The Welders Lens Stick Rod Series: Uphill/Downhill

Hello again. This is another publication on The Stick Rod Series. Today we will look at fast freeze rods again for the technique of welding either uphill or downhill.

As we talked about last time, the fast freeze rod is a common rod that has been a stable rod and around the welding trade since flux coated rods have existed.

Our attention will be uphill and downhill positions of the fast freeze rod.

The best place to start with any rod is of course the flat position, but I want to give attention to a bit harder area. Depending on what you will be welding and in what procedure (if any), you will be accountable too, the two most common applications will either be uphill or downhill. Some like to refer to downhill as down-hand.

In general industry standards, there is very little acceptable downhill welding outside of the pipeline code 1101.
Most qualifications nation and worldwide focus on the uphill root pass, hot pass, and cover pass. From experience where there is a fast freeze rod root pass and or hot pass, the cover pass will usually be with a low-hydrogen rod like 7018 or something similar.

Uphill welding is very different from downhill welding. When welding, there is a natural effect of heat that is fighting against the welder. Heat rises. You say, hey that guy is smart. Thanks. Just kidding. Keep this basic principle in mind at all times when you are welding and it will help you re-direct the weld when necessary due to radiant heat principles.
Uphill welding has more penetration because the rod is burning the surface metal out of the way before the puddle comes behind to fill in the weld portion.
This idea gives understanding to the fact that uphill welding leaves more new metal into the parent metal.

It is more feasible to overcome a bigger gap welding uphill; especially with fast freeze rods because while moving up and away from the area where the metal is being deposited the weld has actually hardened by the time you come back down to deposit more metal. You are not fighting the tendency of puddle to overcome your rod as when welding downhill. Uphill welding is not as fast as downhill procedures and this is why you rarely see uphill action on a pipeline. Those cats don't have time to make pretty welds going uphill. They are just concerned with knocking the job out.

Sometimes it is necessary to stop and let the metal cool. It is better to do this than to keep welding and run the risk of putting too much metal through the root pass. Now if you are welding plate to plate with no gap between the metal, then this is not usually a problem. Sometimes the use of a backing strip is place where the gap would be.

Uphill demands less heat than the downhill procedure. Not something drastic, but slightly different. The reason for this is that downhill welding is more a dragging the rod than whipping or stepping the rod like the row of dimes I have discussed in the past. Due to the character of gravity and slag.
Slag is the trash and cover film that appears on the top of the weld when it has cooled.
This same slag that shields the weld from atmospheric conditions can also be a bother when welding downhill. The way to overcome this is by greater heat. The heat increase could be as much as 10 or 15 amps. One hint while welding downhill is to slightly move the rod from side to side while traveling to allow the build up slag and metal to pass around the puddle.

One thing to be aware of when welding a gap uphill like on a pipe or butt weld plate is this: it is easy to deposit too much metal because of deposition rate. If you hang to much metal in the gap, it could disqualify the weld. While welding you are not necessarily pushing the rod hard into the gap but just touching the surface making sure not leave undercut. Most of the time the metal on the backside will take care of itself. Moving to fast can leave undercut or not enough metal at times. Practice will help you overcome these obstacles. It is just part of welding.

Rod angle and heat joined with travel speed will either make or break your welding experience.
Once you learn the relationship between these 3 critical components with either uphill or down-hill you will see a difference in your ability to weld and appreciate the appearance of your weld more.

While welding down-hill it is best to keep the rod in the centre of the weld piece except for the allowance as I said earlier for the slag to pass around your weld.
This is not some great movement. Try not to leave the weld-path when making this adjustment. Keep in mind that you are also moving closer to the weld piece as the rod is getting shorter while it is beingburned. Learning to sequence these movements while keeping the proper rod angle is the trick of making killer looking proper welds. Welding is a fluid smooth action. I rarely weld with one hand because I find myself not as steady and therefore my weld appearance suffers.

Experiment with these principles and you will have success. Until next time, keep your eyes behind the welders lens!