PA160 STH unboxing!

[Mark @ Everlast]

Josh,
Yes, slag is hard to clean off on 6010 and 6011. The thing I would do just for fun, is go to torch negative. Some interesting things will happen to that slag.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Josh,
Yes, slag is hard to clean off on 6010 and 6011. The thing I would do just for fun, is go to torch negative. Some interesting things will happen to that slag.

Mark: Is it this? If it's this, that would be so awesome.

 

[Arc weld]

If you have DC try 6010 from Lincoln 5P+ or Esab 10P+(?) like Shield arc likes. With open root for stick you generally use the same land as the gap thickness, I/E: 1/8" land, 1/8" gap. 3/32" land, 3/32" gap. With 6010/6011 there's more than one technique you can use. Some welders use a closer gap, turn the heat up and basically jam the rod in the bevel at let it burn. I like to use a slightly bigger gap and slowly whip the rod back and forth keeping the keyhole going. You can hear when it's going in nice. To get your heat close, take the rod on a piece of scrap and try to snuff the arc out pushing it into the plate. Just enough your pushing the rod into the plate. When you can push the rod into the plate and it keeps burning by itself, you are close. Using the first technique I mentioned with a tighter gap, some guys actually bend the rod from pushing so hard.

On 3/8" plate, even 1/4" open root from one side, it would be very hard to do in just one pass. You do have to push the rod into the gap and the root pass is usually pretty narrow. Worry more about getting proper penetration than if you have a little undercut. For general type projects where you just want good penetration, a wire brush in a grinder will clean the slag but for anything else, a thin grinding wheel is used to clean the root pass, starts/stops and you can also clean it up so you can fill in any undercut with the hot pass and/or cap pass. It's called the hot pass because it is run quite hot to fill in any undercut and can also push your root in a little more if needed. Some welders go fast and put a light root pass in. I like to go a little slower and put a heavier root in so there's less chance of burning through with the hot pass.

 

[joshuabardwell]

This little welder is DC only, and I'm dying to see what it'll do with some 6010, but I haven't had the chance to pick any up and give it a go. It doesn't have the dedicated 6010 port like the PA200 does, but you never know. I just need to be able to buy a 1 lb box or something, since I don't want to be out $25 or more if the welder won't run it.

With the arc force on this machine, would the snuffing test still work? I haven't literally tried to snuff it, but I do jam the rod in there pretty tight sometimes, and ever since I got the PA-160STH, I haven't stuck a single rod while running a bead, although I have had the output low enough that the arc dropped the second I long-arced even a little. What do you think?

 

[Shield Arc]

There are a lot of variables to the gap, and land combination. I have played with different brands of 6010, with the same settings some brands penetrate better than others. Good rule of thumb is a nickel gap, and land. But amps, and travel speed also play a big part. You'll have to play with different combinations to figure out what works best for you. I don't do enough open root to be very good at it, so I depend on the cut and fill method. And as Arc weld says, the sound is everything to me! I have to hear the roar of the arc on the inside / back side to know I'm getting enough penetration. I whip forward to cut open the joint, (key hole) and whip back and let the puddle fill the key hole. Listening to the arc the whole time.
If you really want to carry some iron with 6010, use a long leg U method. The legs will cut out any slag left on the toes, and the bottom of the U is for the fill. The whole time you're running the U method you're depositing iron in the joint.
To clean the 6010 slag off of pipe a large bastard file works really good. Run the edge of the file along the toes of the weld. On flat plate I've used a small chisel and hammer to clean the toes. 6010 slag can be a beach to really clean up at times.
With my V350-Pro I run open root with 6010 with the arc force all the way up.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I did a little more practice today, with extra focus on joint prep: small lands (penny or less) and larger gap.

1/8" E6011, 85 amps. A little rough at the restrikes, and I still have trouble filling the crater at the end, but otherwise I'm very happy.



I was pretty pleased with the profile too.



I was so happy at my flat welds that I decided to try some out of position.

Horizontal position, 1/8" E6011, 90 amps.



Vertical up. 1/8" E6011, 90 amps, then 95 amps. Don't let the fact that the photo is on its side fool you--it was vertical up.



Wow, this welder is night and day compared to my old one. Makes me kind of look like I'm not a total hack!

 

[Shield Arc]

Those look pretty darn good.:thumbsup:
Far as filling the craters. Try closing up the arc length, and back up 3/8 to 1/2-inch.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Those look pretty darn good.:thumbsup:
Far as filling the craters. Try closing up the arc length, and back up 3/8 to 1/2-inch.

Back up how? Trace back over the bead?

 

[Shield Arc]

Trace back over the bead?

Yes. Reverse direction.

 

[Arc weld]

I think it would help if you had some plate that wasn't so rusty. It looks like your plates have no gap at all. When doing doing root passes for the first time it will seem like you're going to blow a big hole right through because of the sound. When you have a perfect keyhole, you would just about be able to push the rod right through. A good root pass will almost look like you welded it from the other side. Shield Arc has probably posted pictures of this as well as the stack of dimes look. To weld with 6010/6011 you normally use a slow back and forth whipping motion instead of a straight progression like other rods. 1/4" forward, 1/8" back, 1/4" forward, 1/8" back, etc. etc. The idea is to dig kind of a trench and then go back and fill it up. Sometimes you have to adjust the whipping motion to suit the job. It's good to experiment with the back and forth motion.