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Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:20 am
by Eugen
I want to weld the quarter inch plate on the inside of the tower, which seems to be made of 3/16 plate. I have an AC buzzer box and E6011 electrodes (both 1/8 and 3/32), and I have a DC little flux core wire welder too. My welding skills are dismal.

What do you guys think, what should I use?

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:32 am
by DavidBarkey
Eugen wrote: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:20 am I want to weld the quarter inch plate on the inside of the tower, which seems to be made of 3/16 plate. I have an AC buzzer box and E6011 electrodes (both 1/8 and 3/32), and I have a DC little flux core wire welder too. My welding skills are dismal.

What do you guys think, what should I use?
I am not an expert , but in your situation I would bevel the plate down to a heavy 1/8th" where you are going to weld . Use the flux core on full . Make sure your power supply has no line loss . Do a slight weave pass taking you time to burn in deep as possible . Keep you tip about 1/8 to 3/16" away from weld . Too close you get into weld , too far away you lose heat and penetration .
My 2 cent . you may keep the change.

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:47 am
by Eugen
Thanks @DavidBarkey ! I forgot, I got 0.030 and 0.035 wire. Which?

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 12:16 pm
by Jancoe
.030 wire is better suited for 110v wire feed. There is not much control for heat and speed settings on a 110v unit. You will get a better weld. Like Dave said. Weave side to side slowly. Pause to one side as you weave or do circles. Lots of techniques out there. Keep the wire in the puddle and you should be good.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk


Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 2:20 pm
by DavidBarkey
Eugen wrote: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:47 am Thanks @DavidBarkey ! I forgot, I got 0.030 and 0.035 wire. Which?
I run .035 flux core in my 120v mig . I find I get little more heat out of it , but you also run less wire speed . .030 will give you a finer feed control if needed . So it is up to you .

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 3:19 pm
by propane1
0.30 would penetrate better I would guess. I’m no expert. I would use the stick welder myself. Cause my mig welder is only 75 amps. I call it the 1/2 welder. :giggle: Good for some things thou. I’d use 6013 rods at over 100 to 130 amps. Clean things up good and bevel where you can, and get zappin.

Need pictures of this when your done Eugen. We need to see the quality of this weld. :45:

For me. My best welding that I know for sure won’t come apart is, acetylene and oxygen torch, using either steel rod or bronze rod. Learned that 50 years ago. Just like riding a bicycle, you never forget how to use.

There now, a welding ramble. Remember Eugen. Pictures. :45: :D


Noel

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 3:46 pm
by Eugen
Haha! No pressure Noel, eh?! Yeah, ok, I'm not afraid to say I don't know when I don't know.

Maybe I do stick if I can't put the wire machine inside that little space inside the tower. The stick is thin and I might be able to see better what's going on. I'll have to try and see. Hope the rains stop so I can do that.

And thanks for your advice @DavidBarkey and @Jancoe and @Propane57 !

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 4:40 pm
by propane1
No, heavens no, no pressure at all Eugen. :giggle: :giggle:


Noel. :D

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 5:05 pm
by thebuildist
Eugen wrote: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:20 am I want to weld the quarter inch plate on the inside of the tower, which seems to be made of 3/16 plate. I have an AC buzzer box and E6011 electrodes (both 1/8 and 3/32), and I have a DC little flux core wire welder too. My welding skills are dismal.

What do you guys think, what should I use?
If you had a DC stick welder and 7014/7018 rods, I'd say goforit.

But speaking for myself, my beads with 6011 on AC are pretty ugly.

And you can use a 120V flux mig with .035 and it almost looks TIG. Very smooth, predictable beads.

But you will probably need to go very slow, and you may very well need to do a root pass then a cover pass.

Bob

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 8:44 pm
by FUTZ
Why don't you turn your AC welder into DC; a bridge rectifier and some caps is all. I agree with Bob, I could never make AC look as good as DC, even with 6011 or 6013. I also use 6010, which is referred to as mud rod for a first pass. 7018 for final pass, and 6" slag curl up.

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:22 pm
by Eugen
FUTZ wrote: Tue Oct 18, 2022 8:44 pm Why don't you turn your AC welder into DC; a bridge rectifier and some caps is all. I agree with Bob, I could never make AC look as good as DC, even with 6011 or 6013. I also use 6010, which is referred to as mud rod for a first pass. 7018 for final pass, and 6" slag curl up.
I got a rectifier for this purpose a couple of years ago, 400A, 1600V.

333326AD-7CDD-45B8-9D1B-DAD98F0D8091.jpeg

I suppose one more project is just another drip in the bucket :65:

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:41 pm
by Eugen
Found some bigger iron for a choke. Just missing some thick copper for the winding.

61815193-9027-497A-AE6E-F49F7A1EC894.jpeg

Re: Stick or not

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:45 am
by Timj
DC will definitely help. 6010 & 6011 are harder to get really pretty welds, more spatter, but they get good penetration and clean well. Good for vertical and overhead. Can always run some 7018 on top. :highfive: