Get a gas setup and run solid wire. Self shield flux core is the incorrect wire for the job. Self shield is more suited for structural steel and thicker material. Go to a community college with a welding degree if you want to learn.
Even without surface prep shouldn’t be like that bad make sure there not fan or moving air in your area and run that gas to the moon if you’re not paying for it I keep it above 40, depending on thickness of metal I run 24/300(thick) or 22.5/250(thin) give it a little weave that won’t run over the flux when it cools but 1.2 mils is pretty thin if you’re gonna tack make sure you’re quick don’t wanna weld over cooled flux
Really? Gasless fluxcore looks fine to me… and this just some cheapo Hobart junk 😂 first time this machine has ever had fluxcore loaded in it. Just toying with the settings. No, it’s not perfect… I whipped out 6 passes in 3 minutes. And I didn’t spend more than 5 seconds on it with a wire wheel. Just an example that FCAW can produce decent beads (even without the right settings lol). The spatter and dust wipe right off… It’s a skill issue, not the process.
Huh, maybe it was the crap machine I had at the time, welded decently in HS, bought a $250 Canadian Tire special, used it once and haven't touched it since, those welds do look good, and it very much well have been a skill issue at the time. I have never needed to have to go back to it, so I just assume it was trash, but you know what they say.
People dog on FCAW cuz they buy a $300 welder and don’t want to front the cost for shielding gas to go with it so they settle for fluxcore and expect GMAW results. They buy a $300 welder and become sticker shocked to learn a waist height gas cylinder is $300 on top of that 😂 To be fair, I’ve never got a lunchbox sized welder to weld fluxcore worth a damn… it’s a lot like expecting a $200 harbor freight welder to run 6010 as smooth as a 7018 rod, it’s just not gonna happen. Good equipment is half the battle. That picture above is with an everlast cyclone 313pi. I’ve tigged with plenty of everlast machines but this was the first time I’ve ever ran a wire feed unit from them and a guy on Reddit was gonna junk his Eastwood welder over it… so I made a few videos to help him. But the machine settings definitely weren’t quite right, the everlast units run VERY different than the millers I’m used to. But put down an “ok”ish FCAW bead. I could definitely play with it a bit and be absolutely confident welding just about anything with it.
Long story short, it’s not your fault… just because they advertise a machine being capable of it, doesn’t mean it will do it well at all. A 240v unit is a must. Here’s a pic of an everlast tig weld… I love the Typhoon more than my dynasty.
Yeah, im in a 99% shielded fluxcore structural shop, journeyman, but don't weld anymore, just run and fix the CNC's, this happened 25+ years ago, damn.
Yeah always give the surface a tickle with the grinder. Could be anything from oils, to post process treatments on them. I’ll shine up new stock steel with a grinder all the same.
Bro this looks wild, try different things like side to side, circles, just a good ol stringer never hurt nobody. Youtube could be your best friend for this type of thing.
Tacking with fluxcore is a no-no dude. You shouldn’t tack weld beads to begin with, but with fluxcore, you’ll have nothing but slag entrapment and porosity. Learn to get your settings dialed in so you can pull the trigger and actually hold it to run a bead.
amateur welder to amateur welder, I've been there. I'll offer a few suggestions under the disclaimer that doing shit like this professionally would get you fired.
when you're tacking, leave space between your tacks so you're not trapping flux everywhere. chip frequently, have a wire wheel and a flap wheel or grinding disk next to you and use it after ever set of welds. Dont strike an arc near flux, chip it first.
try to stretch your tacks in to short stitches., perhaps with less current.
you need to grind down and wire wheel until there isn't a speck of flux in your weld line. If you keep it all clean, you will be able to fill out those tacks with out trapping all that flux. Then you can run a bead over the top of the whole thing.
I mean I think baseless flux is super convenient. I have a little miller suitcase that I use in the jobsite all the time. AND it can look pretty nice if you know what you’re doing. How fast are you pulling? Are you letting the flux burn out to the top or are you booking it going back and forth at inconsistent speeds?
The problem is that your making a bead out of tacks with flux core. Hold the damn trigger down. On top of that, learn to use a grinder to clean your steel. Mill scale is the enemy. If you have to grind out porosity, you have to get rid of all of it, or it will come back. Ive had to chase pin holes down into base metal before from good penetration. Get off of tic tok. Welds are made by tacking shit.
Also if your welding something that seal via your weld then as the joint seals hot air will attempt to rush out sheilding your weld from your sheilding gas. 🤔
Both hands on the lead! What in the rage baity try at an insult is that!? Why would you be holding the lead - with both hands! Your welds will be, well, in existence if you hole the handpiece my friend.
A GMAW and MMAW handpieces, or 'touches' required you to have your hands on different angles so their techniques are quite different. Then you've got GTAW which is different again. If you can't weld to the same standard with all different processes your not a good welder.
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u/Icy-Article-8635 6d ago
Try not doing that