SMAW stainless steel

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I have been practicing welding on stainless and so far the flat position is pretty easy but I'm having a hard time with my vertical. On flat I was using 3/32 308 rods at 80 amps, and it ran real smooth. On vertical using the same rod I turned it down to about 40 amps and ran up hill. It was not as pretty and I had a hard time getting it to run, and trying downhill didn't work worth a flip. If anybody has any advice please help me out and thanks for looking.Lincoln 225 RangerSa200            01 dodge  3500 welding rig
Reply:Welding stainless out of position with smaw requires a good amount of skill.The correct rod and technique is very critical for this application.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:with stainless it is as stated difficult to run out of position. When doing my pressure welds with it on pipe, you must learn to move very quickly. Almost the same as running 7018, except quick pauses on sides and quite quick through the middle. If you hesitate at all through the middle it will become very ropey this is due to they high deposition rate. Just food for thought, when doing a cap it takes me 20ish seconds to get around a 2" sch 160 pipe with 7018, with 316L it takes me about 12ish seconds. Once you get the hang of it stainless pipe is just like spreadin butter with a knife! beautiful stick welds.
Reply:There is rod specifically made for out of positon stainless.  https://www.partsmaster.us/SitePages...?Code=02010503
Reply:Why would you turn the amps down to half what you were running flat to weld vertical? Turn your amps UP to 85 and the rod will run fine, maybe will run even at the 80 amps, depending on your machine. I don't know of any rod you would turn the amps down to run uphill.Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.                                         -Cree Indian ProverbSA 200 LincolnVictor Torches
Reply:There are many reputable books that will tell you to use less amps for vertical up.I use 10-15% less with "proper arc length".I have never read "Keep a tight arc for vertical"All that does is cool the puddle, same as less amps....think about it.Miller's websight says to turn the amps down for overhead welding 10-15%, now that's just nuts, must be a typo.The book "Procedure handbook of Arc Welding" tells you how many amps for each type of rod in each position.After comparing these numbers, Vertical was less amps than flat or overhead.Semper FiJesus may have been a Carpenter, but his dad was a Millwright" A grinder and a can of paint, will make a welder what he aint' "I've done so much, with so little, for so long, that now I can do anything with nothing!
Reply:Thanks everyone for the replies. Gizzargutz I turned it down because on vertical up I was taught to turn it down a little bit, which is what I did at first and it got hot. The bead color was almost black and it was really hard to even run the bead. I turned it down a lot and it ran alright but still not very good. My best guess was that I ran to slow, about the same speed as I would have on carbon steel. Again thanks for advice and keep the tips coming.Lincoln 225 RangerSa200            01 dodge  3500 welding rig
Reply:The best out of position stainless rod I have ever used was made by Certanium. Fortunately for me, I wasn't paying for it.Lately, work has been buying ESAB stainless rods and they are  much more dificult to control out of position.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:I'm not sure what brand these were but they ran amazing in flat but like I said they looked like crap in vertical.  Maybe ill get it down, I was just practicing because the company I'm wanting to work for soon has stainless for one of their tests. Snoeproe what is your motion when welding in the vertical position.Lincoln 225 RangerSa200            01 dodge  3500 welding rig
Reply:For welding stainless out-of-position, the best rods are the 3xx-15. They are kind of like the "6010" of stainless electrodes. Like 6010s, the welds aren't as pretty as those made with  -16 or -17 rods, but are a he!! of a lot less frustrating to use.JohnA few weldersA lot of hammersA whole lot of C-clamps