learning to avoid pillowing

[70sjonah]

I'm a beginner and trying to learn welding by myself now. my friend warned me about pillowing, it's when your puddle overtakes your wire and you get no penetration.
how would I know that I'm making this mistake? and how slow can I go without pillowing?

 

[Alan]

Hey @70sjonah, you’ll usually notice pillowing if your bead looks raised or rounded instead of fusing smoothly with the base metal. The puddle kind of “sits on top” rather than melting in. You might also see lack of penetration on the backside if it’s a thinner piece.

To avoid it, go slower than you think, but not too slow. If the puddle cools too much, you’ll get poor fusion anyway. A good trick is to watch the puddle: it should flow evenly, wetting the edges of your joint. Adjust your travel speed and stick angle so the wire feeds into the puddle, not over it.

What kind of welder are you using? MIG or stick? That changes the sweet speed range a bit.