I'll jump in, here's a couple of my welds....

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This is 1/4" plate, 37° bevel, 1/8" landing. Flat position, root pass. Continuous bead, don't know what caused the "hole" in the middle.These are first attempts at root pass on V-groove with GMAW. This is what I had machine set on.Penetration, had a little problem where I tacked it.This was first attempt at Vgroove GMAW.Sent from my Galaxy S3
Reply:not badyou ain't gotta eat it
Reply:Settings are a bit warmer than we typically use, but not knowing wire size or gas may be part of that. Bead looks a bit inconsistent, and a bit rushed in places. Not sure what you did with the hole, especially since it doesn't show up in the back. Holes often happen due to poor prep of the pieces from experience with newer guys learning. Irregular gap or land can cause burn thru even if everything else works if you haven't yet learned to read and manipulate the puddle.Back looks pretty good in general, especially on the left in the picture. If you rolled the piece rather than flipping it so your start was o n the right both times, you can see how the rushed look of the bead on the front corresponds to the area of poor penetration on the back. I'm not seeing anything telegraph thru to the back as far as the hole, so that sort of rules out poor prep. Surface contamination might be a cause. I've seen big chunks of spatter break off out of a nozzle and cause issues on rare occasions, though it's usually still pretty clear what happened as the bead seldom burns up the whole chunk of spatter.Overall not bad. A lot better than may I see doing their 1st bevel buts..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:Forgot, .035 wire.Sent from my Galaxy S3
Reply:What he said...sloooow down. I was teachin my buddy how to tig the other day kept having to yell at him to slow down and finally after he could see I couldnt believe my eyesMiller Syncrowave 210 w/CK FlexLoc 150  3/6/14ESAB PCM 1125 Plasma CutterAtlas 12x36 LatheACER 9x42 3hp millHarig 612 Surface GrinderDRINK Machine              welding&fabrication
Reply:My problem when I slow down is I start getting the "rope" or "worm" look. Sent from my Galaxy S3
Reply:Reduce your wire speed and voltage until you find the sweet spot...as said above your settings are a little hotter than what is taught at another institutionMiller Syncrowave 210 w/CK FlexLoc 150  3/6/14ESAB PCM 1125 Plasma CutterAtlas 12x36 LatheACER 9x42 3hp millHarig 612 Surface GrinderDRINK Machine              welding&fabrication
Reply:I looked inside the panel to re-check settings. For 1/4" .035 and 75/25 mix, should be 19V and 320IPM. So are we talking a reduction of say half a volt? A little more/less? And maybe 20-25 less on speed?Forgot to mention earlier, 1/8 gap.Thanks for the help!Sent from my Galaxy S3
Reply:Originally Posted by wblewisMy problem when I slow down is I start getting the "rope" or "worm" look.
Reply:The settings on the panel of the unit are usually for doing single pass welds on things like filets. 1/8" gap is a bit on the wide side, but doable. I'm not saying you can't make those settings work. Only that they are a bit hot for many new guys doing open roots.If I was going to do a single pass weld on that gap, I'd be doing a weave almost to fill it. Then those heat settings might make more sense. However I'd be carrying a big puddle and staying out of the gap as much as possible with the heat on the sides of the plate. The puddle itself would be melting out my root for the most part..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:Dragging right now, when I can fit in the extracirculars, I'll try to practice on the push. I have read its better, but for now I have to do what the teacher says. As for the v groove, it's an 1/8 gap, with root, then fill. I know if I slowed down enough I could do it in one pass, but again, have to do what teacher says.I will however turn it down and see what I can do. Thanks.Sent from my Galaxy S3
Reply:If you have an instructor, of course do what they want. Everyone has their own style of teaching and they may have good reasons for doing something  a particular way. Maybe it's because a local employer does things this way and this prepares guys to get work right after they complete the course..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:Looks like your getting there.  Good job so far.
Reply:Tried some pushing today. I did like the "look" if the bead a lot better. But it was one of those days. I was all over the place, no consistency. I was helping a fellow student on a personal project, and was doing about an 8" bead in horizontal position. Went about 7" and had to stop (really don't remember why right now lol), but bead looked great. Again, don't remember why, but decided to turn around and finish from the other direction. Made no modification to settings, but couldn't make a decent bead for crap. Like I said, just one of those days. Didn't get to finish the caps on the roots I did Monday (pictures) sharing booths and all, but maybe this Monday can finish and post the finished pictures. Again, thanks for everyone's suggestions.Sent from my Galaxy S3
Reply:Not bad old timer hehe. WE are better than we was a week ago. See you tomorrow in class