Looking for some advice/pointers..

[DamageInc537]

Mainly from pipe weldors, and stick weldors.. I've been working on a weld cert pretty hardcore for the last month and i just can't seem to gain consistency on my 7018 caps. My instructor and i keep tweaking things, but nothing has stuck yet. Here is the basics on the cert procedure.

1) Coupon is NPS 2" XXS 0.436"wall A106 (seamless) pipe
2)Joint Configuration is a Single Vee Groove, with no backing or retainers. 35degree bevel +/- 5 degrees.
3)6G fixed position coupon maintained with out rotating or moving stand
4)Uphill progression on all vertical portions
5)Root gap is 1/8" with a 1/8" landface
6)Root pass done with E6010 1/8" with a max root penetration on flush to 1/8" and both walls broken down.
7)Balance of test is E7018 3/32" rod
8)"Stringer beads required for root pas, susequent passes may be weave or stringers"
9)Initial and interpass cleaning with a power brush or grinder is allowed.
10)Cap must be left in "As welded condition", can clean with power or hand brush tho
11)O/D reinforcement is flush to 3/16" max.

My root is generally pretty good, it will get a little heavy on me at the top. I usually fill with 2 weave passes of 7018 3/32" with the first weave at 80A and the second weave at 85A. Then i will run two hot stringers(90A) to get me to just below flush with the shoulders, and then i run a 3-stringer cap at 95A. I run the stringers with a drag and very little movement, especially at that heat. Not that it matters but i'm using a Miller XMT 304 CC/CV with a Miller RCH 14 remote.

pics in next post

[DamageInc537]

here are some pictures i took today of the coupons i ran.

my bottom:
side, right to left:
side, left to right:
top(were i need some major guidance):

more in next post

[DamageInc537]

In the stand:
Root1:
Root 2:

Any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance!!! I hope i provided enough information! if not lemme know i can add more

Jeremy

[Tryagn5]

You are running to slow. I would try to cut your bead size down for the root, increase the speed. Also for the cap do it in one pass....ie more weeve....
Kevin

[DamageInc537]

You are running to slow. I would try to cut your bead size down for the root, increase the speed. Also for the cap do it in one pass....ie more weeve....
Kevin

a weave on the cap would be carrying a ton of metal.. its a pretty good size space shoulder to shoulder. what does it hurt to try tho right?

[fabricator]

You are running to slow. I would try to cut your bead size down for the root, increase the speed. Also for the cap do it in one pass....ie more weeve....
Kevin

1 pass on a 6g position? That aint gonna happen.On the root try a 3/32 land and a 3/32 gap.

95 amps is too hot for a cap.

You need way more practice running stringers.It just dont happen overnight.

[Tryagn5]

1 pass on a 6g position? That aint gonna happen.On the root try a 3/32 land and a 3/32 gap.

95 amps is too hot for a cap.

You need way more practice running stringers.It just dont happen overnight.

On a pipe of that wall, looks to be 7/16 or 1/2 wall, absolutely do the cap in one pass. Root would be 3/32 run 80-85 amps, rest would be 1/8 rod at 100-110 amps. Cap pass would be 1/8 90-95 amps. The probelm he is having is learning how to stack the passes, plus he wanders while welding, causing himself difficulty. IE he building mounds with the weld. You can see in the root pass he is moving to slowly and having a lot of burn through. Also because he is using 3/32 I would bet he is running through the rod quickly causing him to have to start and stop a lot. However this is just my O2, as I do not weld pipe much anymore...but I did a ton of it in the past.
Kevin

[fabricator]

Its not so much the wall thickness as it is the fact that the pipe is on a 45degree slope.On a 5g I would probably cap with 1 pass, depends on what the company would allow me to get away with as far as the width of the bead.

He stated he is using 3/32 7018 on fill and cap.

[Tryagn5]

Its not so much the wall thickness as it is the fact that the pipe is on a 45degree slope.On a 5g I would probably cap with 1 pass, depends on what the company would allow me to get away with as far as the width of the bead.

He stated he is using 3/32 7018 on fill and cap.

I dont know why but I thought he was doing 5g. He will need to do the cap in a couple of passes. Still think he should be running 1/8 rod on that thickness at least for the cap. Anyhow I think his biggest probelm is not running the stringer in a uniform shape and flowing the lines. I build a shelf for each pass to lay in. Makes capping much easier.
Kevin

[Hale Yeah Fabrication]

Before trying to cap with one pass you need to check the WPS to see what the maximum bead width allowed is. Most of the time its not a matter of if you can or cannot carry that much metal because the WPS doesnt allow it.

Most WPS's have a 5/8 max bead width for SMAW.

I agree with above posts that your travel speed on the root pass is to slow, and you need to have the least amount of starts and stops as possible. As for the cap, it seems like your having trouble keeping your beads on a straight line, you could always grind a line to follow.

Just keep practicing and you will get it.