What am I doing wrong?

[bhardy501]

You might try some 6010s, I like them better than the 6013s. Better yet is 7018s on DSRP. The 7018s dont penetrate quite as deep as the 6010s or 13s so you need cleaner welding surfaces. The 7018s are easier to use they are just a drag rod instead of using a whip motion. I tend to use a slight leading angle on my rod tip wile moving it. The whip action used in the 6010s and 13s does two things it precleans the surface in front of the weld and provides a little preheat.

[SICFabrications]

one thing i saw you post in your original post was that you were DC straight or DCEN... you wont get good penetration using this.... DCEP (direct current electrode positive)

[ahack3r]

Just got home from the shop.
Here's how I have the 160p set for arc/stick welding.

Peak current - 132amp, knob @ 2:00 o'clock

Arc force - 45amp, knob @ 3:00 o'clock

Basic current - maxxed out, knob @ 5:00 o'clock

Current switch - DC

All other knobs are minimized, 7:00 o'clock

I'm not sure if this is right but at least I got the machine working

thanks, I will be purchasing the same machine and will copy this down if I ever have arc problems!

[Bluesman]

You might try some 6010s, I like them better than the 6013s. Better yet is 7018s on DSRP. The 7018s dont penetrate quite as deep as the 6010s or 13s so you need cleaner welding surfaces. The 7018s are easier to use they are just a drag rod instead of using a whip motion. I tend to use a slight leading angle on my rod tip wile moving it. The whip action used in the 6010s and 13s does two things it precleans the surface in front of the weld and provides a little preheat.

I have welded with 6013's quite a bit this past year. Had not used any until I found a box in my shop and my students had ran out of 6011's. I didn't know exactly what the difference was but I could tell the arc was smoother and easier to control than the 6011's. I had the students doing the whip pause method and was getting results but when one of the instructors from the local Ju. College saw what we were doing they told us to have the students use the 6013's like a 7018 rather than whipping and pausing. It worked fine and the bead was consistent and had tiny ripples in it like a 7018. I'm just glad to know someone else out there uses whip pause on 6013 other than myself. It gives the bead a little different look but it works just as well.

[SICFabrications]

the thing to remember about the 6013 rods is that they have a fast freeze slag that is also very invasive.... you REALLY have to pay attention to the colors of the weld puddle... its very easy for the slag to run into the weld puddle and cause inclusions and also incomplete fusion.... i make complete newbs run 7014 rods just for familiarity of strriking and maintaining the arc.... once that is done, i make em run the 13's for puddle control....

in my eyes, if you can control the puddle and slag from a 13, you can run just about any other rod (with a few exceptions, like the 7024 aka jet rod)