Advanced Out-of-Position Stick Welding

Anyone can run a decent bead on a flat plate at a bench. The welds that separate a senior stick welder from the rest are up a column, under a beam, or behind a brace with six inches of clearance. Gravity pulls on the puddle, your body is out of position, and a small mistake can get buried under the next pass. At this level you plan the weld before you strike an arc, you can explain why each setting is what it is, and you can tell when the usual way of doing it will not work.

This assumes you already run E6010 and E7018 well in the flat and horizontal positions. Structural and code welding is done by qualified welders working to a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS). Nothing here replaces the WPS, your supervisor's direction or hands-on practice.

What You Will Be Able to Do

• Plan an out-of-position joint from the WPS, the access and the position.
• Set amperage by position, and explain the reason.
• Run E7018 vertical up and overhead with control, including tie-ins and restarts.
• Check weave width and heat input against their limits.
• Recognize when the normal technique does not apply, and what to do about it.

Plan the Joint Before You Strike

Before you pull your hood down, answer these questions:

1. What does the WPS allow? Check the electrode, size, amperage range, progression and any limit on weave or heat input.
2. What position is this really? A sloped pipe rack or a bent brace may not match the label you would give it. Compare the joint to what your qualification covers.
3. Can you reach the whole joint? Dry-run the full length with the rod in the holder and the power off.
4. Where will you stop? Plan your stops for places you can reach well. A stop in the worst spot is a restart in the worst spot.
5. Where will you stand? You need a stable stance and clear footing. A welder who is off balance welds badly.
6. What will the heat do? Think about preheat, interpass limits and how the joint will move.

The dry run is cheap. It catches the brace that blocks your elbow, the lead that drags, and the spot where you run out of rod a foot from the end.

Amperage by Position

Out of position, you need a puddle that freezes quickly, so you run colder than you would flat. Here is one maker's published data for an E7018 rod on DC electrode positive.

Treat that as a starting point, because other brands differ. Your WPS range overrides it. Within that range, the base metal, thickness and heat build-up all decide the final number. Start in the lower middle of the range, and tune it on a scrap plate in the same position.

Also keep in mind that the dial is not the arc. Long leads, poor connections and a tired machine can leave you well below what the dial shows. On critical work, check with a clamp meter.

Choosing the Rod by Position and Job

The WPS picks the rod on code work. You should still understand why, so that you can spot a problem.

E6010 is a cellulosic rod. Its coating makes hydrogen on purpose, and that gives the digging arc. So do not swap it in for E7018 because it feels easier overhead. On a crack-sensitive joint, that swap can put in the very hydrogen the procedure was written to keep out.

Vertical Up With E7018

Vertical up is the normal progression for E7018. One maker's data sheet calls for a weave with no whipping for this rod, and says vertical down is generally not recommended.

1. Set the rod angle. Point the rod slightly upward, a few degrees past square to the plate.
2. Hold a very short arc. The rod should almost touch the puddle. A long arc with E7018 invites porosity, because the shielding breaks down.
3. Build a shelf. Hold at the bottom until a small ledge of metal forms. Each new layer sits on this shelf.
4. Weave. Move side to side with a slight upward step on each pass.
5. Pause at the toes. Stop briefly at each side, then cross the middle quickly. The pause fills the edges. The fast crossing keeps the center from getting too hot and bulging.
6. Read the puddle. Watch the slag line and the size of the molten area. If the puddle grows, speed up or drop the amperage.

Do not lift the rod out of the puddle to cool it, as you would with E6010. Whipping an E7018 stretches the arc and costs you shielding.

Common Vertical Faults

Overhead

Overhead, the puddle wants to fall. The answer is a small puddle that freezes fast.

1. Use a small bead. Keep the puddle no bigger than you can hold. Run stringers, or a very slight weave inside the width of the puddle.
2. Run in the lower half of the amperage range. One maker's sheet shows the overhead range as the same as vertical.
3. Hold a tight arc. Push the rod gently toward the joint, so that the arc force holds the metal up.
4. Keep moving. A pause overhead puts more metal in the puddle than you can hold.
5. Stack beads. Lay each stringer to overlap the last by about half, and clean between each one.

Warning: Molten metal and slag fall when you weld overhead. Wear a leather jacket or sleeves, a welding cap, closed collar and cuffs, and ear protection. Keep your head out of the fume plume, which rises straight into your face, and do not stand directly under the joint if you can avoid it.

Worked Example: Weave Width

A common shop limit is a weave no wider than 2.5 times the core wire diameter of the rod. Your WPS may set something tighter.

• 1/8 inch rod: 2.5 x 0.125 = 0.312 inch, or about 5/16 inch
• 5/32 inch rod: 2.5 x 0.156 = 0.391 inch, or about 3/8 inch

A 3G cap is 3/4 inch wide, and you are running 1/8 inch rod. One weave pass would need a 3/4 inch weave, more than double the limit. So plan three beads, each about 5/16 inch wide, overlapping by about 3/32 inch. Check: 3 x 5/16 = 15/16 inch, minus two overlaps of 3/32 inch, gives 3/4 inch.

Worked Example: Heat Input

Weaving slows your travel along the joint, so it puts more heat into each inch. Heat input in joules per inch is volts x amps x 60, divided by travel speed in inches per minute.

Your WPS limits heat input to 50,000 joules per inch. You are at 24 volts and 120 amps.

• Wide weave at 3 inches per minute: 24 x 120 x 60 / 3 = 57,600 joules per inch. That is over the limit.
• Stringer at 6 inches per minute: 24 x 120 x 60 / 6 = 28,800 joules per inch. That is well inside.
• Slowest speed allowed: 24 x 120 x 60 / 50,000 = 3.46 inches per minute.

Your amps and volts both sit inside the WPS, and you still broke the rule, because your travel was too slow. To measure travel speed, time a marked length of weld. A 6 inch run that takes 2 minutes is 3 inches per minute.

This matters most on steels whose toughness depends on cooling rate, such as quenched and tempered steels. Too much heat can damage them in ways a visual inspection will not show.

Restarts and Tie-Ins

Most flaws on out-of-position work sit where one rod ended and the next began. E7018 is especially prone to pores at the start, before the shielding is fully established.

1. Clean the crater. Chip the slag and brush the area. Grind out any crater crack, and grind down a high stop.
2. Strike ahead. Start the arc about 1/2 inch ahead of the crater, inside the joint, on metal that will be welded over. Never strike on the base metal outside the joint, because an arc strike is a defect.
3. Back up. Move back to the crater while you shorten the arc.
4. Tie in. Pause at the crater until the new puddle fills it.
5. Go. Move forward at normal speed.

When you end a bead, fill the crater. Pause briefly, or back up a little, before you break the arc. On a multi-pass joint, stagger your stops so that they do not stack up in one spot.

When the Normal Method Does Not Apply

A bent rod or a mirror changes how you weld, so do not assume your test covers it. Mock up the joint first and let your lead or inspector decide. If the job truly cannot be welded as written, say so before you start. It costs far less than cutting it out.

Checking Other Welders' Work

When you lead a crew, you are checking more than bead shape.

• Watch the stubs. Rods burned to the last inch or two, thrown stubs and pieces left in the holder tell you about habits.
• Look at starts and stops. They show how carefully the welder handles restarts.
• Check the rod in use. It should match the WPS, and it should be coming from a controlled oven.
• Check amps and travel. A clamp meter and a stopwatch take a minute.
• Check cleaning between passes. Slag left under the next pass cannot be seen later.
• Ask why. A welder who can explain a setting will usually hold it.

Common Mistakes

• Using flat settings out of position. The puddle gets too big to hold.
• Whipping E7018. It costs you shielding, and you get pores.
• Weaving wider to save time. It can break both the weave and heat input limits.
• Striking outside the joint. An arc strike is a defect.
• Stacking stops in one spot. The weak spots line up.
• Swapping rods because one is easier. That is a procedure change, and it may add hydrogen.

Check Your Understanding

Your foreman tells you to halve your travel speed to build a bigger bead. What does that do to the energy going into each inch of weld?

It doubles, because travel speed sits on the bottom of the formula. Work out the new number and compare it to your procedure before you agree.

A helper running vertical up complains that his 5/32 inch E7018 sags at 150 amps, though that is inside the range. What do you check?

Being inside the range does not make that setting right for the joint. Check the weave width, the speed across the center and the heat in the part, then drop the amps toward the lower end of the range.

Your dry run shows that your rod will run out at the one spot on a column you can barely reach. What should you change?

Move the stop. Plan the rod change for a place you can reach well, because a stop in the worst spot becomes a restart in the worst spot.

You are leading a crew and notice that every welder's stops line up in one spot on a multi-pass joint. What do you tell them?

Stagger the stops. Most flaws on this work sit at restarts, so stacking them lines up the weak spots.

Key Takeaways

• Plan the joint first, with a dry run and planned stops.
• Run colder out of position, and treat the WPS range as the rule.
• Run E7018 with a short arc and no whipping, and pause at the toes.
• Keep overhead puddles small, and stack stringers.
• Check weave width and heat input with real numbers.
• If the normal method will not work, stop and ask before you weld.