Please critique the weld quality (photos enclosed)

[ovrszd]

I am a certified welding inspector/examiner and I also have my own company doing welding, training and procedure consulting along with custom welding and fabrication. I will tell you that it looks like the hinges were welded in the field after the main parts were fabricated and painted. You can tell the welds were cleaned and painted in place which is common, but they used a mig process with not enough heat or penetration. I would not accept these welds for the simple fact that they will not hold over time. The welds will fail causing gate to fall and possible damage or personal injury could happen which makes it a safety issue. I would think if you called a supervisor or manager and politely explained your concern that they would make an effort to fix. Also, if they charged you for powder coating, I would address that too because powder coating can not be "touched up" after welding. So just be sure exactly what you are paying for. Remember, you are the customer paying for a product or service and should be getting quality work. You could also mention hiring a certified welder to fix welds and they should pay for that service.

Very well stated.

My first thought was contamination. Paint or worse powder coating.

 

[flyerdan]

Is that take-out/salvaged material? It looks too weathered to be newly done.
I worked in OI fencing for a long time, welding on something that has been coated requires taking it down to bare metal for a ways around the weld, and it still doesn't weld as good as fresh steel. We would always match the post and gate end hinges as a set, then have the posts coated so they could be set while the gates were being built.
Since the gate construction/hinge welds are markedly different, I'd suspect that they build the gates to a standard and add the hinges later.
The hinges are called barrel hinges; they have about a 9/16" pin on the top and the bottom has a zerk and a steel ball bearing that the pin sits on.

 

[Will S]

I like the Grease Zert for the Pins ! As a Novice at welding . I'm see no prep at all ... No touchup paint, No wire brush or disc marks . He burned through the paint and his wire feed heat was too low .

 

[plowhog]

Since the gate construction/hinge welds are markedly different, I'd suspect that they build the gates to a standard and add the hinges later.

Among many job problems, the original hinges were the "wrong ones." So the hinges were field replaced.

 

[GeneV]

I don't weld very often so when I do sometimes my welds look like that...and when they do grind them out and redo them.

 

[blee03]

 

[GeneV]

Ain't no shame in the grinding game, when warranted.

 

[Goode62]

I do my own welding. Fence, corral, trailers,…etc. This work was not done by a “welder”. I don’t claim to be a welder but my welds look way better.

 

[oneal hicks]

Amperage too low resulting is a lack of penetration. Easy to see the heat and the travel speed were way off. Looks as though the welds are filled with slag making for a very faulty weld.

 

[Kschwennsen]

In my opinion, don't sign off on those gates. you paid way too much for those to get a weld that looks that bad. they knew it was bad and tried to clean it up by grinding it some. They should be smooth clean fillet welds with proper penetration.