My crappy welds---Help!! Continued

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first picture-butt joint tacked second -welded I have no idea what happened there. I think the nozzle got clogged.Third is the backside of the weld. Attached Images
Reply:These are my attempts at lap joints. DSW-I was trying to keep the puddle/arc away from the top corner and focusing more on the bottom piece. I think it looks a little better than my previous attempts. Attached Images
Reply:Material thickness? Machine, settings, wire size, gas type? Fit up specs, gap size, land size? One pass or multiple ones? Position?If you want help it helps if we don't have to guess these things... My crystal ball is out getting polished right now.If I saw this at the tech school my 1sy question would be about fit up. 90% of the issues I see with poor penetration comes from the fact students don't spend the time to properly prep their bevel coupons. Too often the land isn't the right size, gap is too small and the joint often tapers in or out because the two plates won't meet tight if you checked them against each other before gapping the plates.Next issue is that too many times guys are in too much of a rush to run their root pass or that they are doing too much motion and not getting down in the root, but simply breaking down the upper walls and the metal flows down and blocks the root opening. Other issue is guys are using too long a stickout and aren't jamming the gun in tight to get enough heat..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:And last is the corner joint. First is tacked then inside followed by the outside. I tried to slow down a bit and I adjusted the wire speed down slightly and turned up the power slightly.Advice please. All comments will be appreciated.Mike Attached Images
Reply:Laps...Trying to run right on the edge will be tough. Set it back a ways towards the center of the plate. You'll loose the "end" weld, but gain the length on the 2nd side to weld. Note tack BOTH sides before you start to weld."Side" weld near the edge was too fast. "end" weld was better, but if you were shooting for a true lap, the top of the weld could have been a bit higher. Consistency was decent on the "end" weld, but You started to speed up too much in the 2nd half of the weld. 1st half looks nice other than it's a bit "short" on height. I see a tiny bit of undercut on the "end" weld in a few spots but it doesn't look that bad. Might just be camera angle and lighting..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:Originally Posted by DSWMaterial thickness? Machine, settings, wire size, gas type? Fit up specs, gap size, land size? One pass or multiple ones? Position?If you want help it helps if we don't have to guess these things... My crystal ball is out getting polished right now.If I saw this at the tech school my 1sy question would be about fit up. 90% of the issues I see with poor penetration comes from the fact students don't spend the time to properly prep their bevel coupons. Too often the land isn't the right size, gap is too small and the joint often tapers in or out because the two plates won't meet tight if you checked them against each other before gapping the plates.Next issue is that too many times guys are in too much of a rush to run their root pass or that they are doing too much motion and not getting down in the root, but simply breaking down the upper walls and the metal flows down and blocks the root opening. Other issue is guys are using too long a stickout and aren't jamming the gun in tight to get enough heat.
Reply:Corners...Both look too fast. Maybe the 1st inch on the filler looks good, but it quickly goes downhill from there. You need to slow down.Same applies to the outside corner, too fast. The end starts to look fair, but it's too low and could use a bit more filler to increase the height of the bead a bit.. You at least got the edges to fill together and didn't melt away the edges. I'd like to see the inside as well. You should have just a bit of burn thru that shows you broke down the very bottom of the joint, but not a huge hump that shows you melted thru too much. From what I see on the top, I'm guessing the bottom edges didn't break down well and you will still see a sharp corner from the original fit up..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:We run 3/8" plate, 3/32" gap, 1/8" land on the coupons at the tech school. A 1/32" difference in gap size  will kill most students. Same goes with land size. If they go to tall on the land, they almost never get it to penetrate 100%. Go to thin and they burn thru and have huge holes. You should see the root keyhole slightly. If anything I suggest students go a bit wide and thin on their prep if they have to err. That lest them get 100% penetration even if the reinforcement is too heavy. Show me your root pass. Skip the fill/cap for right now. If you can't get the root decent, the cap is pointless. We have all the students get signed off on the roots before they move on to fill and caps. All welds are usually stringer beads, top cap is either stringers or a weave depending on the student. MAny times they do both unless they are really having issues..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:So go slower and get the gun closer for more heat?
Reply:Yes....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:Thanks for the helpful (very helpful) advice.