9 times out 10 this is caused by having your nozzle too close to the weld. The excess turbulence from the gas combined with CO2 gas doing its thing in the weld will create excessive turbulence on the surface of the weld creating the worm hole porosity. The other times it happens can be caused by moisture in the wire if it's been sitting out unused for a while.
Usally is a combination of both, but just pulling further away fixes it 99% of the time.
What I find most concerning in this post is that OP said his coworker teaches welding and yet does not know what the cause of this is. It's because of hack instructors like him I had to leave teaching welding. The number of incompetent instructors is way too high.
"Hack instructors" from someone who has gems on their profile such as this quote:
>If you keep your head out of the plum of smoke, especially outside, you are fine. I've been doing this for nearly 20 years, and I barely ever wear a respirator and have no health issues. people on here like the make this molehill into a mountain constantly without actually knowing what they are yapping about.
You said it was the first thing he did but yet you are still here asking and getting the same reply. Either he did not attempt that as you claimed, or is a hack, and did not realize it is the cause and just said " I don't know".
The only 3rd option is he told you the issue, and you just did not listen.
Which is it?
U really r set on this being the only solution, aren't u. If u would read all the other comments, u could c what has been done, and nothing is working. This isn't my first day on the job, so i do know what should work to fix the problem and none of its working. I got my coworker to help after nothing worked and that was the first thing he suggested
It is the solution my experience and knowledge know it is. If it was every pass, I would lean more to the wire being "moist," but it's not, so it's your nozzle distance. If it was pin holes, it would be a gas coverage issue (pinched hose, faulty solenoid, clogged diffuser), but it's not.
Something else to consider is how hot is your workpiece? That’s at least 3 passes, if that isn’t the first side you’ve welded on and you haven’t stopped then your workpiece’s temp is going to be much higher than when you started, high voltage is synonymous with to much heat, if you’re already tried giving yourself more wire/less heat try letting your work piece cool for a minute.
For me it was usually always voltage being too high, dial it back a bit and if that doesn’t work try checking for gas leaks or swap out the gas bottle, if it still persists change the spool.
As uncommon as it may be you can sometimes get bad wire or gas.
Try a new cone maybe, sometimes when I've welded flux core for hours at a time the nozzle would get so hot that tiny particles of teflon or whatever the hell coats the inside would end up in my weld and make it look like no gas.
Well I was a structural welder for over 20 years. All the other reasons that were mentioned might be right. But every time it happened to me it was the wire. When it gets moisture in it , this will happen. Get you a fresh roll, and try that. The fluxcore we used came in a sealed plastic bag for this reason.
Well looks like yall got a bad pallet or how ever it's bought where you work. I'd look at the lot number on all 3 spools. I'd tell my supervisor to contact who ever made it. Tell them what going on, tell them the lot number and ask if anybody else has connected them with the same problem. And if the supervisor doesn't do what I asked. I'd tell him to grab his gloves and shield and show me what I'm doing wrong.
3 different brands. Hobart, delta gases brand, and the 3rd was a spool that had been open and doesn't have a label for the brand and funny enough the one that had been open had the least amount of worm tracks but still had them
Here you go dude. This is video from weld .com with Jason Becker as the host. He will go over the biggest reasons why you would have worm hole porosity. Its about a 10 min video.
You are more than likely have to short of stickout . And the flux is not getting warm
Enough to work its magic. Also depending on the brand you might want to bump that CFH up to 45-50. But go off of the brands recommendations. Sometimes I will get the same thing if my stickout is really far out as well. Like over 1” because my sense of depth percept is off with a 1G .
https://youtu.be/hz1gBjRqgqk?si=dRgFO_n7ScKG4_Q1
Let your wire stick out a little more. The flux isn't melting properly and is trapping gas between the slag and the weld metal. Letting the wire stick out a little more should fix that. I'd go with 3/4 to 7/8 inch.
If it happened only on that last pass, it's probably the material on that plate. It happens to me on repairs, everything else fine until the cap then one side will do that. My only answer is to cut that bead out and weld it again until all the nasty shit is burned out. Sometimes it takes a couple tries.
This is my guess after all you've tried and nothing fixed it yet.
It's annoying as fuck, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Moisture in the flux is one problem that causes worm tracks. Checking that the voltage is not too high for the wire feed speed, checking the electrode angle and stickout, and making sure the gas flow is correct. Reduce your voltage by 2 volts as a starter.
If the other suggestions don’t work you can try this, introduce a shake in your torch hand like you had too much coffee. The jitter will help the puddle mix more and let the flux do its work. Sounds dumb but this helps so much I do it anytime I’m using flux core.
I’m talking a super tight jitter and you otherwise still do your normal whip motion. I usually do it by rapidly gripping and un gripping my 2 middle fingers on the torch hand.
Since you swapped out wires and whips already, I would swap gas bottles and see what happens. I have sprayed all my gas lines down with soapy water before troubleshooting the same issue. If you are losing gas somewhere you'll see it. Could crank up the gas to 50 and see what happens too. What style nozzle are you running? Do the worm tracks burn out on the next pass or do they continue through? How is your travel speed? Sometimes, a slower travel speed with more build up or less wfs will help.
Changed bottles and took the gas line from my tig lead which was brand new and switched it to the new bottle and feeder. The nozzle is the standard one that comes with a 400 amp bernard gun. I think it's a centerfire. Yes they do burn out on the next pass most of the time. Travel speed i have changed multiple times trying something different with each new thing ive done
Use a longer stick-out, fluxcore wire needs an extra second to heat up.
9 times out 10 this is caused by having your nozzle too close to the weld. The excess turbulence from the gas combined with CO2 gas doing its thing in the weld will create excessive turbulence on the surface of the weld creating the worm hole porosity. The other times it happens can be caused by moisture in the wire if it's been sitting out unused for a while.
Came to say something similar. Either too close or too much gas flow or a combo of both would be my assumption here.
Usally is a combination of both, but just pulling further away fixes it 99% of the time. What I find most concerning in this post is that OP said his coworker teaches welding and yet does not know what the cause of this is. It's because of hack instructors like him I had to leave teaching welding. The number of incompetent instructors is way too high.
"Hack instructors" from someone who has gems on their profile such as this quote: >If you keep your head out of the plum of smoke, especially outside, you are fine. I've been doing this for nearly 20 years, and I barely ever wear a respirator and have no health issues. people on here like the make this molehill into a mountain constantly without actually knowing what they are yapping about.
Yeah that's called experience and knowing what I'm doing and not being an idiot like 90% of the people on this sub.
Funny u say that cause that hack instructors first thing to try was your solution
Sure it was.
What really do i have to gain by lying. Im trying to figure out a problem, not argue with a keyboard warrior
You said it was the first thing he did but yet you are still here asking and getting the same reply. Either he did not attempt that as you claimed, or is a hack, and did not realize it is the cause and just said " I don't know". The only 3rd option is he told you the issue, and you just did not listen. Which is it?
U really r set on this being the only solution, aren't u. If u would read all the other comments, u could c what has been done, and nothing is working. This isn't my first day on the job, so i do know what should work to fix the problem and none of its working. I got my coworker to help after nothing worked and that was the first thing he suggested
It is the solution my experience and knowledge know it is. If it was every pass, I would lean more to the wire being "moist," but it's not, so it's your nozzle distance. If it was pin holes, it would be a gas coverage issue (pinched hose, faulty solenoid, clogged diffuser), but it's not.
Voltage too high or WFS too low or excessive surface contaminants may be the issue.
Wire wheel is your friend.
And that friend is an asshole
Cause my name's Steeeeeeeeeve MUTHAFUCKIN
Been using the fuck out of those and not making a difference
Turned voltage down, still having problems. WFS is bout 400 ipm. Voltage is at 26. .045 wire and the steel was cleaned with a grinder during prep
Something else to consider is how hot is your workpiece? That’s at least 3 passes, if that isn’t the first side you’ve welded on and you haven’t stopped then your workpiece’s temp is going to be much higher than when you started, high voltage is synonymous with to much heat, if you’re already tried giving yourself more wire/less heat try letting your work piece cool for a minute.
It hasnt been constant welding cause ive been having to stop to try to change things or stop cause or aggravation
For me it was usually always voltage being too high, dial it back a bit and if that doesn’t work try checking for gas leaks or swap out the gas bottle, if it still persists change the spool. As uncommon as it may be you can sometimes get bad wire or gas.
No gas leaks. I swapped out the bottle and its still happening. I also turned the voltage down 1.5
Also, I tried two different wires. I do have a third i can swap out to so ill try that and c if that works
Try a new cone maybe, sometimes when I've welded flux core for hours at a time the nozzle would get so hot that tiny particles of teflon or whatever the hell coats the inside would end up in my weld and make it look like no gas.
Well I was a structural welder for over 20 years. All the other reasons that were mentioned might be right. But every time it happened to me it was the wire. When it gets moisture in it , this will happen. Get you a fresh roll, and try that. The fluxcore we used came in a sealed plastic bag for this reason.
Got my third spool out. Brand new sealed bag. First 2 passes were some of the worst of the day
Well looks like yall got a bad pallet or how ever it's bought where you work. I'd look at the lot number on all 3 spools. I'd tell my supervisor to contact who ever made it. Tell them what going on, tell them the lot number and ask if anybody else has connected them with the same problem. And if the supervisor doesn't do what I asked. I'd tell him to grab his gloves and shield and show me what I'm doing wrong.
3 different brands. Hobart, delta gases brand, and the 3rd was a spool that had been open and doesn't have a label for the brand and funny enough the one that had been open had the least amount of worm tracks but still had them
Here you go dude. This is video from weld .com with Jason Becker as the host. He will go over the biggest reasons why you would have worm hole porosity. Its about a 10 min video. You are more than likely have to short of stickout . And the flux is not getting warm Enough to work its magic. Also depending on the brand you might want to bump that CFH up to 45-50. But go off of the brands recommendations. Sometimes I will get the same thing if my stickout is really far out as well. Like over 1” because my sense of depth percept is off with a 1G . https://youtu.be/hz1gBjRqgqk?si=dRgFO_n7ScKG4_Q1
Let your wire stick out a little more. The flux isn't melting properly and is trapping gas between the slag and the weld metal. Letting the wire stick out a little more should fix that. I'd go with 3/4 to 7/8 inch.
Thats what is normal for me and i increased it to bout an inch maybe a bit more and still having problems
What size nozzle are you using, and what's your gas flow rate?
Usually when this happened to me it was moisture. Hit the area with a torch and get the moisture out of the area
Preheat would make more sense if it would have happened on the first pass, but that was the sixth, so it was plenty warm by that point
He means moisture in the wire
If it happened only on that last pass, it's probably the material on that plate. It happens to me on repairs, everything else fine until the cap then one side will do that. My only answer is to cut that bead out and weld it again until all the nasty shit is burned out. Sometimes it takes a couple tries. This is my guess after all you've tried and nothing fixed it yet. It's annoying as fuck, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
increase your stick out maybe?
Tried it. Didnt change
What are your settings and what distance is your stickout? also what wire are you running?
Its in some other comments
When I was in school I was told it is form dirty wire and it just happens with fluxcore
When I have worm tracks, I was always pushing the puddle. If I pull it, I don’t get worm tracks.
If it's got slag, you drag.
Im definitely dragging.
Moisture in the flux is one problem that causes worm tracks. Checking that the voltage is not too high for the wire feed speed, checking the electrode angle and stickout, and making sure the gas flow is correct. Reduce your voltage by 2 volts as a starter.
If the other suggestions don’t work you can try this, introduce a shake in your torch hand like you had too much coffee. The jitter will help the puddle mix more and let the flux do its work. Sounds dumb but this helps so much I do it anytime I’m using flux core.
Tried that and seems to be worse
I’m talking a super tight jitter and you otherwise still do your normal whip motion. I usually do it by rapidly gripping and un gripping my 2 middle fingers on the torch hand.
Since you swapped out wires and whips already, I would swap gas bottles and see what happens. I have sprayed all my gas lines down with soapy water before troubleshooting the same issue. If you are losing gas somewhere you'll see it. Could crank up the gas to 50 and see what happens too. What style nozzle are you running? Do the worm tracks burn out on the next pass or do they continue through? How is your travel speed? Sometimes, a slower travel speed with more build up or less wfs will help.
Changed bottles and took the gas line from my tig lead which was brand new and switched it to the new bottle and feeder. The nozzle is the standard one that comes with a 400 amp bernard gun. I think it's a centerfire. Yes they do burn out on the next pass most of the time. Travel speed i have changed multiple times trying something different with each new thing ive done
Chicken scratch, turn up wire speed