Vertical welding - what's your technique???

[shorty]

Going down with the tip slightly up will make the nicest looking weld . Going up with the tip square with your work and using a j or u pattern will make the strongest weld . I use wire with gas , but I think the flux core wire should work the same.

 

[B&M Farms]

With flux core, the correct procedure is to run uphill with the wire pointed straight at the parent metal on a vertical weld. With a gas shield, you can run uphill or downhill. The reason for running uphill on a vertical weld with flux core is to prevent trapping slag in the weld deposit creating an inferior weld.

 

[Nesikep]

I'm with JK wilson.. I'll go to extremes to make what I want to weld flat

I don't have a wirefeed, I just have an old 250 amp miller AC DC stick machine... I'm really liking Arctec 223XC rods with the exception that they are a pain to restrike

 

[Angus In Texas]

I follow this procedure and weld upwards

 

[dieselbeef]

www.weldingweb.com

 

[TXBobcat]

I do it pretty much like the diagrams AC posted.

However, I would add, it depends on the material you are joining together. If it is thick metal, and a critical load bearing weld, I would make sure it is as clean as possible, and do an uphill weld. If I am joining something like C-purlin to an angle iron clip, then I would probably weld downhill because I can still get plenty of penetration that way. Or, for instance, on pipe fence rails, I would start at the top (flat), weld around the side (downhill), then underneath (overhead), in one pass.