A few questions (pic heavy)

admin

Been reading a lot on here lately and since I was off due to the freeze I figured I would try to finish my cart.  I will start by saying ALL welds were done using a Hobart 210 MVP with KT industries E71T-GS .035 wire running 240 volts.I had pretty much the entire frame done (All 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1/8") and I needed to put a floor plate where the welder is going to sit.  All I had was some 22ga. sheet metal.  I welded some angle crossbars and some angle to the ends figuring I could just concentrate the heat on the angle and let it flow into the 22ga material.  I was wrong.  I got it to stick, but it's about as ugly as can be and I am pretty sure I have come to the conclusion I am using the wrong tool for the job (the wire) so I will chalk that one up as a loss until I get the proper wire for the job.  Even on heat setting 1 it was too much.I wanted to make a tray for the top and I had some 5/16" material that I cut to length on the chop saw to weld on in the upright position.  All was going well until the tip started choking up.  So I change tips and it's not too long before the next tip is choking up as well.  This wire I am using has to be the dirtiest wire known to man.  Is it ok if I use a .045 tip on the .035 wire to avoid this problem?  It seems the smoke/spatter is somehow getting into the tip and causing the problem as the entry hole on the back side of the tip is black as if it has carbon build up.  I can weld all day long in the flat position with no problem but as soon as the position changes this thing gets to sticking.  My wire is clean, no rust.  Any help as to whats going on?Here are some of my welds.  I would like an honest opinion on what I am doing wrong and what I can do to fix it.  I don't have gas so for now answering with "change wire" won't help me.  I have maybe 3 hours of actual weld time using a wire feed and that is probably on the high side.  I am just looking to improve any way I can but so far I am pretty happy with my results.  My settings were tap 6 wire 45.  In the 2 pictures below you can see towards the left side where the tip starting sticking pretty badly and where the weld went to hell in a hurry.  I couldn't focus on the puddle as the wire was coming out very erratic.  I could feel it surging in the gun as it would come out.  What on earth do I need to do to improve my vertical up?  I had to drop the heat to tap 4 and wire to 25 otherwise all of my metal was rolling down to the floor.  Heres what I was able to come up with.  My joint was a corner to corner joint and I was hoping to leave a nice round bead.  I had an old piece I welded about 2 months ago and I figured since I already had the chop saw out why not see how the weld looks.  Don't pay attention to how the piece is raised on the one side.  I was only welding the one side without the material clamped and then later decided to do the other and it raised due to no clamp and not being tacked on both ends.  It looks like I have one little spot that needs to be addressed but not sure what I would need to do to change it otherwise I know it's not going to pass any tests but it looked pretty good to me.  Any help is greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.
Reply:Originally Posted by ProChargerWhat on earth do I need to do to improve my vertical up?  I had to drop the heat to tap 4 and wire to 25 otherwise all of my metal was rolling down to the floor.  Heres what I was able to come up with.  My joint was a corner to corner joint and I was hoping to leave a nice round bead.
Reply:are you circling your weld or manipulating your electrode any?  it appears like you are, I can't say for sure, but with a fluxcore, if you are, it will increase your chances of slag inclusion.  I circle with hard wire, but not with fluxcore.  others may disagree with me, but that is how I do it.  I treat the fluxcore like a mini 7018 electrode that never ends.  except when I weld vertical.  I then drag it vertical as opposed to how you would with a 7018.  I read the puddle the same way and everything.  once you learn to read the puddle 9/10ths of the battle is won.
Reply:The base metal piece that you're holding, appears to have no penetration.  The welded piece atop Thea base metal piece, appears to,have great penetration.  I think that your base metal was too cold of a weld.  Try focusing the puddle on the thicker base piece for about 60% of the time and the thinner piece 40% of the time.  Time = your movement weave, if you will.Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:Originally Posted by SuperArcThe base metal piece that you're holding, appears to have no penetration.  The welded piece atop Thea base metal piece, appears to,have great penetration.  I think that your base metal was too cold of a weld.  Try focusing the puddle on the thicker base piece for about 60% of the time and the thinner piece 40% of the time.  Time = your movement weave, if you will.
Reply:Sometimes you can see the penetration a little better if you polish and etch your cuts.  There are some threads on the forum regarding etchants, some just use dilute muriatic (hydrochloric) acid.
Reply:its all in that puddle.. take everyones advice, try all the techniques and if one works it works, it wotks. but like DSW said, once you get the hang of it you'll get that "ah ha" moment and be able to see that puddle a lot clearer, and be able to control it just as well as a flat.Miller ab/p 330Hobart champ 16Miller 140Lincoln Power Mig 255Lincoln SA-250
Reply:I am very interested in the penetration on the welds I made so I went a little further and did an acid etch on it as described above.  I have muratic acid (36%) on hand for cleaning concrete so that is what I used.  I know the polish job wasn't that good but I don't have any real high grit sand paper on hand so I used what I had which looks like from the results it was enough.  I did use the piece opposite side of what I cut in the pictures above since it was much smaller.  I left the piece in the acid for probably 5 minutes and here is what I came up with...How much penetration should I have on the larger piece of material.
Reply:why are you measuring side to side ? i would say you want it to be about twice as deep then what you have in pic min