Poor penetration.

[Hobweld]

I have a lil astro 130. I was welding up the welding table I got the plans for off of the lincoln site when I noticed that I wasn't getting very good penetration. I have the machine set wide open with the wire speed about half way. Any more it hammers, any less it burns back. I was using .023 wire and switched to .030 in hopes of pumping up the amps. But it still looks like the puddle isn't very fluid. I am using 75/25 for gas, I suppose CO2 would be better but I have gotten good welds in the past. Perhaps having the gas set to high is cooling the weld down? That was the only difference I could think of since I was welding in a slightly breezy area with a propane heater nearby. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Franz]

More detail is needed on what you are welding, material thickness and joynt design.
Right off, I kind of see it as a situation where your machine has maxed out. It's a very common situation with small machines when you get into thick metal.

[Hobweld]

Franz,
The material is 1/8x1x1 angle. mitered corners basically butt joints. Could be possibly that I am not running on a dedicated circut? I've gotten good welds out of it in that past though.

[Franz]

Could well be the problem.
It's hard to say witch is the biggest problem with 120 volt machines, but I think 1 & 2 are lack of capacity and inadequit power to the machine itself, and those problems switch back and forth.
You can easily determine if you have inadequit power to the machine by trying the same weld on scrap with the machine closer to the power source of the building. With the current these little buggers suck there is considerable power loss in the line from the service entrance to the machine.

[1grnlwn]

Have you tried a new contact tip? Ground in good shape? Have you tried backing off the amperage and slowing down travel speed? Just a few thoughts.

[Mike W]

1grnlwn, where can I find that cool avatar? Thanks

[cutter]

Originally posted by Hobweld
I have a lil astro 130. I was welding up the welding table I got the plans for off of the lincoln site when I noticed that I wasn't getting very good penetration. I have the machine set wide open with the wire speed about half way.

Hob, this is just a shot in the dark based on something I read, posted by Dan with reference to getting the best penetration out of a 175 using C25: "in most cases with C-25 as your shielding gas TAP #3 works best for 1/8" and 3/16"., tap 3 being 3 out of 4. Now granted, he was talking about the HH175, but you might try it. Instead of maxing out the voltage setting, back it down 1 notch & then tinker with your wire speed to see if you can raise your amperage to the right working level.
Just sounded to me like it would be worth a shot.

[joehobart]

My two cents on this are you are running at the top end of that machines capability. Make sure you are leaving a small gap in the joint, or hitting it with a grinder to put a bevel on the joints where possible as a quick and easy solution. Another trick would be to switch over to flux core to get a little deeper penetration.

[1grnlwn]

Originally posted by Mike W
1grnlwn, where can I find that cool avatar? Thanks

Thanks! Just did a search for welding pictures and chopped it down to avitar size.

[jpurdy]

Clean the oxides off of the steel (grind shiny), use a 'pull' technique instead of a 'push' and keep the arc on the leading edge of the puddle. At one time we where all taught to use a 'push' technique with solid wire GMAW, but lately schools have reverted to a pull technique because of lack of penetration.