How many of you run hard wire out in the field?

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I just got a quote from a guy to compare using a weld sub price against our own welders. I have planned on running flux core in my plan, the guy I got a quote from said he'd run hard wire. Mind you this is outside, in the Pacific NW. He said he could set up small shields and be just fine. I understand he has done this many times in the past, his production rates flat smoked what I was figuring...... I can understand using it in the shop but out in the weather.......I guess I should say this is 1/2" rolled plate to make steel jackets around concrete bridge columns on a seismic retrofit project on a highway.Last edited by JAS; 03-10-2015 at 05:10 PM.1963 SA 200 Redface, rebuilt by me, bodywork by CEP Everlast 255EXT w/W300 coolerMiller 212 AutosetMiller Xtreme 375Bridgeport MillSouth Bend 9" Lathe
Reply:I run hard wire outside pretty often from a Suitcase 12RC -- don't even keep flux core on the truck.  Most of my work is equipment repair though, not heavy structural.  Your competitor is right in that a properly placed shield doesn't take long to set up (I often use my truck as the shield) and is very effective.  Not to mention nearly spatter-free.I've toyed around with some flux core, have a roll in the shop now that I just couldn't get to do what I wanted it to.  Even with the right parameters and reversed polarity I was still getting some porosity in the test welds.  Nothing visible from the surface but put a grinding wheel into the weld and little pinholes showed up here and there.  It just needs to be run differently than what I've figured out so far.  My LWS' haven't been able to help much as apparently everyone in the area stick welds outside and almost the only flux core they sell is dual shield to the shops or is hobbyist-rated for single-pass.  The roll I got from one of them was Radnor wire...maybe that's my problem but I don't know enough to know.  If that makes sense.If I could figure out what I was doing wrong, it sure would be nice not to have to hook up to 75/25 or CO2 all the time, but until then it's on the back burner for a rainy day project in the shop, testing and grinding, testing and grinding.I guess bottom line is I know exactly what's going on with ER70S-6 and I know exactly what I can do with it, so that's what I use if I'm wire-feeding.  Flux core is still a question mark for me and I don't like question marks when someone's paying me for a sound weld.  Don't know deposition rates with flux core, but with solid wire I'm well ahead of the game compared to my competitors who weld EVERYTHING with stick, whether it needs it or not.
Reply:What about the union? I don't think you were involved. Before Kurt and I went to Bonneville I had the guys splicing those 36-inch beams in the Tacoma storage yard, using dual shield. We also used dual shield to splice those 10-feet diameter cans at Bonneville. Attached ImagesDon’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:Originally Posted by CEPWhat about the union? I don't think you were involved. Before Kurt and I went to Bonneville I had the guys splicing those 36-inch beams in the Tacoma storage yard, using dual shield. We also used dual shield to splice those 10-feet diameter cans at Bonneville.
Reply:The reason I went with dual shield. We were in a job turn over meeting at Northgate. Mike Huggins came in mad as a wet hen. Gil had the guys splicing those 36-inch beams with NR-211. When the meeting was wrapping up TS told me to get down to the Tacoma yard and take over the welding. I was going to use dual shield on site anyway. You should have seen the look on Larry Bazes face when I pulled up with bottles of gas, flow meters and dual shield wire! All they used was a sheet of plywood for a wind block. After the first couple hours the guys loved that dual shield.Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:Used plenty of hard wire outside when we were running around the area assembling bank vaults. Most times on just a slab but some times in a bank building that was in some stage of being built. We done it year around so had all the weather variations.
Reply:I usually use hard wire, though not for heavy stuff like you are doing. Most of the time it works out fine. Magnets with pieces of light sheet metal work good.  I just finished building a stairway outdoors with hard wire and on one day I almost built a tent around myself with welding blankets and finally gave up, the wind was just too bad that day.
Reply:if hes saying hard wire will out depost FCAW then hes not using a big enough wire.    .072 will lay way more metal in an hour than .045 solid.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Originally Posted by Dualieif hes saying hard wire will out depost FCAW then hes not using a big enough wire.    .072 will lay way more metal in an hour than .045 solid.
Reply:If the hard wire meets the specs and you can block the wind why not use hard wire.Millermatic 252millermatic 175miller 300 Thunderboltlincoln ranger 250smith torcheslots of bfh'sIf it dont fit get a bigger hammer
Reply:I think you guys are crossing the line between wire and bar stock with those sizes!
Reply:JAS - 'You're behind the power curve'. After 15 years of structural experience I took on maintained: a D9, an FA-31, three Hitachi trackhoes ZX-xxx, and five - 35ton end-dumps.Welding 60" splits in a 2" section was a normal day.  It was all done with Dual-Shield in an open pit-mine.D/S Wire - in the field is normal/standard procedure - because nothing welds/performs so well.It only requires 'cardboard and duct-tape' for proper shielding,the tent is for you . . . Drop Innershield as your 'house wire' - and adapt Dual-Shield.In this 'day and age' structural Hard-Wire is obsolesced, in both shop and field.  It: doesn't tack, like mill-scale, is subject to arc-blow . . . and is the most 'failed' weld process I repair.Having run 'tons' of Hard-Wire - it has it place - MIG like TIG?The reason my Grand Mothers wheel chair broke was because it was Hard-Wire welded.Hard Wire is my last choice for everything except P/O tube, and cold rolled.Opus
Reply:JAS another obstacle you may have with running Mig in the field is the mind set of your crew. A lot of field hands have never run Mig, and most don't like change! At Bonneville I had no problem with the welding crew splicing the cans. None of union PD could pass the welding test. We had to hire welders out of Cascade General shipyard in Portland to splice the cans!Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:Tens of thousands of pounds of it.  Quicker interpass and post weld cleaning.  Regardless of environment, in my line of work, you'd better be indoors or tented if you have an arc struck and winds exceed a whopping 5 MPH.  That requirement is Code-driven, not process-driven in our case.
Reply:Hello Jas, your description of the project makes me want to call BS on his speed. I say that based on the fact that those plate jackets are likely 2 piece units and there will be quite a bit of vertical welding to be done, you will NOT make any time trying to get solid wire running vertical(unless he's trying to sneak a downhand application into the mix, I'm doubtful that code would allow that) to attain the type of lay-down speed that you can make with flux-cored gas shielded wire. Especially if you get a good quality 1/16" FCAW-G wire. Same goes for the horizontal welds and if there is a concern with full-penetration aspects of the job, go ahead and root the welds with solid wire and if you are so inclined utilize a Miller or Lincoln advanced process machine to speed this part up and then do your fills and caps with the flux-core. However this plays out, there will most likely be WPS's that will need to be adhered to and applied, so I am pretty sure that in the end FCAW-G is still your best option. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald