I'm learning to weld the hard way, by not taking any classes, because I don't have the time or money. I know that sounds ridiculous, and I would probably come out ahead if I'd just take a class, but with a wife and a 6 month old boy at home, I simply can't work 10 hours and still go to a reagularly scheduled class and have enough time at home. So, I've been doing some welding, off and on, for my subframe connectors and rocker panel repair. On seams where I can hold the torch pointing down, I can run a decent bead once I get the heat and feed adjusted. On seams where I have to lay on my back under the car and the torch is pointed up, I can't run a bead to save my ass. It "balls up" on the end of the wire, and I end up with a lot of slag, and hot metal balls rolling around on the concrete. It doesn't seem like it's penetrating well either. It basically seems like hot metal is just falling off the car. I didn't have much of a problem using the flux core wire, but when I switched to the solid wire MIG on CO2, I can't weld upside down. So, any tips or tricks that might help me along would be much appreciated. Thanks, Adam
Sounds to me like you need to slow your feed down.....also do tiny little circles it prmotes adhesion/penetration.....it takes more patience to weld upside down.....
There should be no difference in welding inverted. Its the same principal. Usually it's ones techniques. Make sure your metal is good and clean. Dirty or rusty metal can and will cause some crappy welds. Next pay attention to how close your tip is out from the metal. Sometimes when laying upside down, you don't have the same relaxed view that you have when welding in a comfortable upright position. I have found I really need to concentrate a lot more on the gun position when welding upside down. Next, try to analyze what is happening. Too low a current setting or too slow a wire feed and your just laying blobs of metal. Too fast a wire setting and too much current and you make holes. The speed of the gun will also give flatter hotter welds when moving slow as compared to higher (less penetration) and cooler welds when moving faster. Lastly, are you dragging the gun or pushing it? Pushing it heats the metal up more than pulling or dragging it. Best thing is to weld right side up until you are laying down that perfect bead. Then, why you are laying it, really pay attention to all the things mentioned above. Then try to duplicate it upside down. Good Luck.
Practice practice an more practice! Have a expert check your welds before you do any structural welding or such,,, they may look pretty,,, an that might be all!
Yeah, I talked to someone yesterday and he also mentioned how close I was keeping the torch to the metal. The major issues are that I'm upside down, so holding the torch properly is kind of a pain, and I can't get a good view of what I'm doing either. He recommended that I clamp a 2x4 to use as a guide to held control the position of the torch. I tried pushing and pulling and it didn't seem to make much of a difference. It's still an awkward angle no matter how I tried to position myself. When I was using the flux core wire and could see better, it wasn't nearly as difficult to keep my torch where it needed to be and watch the puddle. Welding blind and upside down with the MIG has proven to be much more difficult to say the least.
Also remember since going from flux core to gas, There cant be ANY wind,not even a fan. That is the reason i use flux core. Also a good helmet is worth its weight, especially under a car.
lots of things can make problems when welding. windy days, mud or grease, the most important advise is patience and practice. just make sure your as comfortable as you can get and take your time. brace your arms against somthing and roll smooth and steady. might want to use a mig when up side down so you can bump the switch, just not on something important like frame work.
------------------------------------------------------------- Yes as all above have mentioned and Push a mig and Pull Only a stick weld.
Here are some pics at my first attempt. Absolute garbage I'm going to grind them down, then hit the whole thing with the wire wheel again to make sure it's good and clean and give it another shot. The instruction video that came with the welder is pretty good. They even said on the video that there is no replacement for practice and lots of it.
oh.. and when you are upside down, people tend to concentrate more on the drips and slag falling onto you, so you tend to be more "jumpy"
You need to find some steel before you can weld! Maybe it is just the photo but it all looks like rust and scale that you are trying to weld. Cut it all out until you get some good bright steel. That will make it a lot easier. It does take practice. You might try to skip or spot weld it in a few places and then just keep welding new spots until it is a solid weld. A heavy leather throw will help keep the dripping slag from causing welder's rash but it is hard to weld overhead. Try lowering your current just slightly and see if that will speed up the welding and reduce the fallout.
My welder only has 4 heat positions, so it's kind of a pain if I just want a little more or less heat. I turned it down a notch, and it was way too cold. My feed is infinitely adjustable, and I think I can fix most of my problems by turning it down a little at a time until it's managable. I did cut out most of the rust that is on the first picture, and then threw grit and rust in my face with the wire wheel until what was left was nice and shiny. It looks worse than it really is. 90% of the car is covered with a light layer of surface rust. There were only a couple spots where it was bad enough to go all the way through, and that was in the low spots on the floor where I'm assuming it held water until it rusted out, and subsequently drained. I have more pics on the cardomain site in my sig. I made my patch panels long enough to basically weld over the top of the pinch welds at the top and bottom of the rocker panel to give me a decent thickness of metal.
Made some significant progress this weekend. I found a couple of issues with my welding. 1) I had the feed set too high. 2) I didn't have the torch laid over far enough. I was more or less pointing it 90 degrees straight at the seam instead of laying it over 45 degs or so. 3) Laying the torch over gave me a better view of the puddle. 4) I wasn't moving fast enough. 5) Using an actual welding helmet instead of just a shield and using two hands on the torch helps a ton! I think I need a bigger CO2 bottle now. It looks like this little guy is only good for about one weekend of serious welding.
