Need help on API 1104

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I work for a Local gas company and im trying to cert. in API 1104,  6010 5P+ . I Welded the 12" butt and 12" branch yesterday and took them to be destructive tested today and both failed the nick break and the bend. They said the problem was that i was traping slag. They werent able to pin point it excatly but its somewhere around the hot pass. To be honest, i did not expect this. I running a 1/8" rod with a little more then a 1/16" root gap. The root cooks in very well. I grind the cap complety off the root weld  and take a wire wheel to it before i put in the hot pass. After the hot pass i wire wheel it again before a fill pass.  I dont beleive i am trapping slag in between passes cause i wire wheel the heck out of it and inspect it for any slag left on the weld before i put another pass in. So i think im am trapping slag during the weld. On my hot pass and fill pass i whip it back and forth, in the past i have tried running the hot and fill passes just straight but it seems to get to hot and blow a hole in the root. I dont whip it any more then about 3/8 of an inch.I also noticed during my root pass that when the gap get a little tighter in one area that i force more pressure againts the rod to keep my root in there. Could by doing that trap slag? Or whipping the hot pass trap slag?I know it hard to give advice without seeing the weld or seeing me weld but any suggestions?? Thanks,
Reply:You may be running to cold on the hot pass and filler. When I was taking a similar test we only had an hour to weld out the test. To keep from buffing the crap out of it, I'd just hit it with the buffer real quick,crank it up and burn that little bit of slag off as I welded
Reply:Did you get it figured out? I usually do a small zig zag weave from one side of the toe of the root to the other on my hot pass. Both on the branch and the butt weld. Do you have to do a 4" on 12" open root 7018 all the way out for your company? The gas company I work for has us do one of those for our 1104 test.