Welding technique - WAY out of position...

[woody]

I've been doing quite a bit of welding lately on the frame....mounts for the motor and tranny and such...anything that is horizontal or on a verticle plane is no problem

but anything that is upsidedown sucks....bottom of frame, bottom-side of any angles, etc....

Is there a good trick to not end up with chunks of weld spatter burning thru my shirt and leaving burn tracks down my chest/back??

Wire speed? Heat range? etc??

[Desertdave]

I'm no welding expert, but the only way I've avoided the 'drips' with the mig welder is to do little stitches. Almost like a spot weld, get it to penetrate in one spot then stop, let the puddle cool, then do it again, just a slight movement away.

Plus, I have finally bought welding leathers to cover the arms and chest, after 2nd degree burns in the crook of my elbow. They have a zillion burn marks on them, that would've been on me, otherwise. Loosing the fear of incineration allows you to focus on trying to get a good weld.

[Velocity2]

I pop riveted leather around my helmet so my neck wouldnt burnt (happened on first upside down weld) and i also use a leather jacket too. These two things should really help you. I wear them all the time just as safety.

[BMAN]

Originally Posted by Velocity2

I pop riveted leather around my helmet so my neck wouldnt burnt (happened on first upside down weld) and i also use a leather jacket too. These two things should really help you. I wear them all the time just as safety.

Isn't it hard to eat with that mask on? Let alone showering in a leater jacket.

[woody]

not nearly as tuff as the autodark lense kicking on when the light turns green....

good point on doing short welds, will try that on my next project...DID track down my welding jacket tho, and that saved me....too bad the first burns were doozies...lol

[The Bear]

I haven't welded since highschool (8 years ago), but was on the welding team, so I used to know a few tricks. What I remember about overhead welding is that we would use the smallest wire diameter possible, keep the weld pool small (gives better bead control, and less likely to drip on you), keep the arc length short and consistent (better control) and turn down the amperage (but oviously make sure you are still getting good penetration). Definitely invest in some good protective gear, or make your own out of thick leather.
The only other thing is that I always found it easier to do overhead with a stick welder rather than MIG, I seemed to have better control.

Hope this helps...

[mabrodis]

In my experiences whether it's good or not, I've found that cranking the heat way up and the wire speed way up usually helps. To get the penetration you need but not have a dripping mess then it seems you have to blast it plenty hot with plenty of wire, move fast and be done quick. Tough to do and I haven't done it for years, but I recall that being the best I could get.

Definetly cover yourself with something (and not something meltable, a surprising amount of old clothes and jackets will apparently melt ), I have burned myself so many times, and sometimes you can see it coming, like seeing that glowing ball fall from the table and be thinking, hmm, wonder where my feet are then DAMN, it lands inside your shoe...

[treerootCO]

Flux splatters more than solid with shielding gas on a mig. I would rather tip the truck on it's side (insert green truck held up by 2x4s) than weld overhead. Worst burn was on my calf, molten ball of hell got pinched when I leaned back on my heels and burned so deep I had to dig the little bugger out. My eyes started to tear up just remembering that.

[archie]

wear ear muffs to prevent the stuff from getting in your ear.

[haystax]

I would skip the wirefeed and break out the stick machine - overhead purely sucks in my experience. The trying to use a lower heat setting is usually the best method as above stated. Keeping the wire length short and tip close to the material sort of increases the heat. But then you're more prone to shit clogging your gas flow and tip welding itself to the wire. I'm not too keen on the stitch type weld, seems like you never get the needed penetration and i don't like doing that to my welder when it's on a high heat setting.

i would throw a bunch of old tires on the ground and tip my rig onto its side using the tires as a cushion. A big forklift or loader works well for this part, that's what we do to work on old stock trailer axles and floor joists. Then at least you are vertical, might be a little awkward for mocking up engine mounts though

Or else just turn everything way up and prepare for the shower If anyone sees your welds and gives you shit they are probably in an excellent position for you to run them over, they will probably not mention it agian once they return from the hospital.

[flintknapper]

Originally Posted by woody

I've been doing quite a bit of welding lately on the frame....mounts for the motor and tranny and such...anything that is horizontal or on a verticle plane is no problem

but anything that is upsidedown sucks....bottom of frame, bottom-side of any angles, etc....

Is there a good trick to not end up with chunks of weld spatter burning thru my shirt and leaving burn tracks down my chest/back??

Wire speed? Heat range? etc??

Smallest wire, reduce amperage 10 to 15 %, keep the weld puddle small, increase shielding gas rate slightly.

For shielding gas use a 75/25% argon/Co2 mix instead of pure Co2 unless you are welding thick metal then use pure Co2.

If you're using flux core then you will probably just have to contend with molten globs falling down on you.

You can also kind of "stitch weld" it by stopping your arc just as the puddle begins to sag, wait just a second and then get back in there.

Keep the arc short, make sure to keep the tip clean and start with clean metal for better penetration.

Good luck........it's no fun (I have the scars to prove it).

[leonard_nemoy]

you can use a smaller wire diameter, or next time you buy wire get some that cools down quickly. But your best bet would be a stick welder with 6010 or 6011 rod. I have never had drips with it.

[Planet_X]

E71T-1, its a gas shielded all-position fast-freeze electrode. You may amaze your self with your newfound vertical up and upside down welding prowess.
Alloy rods was the leader in this field, but I think Esab bought them out.
They may be called 'all-position' , but they are not the best choice for flat & horizontal welds.
You will need to increase your stickout if you choose to run this wire .


The following may help for solid wires;
Overhead welding is one place were 'weaves' or small occilations will help when trying to use solid wires like an L-50 or L-56, because it will help spread & cool your puddle. You should also experiment with the opposite of what you might expect- turn your wfs up and move...faster than normal. Run the lowest voltage that will support your arc- this will keep a tight arc length and help the arc force defy gravity.

When your arc length is too long (voltage too high is one factor) your wire will make a larger glob as it melts off and have to cross a greater distance to get to the puddle- two things which assist gravity in reminding you of its presence.

[turbocruiser]

I'll echo Mark that the thing that works the best for me first is to crank up the voltage, the gas feed, and the wire feed. I listen for rapidly sizzling bacon and not for slowly sputtering bacon sounds! Man I get hungry when I weld!!!

Some other special tricks and/or special tools I use really help and I'll share some here but they all dependon access to the spot from the other side. First, take a thick copper pipe, split it down the center, fold it out flat, use it under the spot you are welding and instead of welding the spot upside down, weld it from up above, soooooo much easier. Since weld wont stick to copper, you can fill holes, stich seems and even add metal to any spot you want without ever having it fall through in a melted molten mass.

The second special tool I made from one of those reachable and swivel-able inspection mirrors that has the little one inch inspection mirror...use a tin snip or somthing to just snip the folded over metal ring that holds the mirror in place, pop the mirror out and put a penny in there and then fold that metal ring back over the edge of the penny just like the edge of the mirror, now, feed it up and under the spot that you were going to weld upside down and instead weld it from up above!

All these things help but again they all depend on getting access to the spot from the other side. If you cannot do that, like Mark wrote, crank everything up and make that little piggy sizzle!!! HTH Good Luck.

[hammerhead]

Dang Woody, as many times as your rig has been on it's side I wouldn't think one more would matter...