What did I do wrong???

/ What did I do wrong??? #1  

ampa

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Feb 9, 2009
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This I'm totaly ashamed of....one pic is all I'll post of this.... my first time usin my 120 volt 125 Lincoln wire feed...let me know whats wrong in the pic....the 1/4" piece I welded to the ear is not meant for strength...mainly just a spacer for the cylinder...I was gonna' use a thick washer...yes I noticed the other mistake as well...I'm plannin' to trim the bracket for the cylinder travel at the pivot point(bolt)....thanks in advance...take care <> Ampa :ashamed:
 

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/ What did I do wrong??? #2  
Can you get a closer picture? Looks like you need to turn the voltage up, get the puddle to wet out more.
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #3  
Can you describe what it felt like when you were welding? Did it feel like the wire was pushing the handle back? Did the wire look like it was melting before it got to the weld? Did it feel like you could weld only a short distance before you had to stop and restrike the arc?
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #4  
A closer pic would be helpful. Was your argon /Co2 on and at proper flow rates? Looks like
a lot of mill scale remains. Did your welding sound like cooking bacon, or popping and the wire
pushing your feed handle away. Looks like too low amperage, possibly low gas flow and poor cleaning and ground contact.
regards,
Steve
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #5  
are you sure the ground clamp was making solid contact?...if it felt warm it was probably not...paint (or painted metal) is not a good conductor...
 
/ What did I do wrong???
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Sorry guys..I forgot to mention .. I didn't buy the the Lincoln which comes with the gas attachments....I'm on a fixed income...and besides that for under $500.00 it sounded like such a good deal..I grabbed..it quick..anyhow guys....give me the true facts...I'll just never be a welder....I wonder though as bad as it looks if it would hold together?..under pressure..now there's a question that may be hard to answer...it's okay!... I asked for the trueth....and I got it.....back to the demo dvd I got with this machine....if I can find it :D I wasn't even gonna' mention this but I put the same exact pic in the hydraulic section.....and I knew I'd be asked...like.... who did the crappy weldin' job....oh' well what else can I tell ya....thanks once again guys....take care<> Ampa :)
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #7  
I certainly have seen worse welds for first attempts. as others have said looks cold--higher voltage --maybe slower feed. practice on some .25 scrap you will get the hang of it. it is hard to tell for sure but it looks like even though it is a cold weld there is lots of it---- it will probably hold for a long time. Dint feel bad my fil is a welder with 30years experience best i have ever seen. he used to tell me i welded like a farmer--just keep gobbing it on till it holds. I have since been upgraded to not bad. :D
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #8  
So you're running gasless fluxcore. You need to turn up the voltage, or turn down the wire speed. Majority of the Mig machines the amps are controlled by the wire speed. More wire speed = more amps, but you need voltage to go along with it. No matter what the case, that weld was put in too cold! ;)
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #10  
Step number one is to make sure you have a very good ground, a bad or intermittent ground will frustrate the heck out of you. Just because your able to strike an arc doesn't mean you've got a good ground.

I'm assuming your welder has 4 or 5 different voltage settings and variable speed control for the wire. Set it to a voltage and play with the wire speed and just try to get a feel for the differences. Keep a simple note book with what you find out so if you don't weld for a little while you'll be able to remind yourself where to start.
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #11  
You didn't make a permanent mess there. It seems you can undo the bolts again and try to grind off as much of the weld as you can. Practice welding on a piece of scrap metal and when you get better results go over the seams on the plow part again. You don't need to separate the pieces just grind out as much of the weld as you can. I used to have a flux-core wirefeed welder and my first welds looked like a chicken sh~t left by a drunken hen. I got better at it after a while. I just practiced on some pieces that don't matter.
Post some pictures of the welder itself so the guys with real experience (not me) can give you hints what knob to turn in which way.
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #12  
Two things that I noticed apart from the weld , the front clevis will bind on the bracket when the cylinder is energised . This will damage the bracket and possibly the clevis . The other is the cylinder needs turning so the fittings are on the outside , the rear fitting will hit the chassis when the cylinder is retracted .
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #13  
You are using .035" flux core wire right? I don't see much weld spatter, and flux core leaves a lot of spatter...

Like the old line goes "how do you get to carnegie hall?" You practice, practice and then practie some more. I have been doing this for decades, and I still occasionally run some practice beads before I weld on anything I want to put to work. It is far easier to get it right the first time, then grind it all off and re-do it(don't ask me how i know this:)) Get some plate and start laying down beads. A good bead has the following characteristics:

It has a smooth even arch, no taller than about 1/3-1/2 it's width. So if it is 1/4" wide, it will be no more than about 1/8" tall but no less than 3/32" with the edge blending smoothly into the base metal(20-40 degrees from horizontal). Too much current(wire feed speed controls current) and the edge will blend in below the base metal(crater). To little current and the weld metal will be deposited on top of the base metal and leave a stepped edge. As described, you want a steady popping buzz. Too slow a wire speed, and the weld will interrupt and stutter. Too fast, and you will reach a point where the wire is jamming in there faster than it can melt(you can feel this in your hand). A bad ground or welder internal connection can also cause this last symptom, as can bad wire. If your lincoln is like mine, it has 4 voltage settings(abcd) and a 0-10 feed speed knob. I always use c or d and a speed setting between 2 and 2 1/2. A small speed setting makes a big difference. Trigger the gun onto a test plate and rotate that speed knob slowly. Don't watch the weld, just listen and feel, and you can duplicate the above sounds/symptoms with a very small speed change.

The weld bead has a even scalloped pattern, like a row of overlapping scales. This is achieved by a combination of wire feed speed and hand speed. The scalloped lines are the edge of individual puddles of molten weld metal, one overlapping the next. Move too slow, and the puddle spreads out and the lines blend closer together. Move to fast and the puddles start to separate into individual humps and drops. Having given my grandson his first welding lessons a few weeks ago, he reminded me that it is quite common when starting out to move the hand too fast. I turned him loose weld hardening my bucket edge, and BH bucket teeth(bead after bead).
The pic you posted wans't very clear, but it almost looked like you were moving too fast, as I can see what looks like individual drops of metal.

Are you using the lincoln wire? Wire is important. I have helped several people over the years work out problems with many different types of small wire feed welders. I can say pretty much half of their weld issues were caused from using junk wire. The best I have come across is the lincoln wire, and I have had no issues with the Miller products(this is all flux core I am refering to). The lincoln is easier for me to get(every home depot has it), so I have used nothing but that for the past few years. You also need to make sure the polarity connection is correct for the type welding you are doing. Innershield/flux core has the positive terminal going to the ground clamp, and the negative terminal going to the gun. MIG(with gas) is reversed from this with a negative ground. The flip up door on your welder should have a large sticker on the inside with reccomended settings for different processes. The sticker on mine shows the reccomended speed settings only varying between 1.5 and 2.0 from 14GA to 1/4" .

Keep at it, you will get the hang of it...
 
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/ What did I do wrong???
  • Thread Starter
#14  
This 120 volt Lincoln is set on E...I'm not too sure if thats the lowest settin' for this model or the highest...when I first tryed to use this wire feed welder I couldn't find my new solar helmet...and had no choice but to use the hand held one...and got a bad flash first off...I couldn't see too well after that so I didn't bother to look inside the cover for the settings...which go from "A" to "E" so I just assumed it is set on the highest (125 amp) "A" bein' the lowest...or maybe I have it backwards:D

I did have alot of splatter so now I know I don't have it set high enough.....the wire is flux core that came with the welder....even though I was ashamed of my welds...you guys are makin' me feel better about the next time I use it....I didn't want to weld anything to the new "A" frame anyhow...and with this messy lookin' weld I'm glad I didn't... if I can use bolts I think it's best to do so...the brackets that I'm using work like a clamp...two bolts one on each end I tightened down usin' 1/4" formed brackets I found in a dumpster awhile ago....they may move or maybe not if I tighten them down good enough... in my case works real good for re-adjustin' the angle cylinder length....if I had welded it I'd have to leave it as it was...this way I just loosin' it slide it back or forward....

if it did move I could put a 1/4" piece across the "A" frame with a bolt at each end...which I may still do...I'm just tryin' to find the best place to mount the cylinder....think I'll wait till I get the hydraulics workin' before I attemp this...as far as weldin'....this was the first time layin' down some real weld usin' this new Lincoln...I'll post a pic of this Lincoln 125....thanks so much guys for the much needed incouragement....I feel so much better now and will keep tryin'...I like the idea of bein independent and doin' everything myself....I really thought I could have done better...it's just not as easy as it looks when someone else does it....it's like cooking...I enjoy it more if someone else cooks it....but then if I compared cookin' with weldin' it be like passin' the buck:D much appreciated....take care....Ampa:)
 

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/ What did I do wrong??? #15  
Sorry guys..I forgot to mention .. I didn't buy the the Lincoln which comes with the gas attachments....I'm on a fixed income...and besides that for under $500.00 it sounded like such a good deal..I grabbed..it quick..anyhow guys....give me the true facts...I'll just never be a welder....I wonder though as bad as it looks if it would hold together?..under pressure..now there's a question that may be hard to answer...it's okay!... I asked for the trueth....and I got it.....back to the demo dvd I got with this machine....if I can find it :D I wasn't even gonna' mention this but I put the same exact pic in the hydraulic section.....and I knew I'd be asked...like.... who did the crappy weldin' job....oh' well what else can I tell ya....thanks once again guys....take care<> Ampa :)

I just put extra paint on so the rain does not wash my welds away!:laughing:
I had one of them cheap type gasless welders before and gave it away. You can still get a kit for using gas on most welders. I got the Hobart 210 and love it. Somedays it looks like I know how to weld, and somedays I just say I do not have a clue who done it!:thumbsup:
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #16  
This I'm totaly ashamed of....one pic is all I'll post of this.... my first time usin my 120 volt 125 Lincoln wire feed...let me know whats wrong in the pic....the 1/4" piece I welded to the ear is not meant for strength...mainly just a spacer for the cylinder...I was gonna' use a thick washer...yes I noticed the other mistake as well...I'm plannin' to trim the bracket for the cylinder travel at the pivot point(bolt)....thanks in advance...take care <> Ampa :ashamed:

I think the welds will hold together just fine, especially since there isnt any power to the cylinder:D

You have already been given sound advice on the welding aspet. So I wont go there. All I can say is practice, practice, practice, and you will get the hang of it. But given the amount of weld on there, I dont think it is going to break just angling a plow.

Since IMO the weld will hold, the only two things that I see you did wrong is

1. No hydraulic hoses:D

2. How are you attaching the base of the cylinder to the A-frame. It looks like there is a bolt hole in the bracket that was drilled a little off:confused:
 

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/ What did I do wrong??? #17  
This I'm totaly ashamed of....one pic is all I'll post of this.... my first time usin my 120 volt 125 Lincoln wire feed...let me know whats wrong in the pic....the 1/4" piece I welded to the ear is not meant for strength...mainly just a spacer for the cylinder...I was gonna' use a thick washer...yes I noticed the other mistake as well...I'm plannin' to trim the bracket for the cylinder travel at the pivot point(bolt)....thanks in advance...take care <> Ampa :ashamed:

I don't think that looks too bad. The post a few up is excellent regarding technique and symptoms - I might just print that out for myself (thanks for that post, BTW). I've never had a a symptom/cause lesson.

My welder has a setting chart on the inside cover - yours probably does too - it generally generates good results, or at least gets you close.

JayC
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #18  
This 120 volt Lincoln is set on E...I'm not too sure if thats the lowest settin' for this model or the highest...when I first tryed to use this wire feed welder I couldn't find my new solar helmet...and had no choice but to use the hand held one...and got a bad flash first off...I couldn't see too well after that so I didn't bother to look inside the cover for the settings...which go from "A" to "E" so I just assumed it is set on the highest (125 amp) "A" bein' the lowest....so maybe I have it backwards:D


Look inside the flip up cover and follow the guide for setup for the metal you are using. That will get you started, then you can refine the wire speed from there. The knob labeled A-E is actually a VOLTAGE control. Power in watts(energy delivered) is figured by multiplying voltage times amperage. The current(amps) delivered to the weld is actually more a function of the wire speed in a wire feed welder. Since particular wires, can only melt so fast, the different voltage steps allow you to get say a thick wire like flux core to weld between 14GA and 1/4". If you look at the setup, it will give you different suggested feed/voltage combinations for differnt wire sizes/processes and metal thicknesses.

E is the highest voltage range, and that combined with the highest wire speed you can acceptably weld at will get you the 125Amps. A combined with the lowest wire speed you can weld acceptably at will get you the lowest current rating.
 
/ What did I do wrong??? #19  
If you decide to upgrade that little machine for gas, go with 100% CO2. It will give you a hotter more penetrating puddle than 75/25. ;)

ArgonCO2.jpg
 
/ What did I do wrong???
  • Thread Starter
#20  
I'm repostin' some new super clear pics(that can be zoomed in for a better view of this one piece...I think I kinda' botched up....also my own fault my new camera was taken all those fuzzy pic's.....my camera was workin' just fine all along...bein' in such a hurry to post pic's......I forgot to activate the force flash release button for the pop up built in flash unit (top of my camera) :D..camera is a 2009 FUJI brand name 10 full meg pixels (12x optical zoom)....anyhow back to (Nothing is connected like....hoses etc.) first pic shows the cut hydraulic "P" line with the installed compression fittin's ready for connection to the double control valve.... I'm just a poor old age pentioner.... I'm not usin' my tractor for anything right now..... all the chores like (grass trimming/cutting/snow removal) are all jobbed out to private contractors. :)

only the parkin' area which are also the entrance/driveways to the garages and the tenants responsibilty...I'm disabled from a serious accident to my back that went unreported back in my early 20's...so I could never collect compensation from the employer...so had to suffer with pain the rest of my life.....now that I'm much older the pain is much worse that I take so many pills my woman tells everyone....that.. I'm kinda' like a walkin' pharmacy.....besides..... kinda' risky to use a snowblower here.... because my good nextdoor neighbours are wihin' arms reach from one another at this townhouse complex:D

.... as everyone knows ....snowblowers can pick up anything in their path other than just snow (rocks etc.) my next door neighbour just bought a new car and is out everyday checkin' for nicks and dings...I can't blame her I'd probley do the same if I was her and had a new car....anyhow this should give you an idea why I prefer to use the plough...not only because of my health issues....

more so because at my age I enjoy drivin my tractor bein' in control plus listening to the purr and smell of it's 3 cylinder diesel engine...some people like to work on their antique car....I like to work on my ol' tractor...and have no intentions of sellin' it....it's become a part of me like TBN has......anyhow guys I'm gettin' lot's of incouragement here on welding and I hope the new pic's will show more of what I'm doin' here and now you know all the reasons why I'm doin' it..or should I say.... tryin' to do it......once again...... thanks very kindy to all of you guys...take care....Ampa <> :thumbsup:
 

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