Welding Certification test Q&A and tips and tricks
Kasey
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    Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:55 pm
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    Central Alberta

So, the key to passing the practical is to read the guidelines VERY CAREFULLY. It states to identify 1 defect with each weld. I failed the test a few times (only scoring 20-30%) due to identifying all of the different defects that each plastic mold had. Overthinking can be costly. After going back and only identifying 1 defect it was an easy 100%.
Kasey
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  • Joined:
    Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:55 pm
  • Location:
    Central Alberta

So, the key to passing the practical is to read the guidelines VERY CAREFULLY. It states to identify 1 defect with each weld. I failed the test a few times (only scoring 20-30%) due to identifying all of the different defects that each plastic mold had. Overthinking can be costly. After going back and only identifying 1 defect it was an easy 100%.
Andrew.L
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    Thu Oct 29, 2020 1:26 pm

This practical/visual exam seems to be more of a money grab than a test to show that you can inspect.
Read the instructions carefully, followed to an absolute T and still seem to be failing.
Get the marks in the mail and it’s 5 marks for the correct discontinuity
And 2 marks for the correct “acceptable or rejection”
And the middle where you write your measurement seems to be worth 0 every single time.

I remember exactly what the text specimens looked like them I got the results in the mail.
I remember exactly what I put down for measurements and I got a 0 on all 5.

Porosity was 3mm deep.
So in the area you put your measurement I put 3mm
GOT A 0....

Undercut on model 1001 was 3mm deep.
Circled undercut, wrote 3mm for measurement and then filled out rejection...
GOT A 0...

Just don’t seem to understand what the issue seems to be here.
The generic code states that it’s a rejection for anything over 2mm...
So what seems to be the issue here?
ali
  • ali
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    Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:03 pm

Andrew.L wrote:This practical/visual exam seems to be more of a money grab than a test to show that you can inspect.
Read the instructions carefully, followed to an absolute T and still seem to be failing.
Get the marks in the mail and it’s 5 marks for the correct discontinuity
And 2 marks for the correct “acceptable or rejection”
And the middle where you write your measurement seems to be worth 0 every single time.

I remember exactly what the text specimens looked like them I got the results in the mail.
I remember exactly what I put down for measurements and I got a 0 on all 5.

Porosity was 3mm deep.
So in the area you put your measurement I put 3mm
GOT A 0....

Undercut on model 1001 was 3mm deep.
Circled undercut, wrote 3mm for measurement and then filled out rejection...
GOT A 0...

Just don’t seem to understand what the issue seems to be here.
The generic code states that it’s a rejection for anything over 2mm...
So what seems to be the issue here?

Hey Andrew, have you passed yet? I just did my six year renewal today, I don't have my results but I think I failed.... Anyhow, I did want to respond to you though. You're saying that you measured your coupon with porosity 3mm deep, but you're not supposed to measure the depth of the porosity, you're supposed to measure the length of it. I hope this may help you for your next test.
Rottirudy
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    Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:09 pm

Did you figure out the measuring issue yet I seem to have done the same thing got 0 on all the measurements? Any info would be great as I try again tomorrow. Thanks
Rottirudy
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    Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:09 pm

Andrew.L wrote:This practical/visual exam seems to be more of a money grab than a test to show that you can inspect.
Read the instructions carefully, followed to an absolute T and still seem to be failing.
Get the marks in the mail and it’s 5 marks for the correct discontinuity
And 2 marks for the correct “acceptable or rejection”
And the middle where you write your measurement seems to be worth 0 every single time.

I remember exactly what the text specimens looked like them I got the results in the mail.
I remember exactly what I put down for measurements and I got a 0 on all 5.

Porosity was 3mm deep.
So in the area you put your measurement I put 3mm
GOT A 0....

Undercut on model 1001 was 3mm deep.
Circled undercut, wrote 3mm for measurement and then filled out rejection...
GOT A 0...

Just don’t seem to understand what the issue seems to be here.
The generic code states that it’s a rejection for anything over 2mm...
So what seems to be the issue here?

I am curious if you have gotten the measurements figured as out I am having the same issue and had the same sample the 1001 with 3mm of undercut.
Drift
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    Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:17 pm

Hello, I just took the practical exam for the level 1 CWB welding exam a few weeks ago, and I ended up failing with 60%. I was really shocked that I failed since I know what all the discontinuities look like, and I followed all the rules for the test by picking only one discontinuity(or no discontinuity if there was none), entering only one measurement without giving a range, then selecting if it was a pass or failed weld.

I have a few concerns and CWB wont give any information to me, so I hope someone can give some details on how the test should be filled out.

I found measuring the samples was really easy, but still managed to get two of the measurements wrong. CWB wouldn't tell me how specific the measurements have to be, I asked if they were rounded off to the closest 0.5mm since the tools didnt have lines for every tenth of a mm, but she said she can't tell me that information. I just want to know how precise the measurements need to be, because I can't wrap my head around how I managed to get two of them wrong when it seemed very easy and clear what the measurement ended up being. I see earlier in the comments that people are saying they have a bit of leeway in our measurements, which makes me even more confused on how I managed to get them wrong since there is no chance I was more than 0.5mm off on my measurements. I feel like they want an exact precise measurement, can anyone confirm this at all?

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Another concern is when I can clearly see there is a bunch of tiny specks of porosity which are so tiny that I can't measure them, should I select no discontinuity? Should I select porosity? If something is too small to measure, Im not sure what measurement I could put down since they were so tiny. Personally in this situation I put down No discontinuity since porosity under 1mm in length is allowed, and I couldn't even measure the size of them since they were just tiny little dots ... I have no clue if I got this right though.
With that said with the porosity sample I had, I also had a sample that was really ugly that had a whole bunch of undercut on it, but the undercut was only 1mm deep, and undercut is allowed up to 2mm deep. I also selected no discontinuity for this one since it wasn't outside of the acceptable amount...although this one was still able to be measured, so Im not sure if I got this one wrong, maybe I shouldve selected undercut, marked down that it was 1mm deep, and then accepted it as a passable weld..... or was I right to select no discontinuity since it was still less than the unacceptable amount?
The biggest problem with these two samples is I only got one discontinuity wrong out of the 5 samples I was given, and its possible that I was right by selecting "No discontinuity" for both of them. It wouldn't really make sense that I should've selected the porosity or undercut since I would've been wrong on at least two discontinuity selections if thats the case...unless I was suppose to pick undercut since the undercut was measurable, and leave the porosity one as no discontinuity.
TLDR for this section, I mostly just want to know when I should be selecting "No discontinuity" or the passable discontinuity...like at what point does it become a "no discontinuity" selection? For all I know I was right on both of these to put no discontinuity, and the 1 of 5 that I selected wrong was something else.
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Not sure if anyone else came across a situation where any of the samples were too scratched up to figure out what they were looking at. One of my samples was so scratched that I couldnt tell if I was looking at undercut, or if I was looking at some exposed bevel. If it was exposed bevel then it would've been lack of fusion, if it was undercut, then it was deep enough to be marked as under cut since the pit was deep enough for a rejection...but sadly it felt like a flip of a coin since I couldn't tell what I was looking at. Has anyone else come across a situation where there sample was too scratched up to see the sample clearly? And can anything be done about it?
Last edited by Drift on Mon Nov 22, 2021 7:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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