Arc Welding Question

Bought this arc welder at a garage sale for next to nothing but im not sure how to use it. I have not used one since high school. it runs off 220 and i have the mask etc.....can someone explain the control knob to me ? thanks Dan

Dan, the amperage is adjusted based on the following variables: electrode selection, material thickness, welding position and finally actual welding results. I will let more experienced welders walk you through it or point you to some instructional materials.

We have many welder stores here; I'll bet you have them also. Go to one and tell him you want help to go with rods you buy. I am sure they will help you get started. I wiouldn't attempt tell you how to use a crackerbox on-line.

Ray Gerdes

Make sure any rod you buy is rated for AC. Unless it is, the rod will be very difficult to run. If I remember right, 6013 is a good one to use for general welding with that machine. You also want to match your filler metal to the base metal as far as tensile strength goes. Lincoln should have information on their web site that will be helpful. It is a good machine in it place, a lot of farm equipment and trailers have been built with it. I have been welding for 30+ years and wonder what I was thinking back in high school when I decided to take up this sport. Miller also has a good web site for information.

6013 and I think 6011 are the two most used. I has been a while since I used a arc welder.

Dan,

Please forgive me, but if you need to ask about the *dial*, it may not be safe to turn that thing on before you do some research, especially if you haven't welded since high school (although I'm sure that was only a couple years ago...

Here's a good place to start... http://tinyurl.com/crr4sq tons of stuff there.

Have fun, and be safe...

thanks,

Bill

6011 has been generally my choice with the old "cracker box" welders. I learned to weld with that same welder. Now days I prefer tig welding over anything else for versatility However you can do an awful lot with that machine.

By the way make sure the rods you get are good and dry. Moist flux does not work well.

Good Luck

Alan

Great info everyone, I'd like to add to Alan's note about keeping your rods dry, I'd also say don't buy more than you think you will use in a reasonable time, and get a sealed container with some of them silica gel packs that suck up water and put your rods in the container, moisture and welding rods just don't mix.

Since you got such a great deal on the welder, spend some money one a good helmet, I love the instant on ones for use on my MIG, but I'm lazy

Just make sure that you have a good helmet, with glass rated for arc welding, good gloves, and a good set of coveralls, make sure that your neck area is covered, most coveralls and helmet combos do NOT cover an area about the size of a silver dollar right were your necktie would go, and if you stand in front of that artificial sun for much time at all you WILL get a nasty sunburn there............ I learned that one the hard way

Check out your local community collage, or Tech collage, they might offer a welding 101 type of course, at night, well worth the money to learn how to weld.

Cheers!

Dan,

You got a decent little machine there. I did lots of fabricating with one like it, many years ago. It's a pretty straight forward machine and with the right electrodes (rods) can be fairly easy to run.

I say "Fairly", because until you get e few rods burnt up, you are going to stick a few and make a mess with some others.

As the other guys said, 6011, 6013, & 7014 and 7024 are good AC rods to start with.
6011 is a deep penetrating rod, good for slightly rusty or dirty metals. It can be used in all positions. 6011 is sometimes used for a root pass weld and then finished off with other rods.
6013 is a shallower penetraing rod that can be used on thinner metals. It can be used in all positions.
7014 is a low penetration rod that has a good flowing bead characteristic. It is to be used in the flat and horizontal positions.
7024 is very similar to 7014, but with a hotter arc. These two are used for high deposition, fast build weld beads.

The "60" & "70" is the tensile strength of the rod material. The other digits tell the positions to be used and other specifics, that I cannot remember at this time. (Sorry, but I generally consult a welding bible when I need to know that stuff. It is not available to me right at this moment) But I think I gave you something to start with.

To learn a bit about the characteristics of rods and the weld procedures you should check the:

www.lincolnelectric.com
and
www.millerwelds.com
websites. There you will find a wealth of information.

Another place to check out is

www.weldingweb.com. That group has many experienced and helpful people to help you.

Myself, I would buy a few 7014 3/32" rods and some 1/8" 6013 to practice with.

Good welding and we will want to see pictures of your results.

Aloha, Tony

All great info you've received so far, Dan. Make sure you grab yourself a chipping hammer also. When using an arc welder, your welds will have a coating on them called Slag. This is the residue that's left over from the protecting flux when welding. It will be a hard, brittle, metal like, shell substance that will coat your bead. You will need to chip this off after every bead you weld If your welds are a little blotchy or jumpy it will be difficult to chip it all off. But as your welds get better, usually just one quick tap with the chipping hammer will get it off in one piece, sometimes if your welds are REALLY good it will even start peeling off for you. You especially need to chip this slag off if you do multiple beads that will overlap each other. If you do not chip it and it is included in your next bead, it will make for a very weak joint. Hope this helps a little. Have fun with it, welding is a blast

Westley Rosenbaum said:

All great info you've received so far, Dan. Make sure you grab yourself a chipping hammer also. When using an arc welder, your welds will have a coating on them called Slag. This is the residue that's left over from the protecting flux when welding. It will be a hard, brittle, metal like, shell substance that will coat your bead. You will need to chip this off after every bead you weld If your welds are a little blotchy or jumpy it will be difficult to chip it all off. But as your welds get better, usually just one quick tap with the chipping hammer will get it off in one piece, sometimes if your welds are REALLY good it will even start peeling off for you. You especially need to chip this slag off if you do multiple beads that will overlap each other. If you do not chip it and it is included in your next bead, it will make for a very weak joint. Hope this helps a little. Have fun with it, welding is a blast

Click to expand...

When I was a very young field engineer, one of the welders let me weld a angle clip to a metal plate embeded in a tunnel wall. After much burning and arcing, I stepped back and lifted the hood to behold a beautiful looking weld all covered with slag. We looked at it for about 5 seconds until it fell to the floor. I had all my penetration into the clip and none in the embeded plate. The only thing holding it up was the slag. I was good for much laughter that day and later in the local bar.

Thanks for the advice and links..........it answers my questions well......