Vertical uphill Mig welding Question

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I am reasonably new at welding however have taken  two 10 week welding classes at the local community college in SMAW welding and managed to do some relatively decent welds in Flat, Vertical, and Overhead using SMAW 7018 rod. My Instructor a 25yr welding worker thought they were good as well. Not enough to pass a test with the exception of the Flat but with more practice a reasonable chance. As can be seen by my signature block I recently purchased a Millermatic 211 and have run almost a complete 10lb spool of wire through it. I have built my own cart and welding table which I have shown on threads here. My welds in the flat position both butt and filet joints have been reasonably good and I even did a test coupon in the flat postion with my welder and 2 of the three pieces passed. On both of these projects I had to do a little vertical however I always tried to move the piece around so that I could weld flat. Now I made a little contraption that allows me to hold some test pieces on the vertical above my table so that I can practice vertical welds. I ran a few welds today however I need some advice. When welding SMAW I ran the Vertical welds with 1/8 7018 at 100 amps, the Flat at 130 amps and the Overhead at 130 amps which seemed to work well for me. I am using the Autoset feature on my 211 however my vertical welds seem like they are leaving a lot of metal sitting proud/tall in the middle of the weld. I tried turning the system down a little and the seemed to help however my welds still don't look as nice as the flat ones. I've attached some photos.1) standard setting for 1/4inch stock in autoset2) dialed down to 3/16inch thickness stock setting in autoset3) Dialed down to14guage thickness on autoset and multiple passes.4) i cut the piece to see the penetration effect. Unfortunately the picture does not show it very well however the Multiple pass side shows minor penetration which I would expect using the lower settings the other side with the single pass actually shows what I believe in sunlight to be a good penetration however as mentioned the weld doesn't have the nice looks.Therefore the question is do you normally dial down the settings when going vertical or am i just going to have to try and speed it up a little to flatten the weld. Thanks for any help and info you can pass Attached ImagesHarold MulderMiller 211 AutosetHTP 201 Invertig with water coolerHardinge Cataract Quick Change Lathe
Reply:up hill with mig is a little different. first off i dont have the autoset on my 212 so i dont know much about it. if it has the taps like mine is run it on 2 and About 30 for the wire speed. second you cant go just up like you are. gotta make a triangle
Reply:For the triangle. start at one side go across the middle and pause for about two quick seconds. shoot up to the top pause for a second. then back to where you started pause again while going up. sorry i know this isn't the best explanation.
Reply:Miller recommends that you reduce the power by 10 to 15 %, weave the weld, and keep the gun at 5 to 10 degrees. Like any other form of welding practice, practice, and practice. Vertical up is one of the most difficult welds to get penetration. In fact this is why the nuclear industry has gone back to stick welding.Good luck.Scottwelders360.comNew guy.
Reply:Thanks for the info will try it out.Harold MulderMiller 211 AutosetHTP 201 Invertig with water coolerHardinge Cataract Quick Change Lathe
Reply:Originally Posted by Scott HightowerMiller recommends that you reduce the power by 10 to 15 %, weave the weld, and keep the gun at 5 to 10 degrees. Like any other form of welding practice, practice, and practice. Vertical up is one of the most difficult welds to get penetration. In fact this is why the nuclear industry has gone back to stick welding.Good luck.Scottwelders360.com
Reply:Virticle up welding gets more penitration than virticle down. Thats why it's the process used for in plant pipe welding and nuclear pipe work.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:I have a 211, I barely reduce the power when going uphill.  Keep in mind the duty cycle on the 211, take more time in between passes and make sure that you are allowing the metal to cool properly.  I use the triangle pattern for root and filler, grind them down and then uphill weave at a pretty good clip for the cap.  Uphill will penetrate better than downhill (as everyone knows), sometimes not consistently though, good for a length and then lays on the steel for a short length and then penetrate well again,  therefore not always a good choice for nuke spec welding.
Reply:Hey I went out to the shop and welded this up quick this is what is supposed to look like (Im Not A PRO lol. the smaller is the triangle weave that is for your root pass, and the bigger is the Z weave that your supposed to cap with. hope it helps Attached ImagesLast edited by jimmiespencil; 04-05-2010 at 06:11 PM.
Reply:ThanksHarold MulderMiller 211 AutosetHTP 201 Invertig with water coolerHardinge Cataract Quick Change Lathe
Reply:I don't believe there's any Act of Congress prohibiting uphill stringers.A weave is nice, and faster, but there's a lot of time between weaves, and the slag gets a chance to cool.  It's just my opinion, and what it's worth.Uphill stringers are hard for me to do.  Proper burn in at the toes, and pause to fill, while keeping the stringer uniform.You're not fully wetting in at the toes.  Pause at the sides, let it fill, then quick pass over the middle to other side, pause let it fill, then repeat.  You're fighting gravity, and there will be some sag.  NOt the worst thing on the planet.When you get to the side of the weld, look for the trench your digging, pause long enough to fill it, then move to the other side.Think of uphill as making a shelf for the puddle to rest on. For acceptable patterns of weave, look in your Lincoln Bible.  It's all there, and well explained."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:sorry, I mixed some stick and flux core into the reply"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:For almost any welding processwelding vertical up, manipulating the electrode from side to side will reduce the amount of convexity on the bead. That amount of movement doesnt have to be great. This manipulation spreads out where the metal and heat goes.Here is a page on my site with a video showing the side to side motion. http://weldingdata.com/New_Folder/misc/GMAWUphill.htmGeraldwww.weldingdata.com
Reply:Originally Posted by snoeproeVirticle up welding gets more penitration than virticle down. Thats why it's the process used for in plant pipe welding and nuclear pipe work.