Yeah... that is his completely automated thomas set.. it is pretty cool..

 

Well fella's... I gone and done it.. LOL... passed my 2G FCAW tests today... and started on a 3G... but ran out of time... so I brought it home and took a few pics..

One stringer (slow and stead for nice burn through) and then a couple of weave passes...







You might notice if you look closely.. at the very top, there is some "holes/worm holes?" not exactly sure what causes/caused it.. but the just I got from several people is that my angle was to far up.. and the gas was not fully penetrating.. which very well could be... this booth I am in is set-up funny, but I do the best I can with what I have...

Any input is appreciated as always...

 

I don't know much about it, but it looks like it would hold!

 

It will hold you like Sally in the corners of sebring international speedway...

 

As a certified welder, and without knowing what the exact environment was, I would venture to say you may be correct. Are you running dual shield? or just flux core? if your running dual shield (flux core AS WELL AS gas) then if the gas gets blown out by wind or something, then you'll get porosity. It can also happen if you have contaminated wire. Check that to see if you have any kind of corrosion on it at all. You could have also missed a piece of slag from a previous pass. Also, you may have gotten some grinder dust in it. And finally, sometimes (although not often) you just get porosity. It happens. And the crappy deal is that if it's on a certification pass or might get x-rayed, you will have to grind the whole pass out. Just make sure that if you grind it out, you wire brush it out like a MOFO after each pass. I always used a wire wheel on a grinder to clean it out after chipping it. Wait until you go for a 6G test. You think gravity sucks now? Upside down and up SUCKS!

 

What are you using for your face shield?

Some guys like the instant lenses. I'm a bit old fashioned though, and prefer the old flip style still with a gold #10 lens.

Man...I miss blowing my nose to get the black boogers out. LOL

 

LOL...

I use a larger faced Lincoln shade #10...
And I am really not sure on the wire.. I just know it breaks easily... unlike GMAW... FCAW breaks in a second... I fix this machines wire at least once a day...

 

I'm assuming you have the green (looks black unless your welding) lense. You should really spend the money and get a gold lens. It shows SO much more color and while it protects as well as the green lense, you can see the puddle better with the gold lens. Yeah, you're running plain flux core. There shouldn't be any gas to it to be able to blow away. So that leaves you with just making sure it's all clean. Now, if you suffered "arc blow", you could get porosity also.

If you're having problems with the wire birdnesting and breaking, loosen up the drive wheels a little. Look at the wire that is coming out of the gun first. If it has little tracks on it from the drive wheels, then it's too tight.

Welding is one of those things that you can only get better with LOTS of practice. Just keep doing it and experimenting. Oh yeah....Watch out for baloons filled with oxy/acetylene. LOL

 

Here is a link to one that would work in your hood. Jackson Welding Helmet, Big Window® - Shade 10 Gold - Mfg# 3010795

 

Thanks a million bro!!!!!!!!!