig finger i bought here in Slovakia, i dont know what i made wrong with it but it seems like it is very brittle material (Silica fiber), but i prepped my metal plate, i grinded it, then polished with sand paper grinding wheel, deburred edges and it was safe for my bare finger to slide on that edge, then i slided it with tig finger and it tore even more, after 4 passes it ended up in trash, is it really that brittle when you buy that from Jody ? I couldnt get that Jody´s because he sent only in USA so i had to buy this shit....