General noob questions

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I'm new here and probably have some pretty basic questions. So here it goes.1.) can i paint over flux welds? or must it be chiseled off?2.) can i weld regular steel to stainless with a welder setup just for reg. steel?3.) I'm using a hobart 220v with a flux cored wire and my welds look nowhere near what i've been seeing on here with the beads.  Its sort of just a straight line and crappy, although it gets the job done and is not the worse i have seen.  I use the circle pattern.  What am i doing wrong?Please point me in the right direction. thanks
Reply:Originally Posted by BuckeyeRideRI'm new here and probably have some pretty basic questions. So here it goes.1.) can i paint over flux welds? or must it be chiseled off?2.) can i weld regular steel to stainless with a welder setup just for reg. steel?3.) I'm using a hobart 220v with a flux cored wire and my welds look nowhere near what i've been seeing on here with the beads.  Its sort of just a straight line and crappy, although it gets the job done and is not the worse i have seen.  I use the circle pattern.  What am i doing wrong?Please point me in the right direction. thanks
Reply:1) Flux should be removed before paint.2) Sometimes. You can weld SS with plain wire but you loose the quality of SS doing so. What do you want to do? More info would help.3) PICTS, PICTS, PICTS. "Its sort of just a straight line and crappy," doesn't tell us much. What voltage/heat setting, wire feed speed, wire size, material thickness... Picts will help us actually see what you are doing wrong. That plus what the settings are lets us make a good suggestion as to what to correct..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:"I'm new here and probably have some pretty basic questions. So here it goes.""1.) can i paint over flux welds? or must it be chiseled off?"-yes, chip and brush the slag off the welds first, then paint"2.) can i weld regular steel to stainless with a welder setup just for reg. steel?"-yes, 309 is the correct filler to use in that application"3.) I'm using a hobart 220v with a flux cored wire and my welds look nowhere near what i've been seeing on here with the beads.  Its sort of just a straight line and crappy, although it gets the job done and is not the worse i have seen.  I use the circle pattern.  What am i doing wrong?"-could be a number of things you're doing wrong.  First, do you have the polarity correct?  Self shielding fluxcore wire runs straight polarity, which means the torch is on the negative terminal.  Solid wire and gas runs reverse polarity, which means the torch is on the positive terminal.  Second, with fluxcore wire, drag the torch away from the weld, rather than pushing it forward toward the weld.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Originally Posted by JohnnyWelderNot enough heat.
Reply:Sorry guys for the gradeschool info.  I'm welding an exhaust system together currently for my jeep.  How do you make sure the torch is on the negativ terminal, is it something where you can just unscrew the connection and swap?  i'll post some pics after i get in from doing some prep work on my jeep.  Thanks for the help
Reply:If your Hobart is a recent model, open the wire cabinet door and above the feed mechanism, you will see two terminals and two cables.  One cable goes to the feeder mechanism and the other to the ground clamp.  Connect the feeder mechanism to the negative terminal and the ground clamp to the positive terminal, for use with self shield fluxcore wire.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Lincoln Electric has a recommendation about painting in one of their books. I believe it is in the Procedure Handbook, also called "the bible". They recomment sandblasting and I can say from long experience that sandblasting works. They also state specifically not to burnish with a wire brush as paint doesn't adhere well to the slick surface. That said, I've wire brushed a lot of welds just enough to remove the flux and smoke deposit and had the paint stay. Smoke from the flux seems to be just as bad as the flux it's self about making the paint turn loose.
Reply:Alright finally getting some pics up so you guys can help me.  I welded yesterday and the welds seemed a lot better than before.  I checked the Hobart and it is set up correctly with the Neg going to the wire feed.  What am i doing wrong?
Reply:Buckeye, do you have any welding experience at all?First, you need to learn how to “tune” in. get some sheet scrap, say 1/8 to ¼ inch thick and run some straight beads.Second, learn how to weld a butt joint, with and without a V notch.Next, learn how to weld a T joint. When you can do that and have some practice time under the hood go for it./What brand and wire diameter, 0.030 or 0.035I chose welding videos so you can see and hear what’s going on. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...--MIG-Welding/http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...ur-skills/mig/http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_491_mig-weld.htmlhttp://www.mig-welding.co.uk/http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/vi...gether-239600/
Reply:First thing you're doing wrong is trying to learn how to weld, on pipe, without first knowing how to weld plate.  Practice on plate first.   You need to be proficient on plate in all 3 positions (flat, vertical and overhead), before advancing to pipe.As far as the machine set-up...  Turn it up!  You're too cold in most of the pics.  Also looks like you have too much wire and not enough voltage.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:it's that bad? i had the Hobart handler on about #4 for voltage and maybe 60 for wire feed?  I was using the circle pattern but i just dont get why it doesn't look like thisI definitely agree i need and want to go to a weekend school to learn properly.  I'll check those videos out
Reply:Originally Posted by BuckeyeRideR  I was using the circle pattern but i just dont get why it doesn't look like this