#1 AlexO
Are photographs available?
Material type, thickness, butt or fillet weld etc.
Equipment available.
"Make puddle, dip, melt, repeat" Really? What is this melt? We already have a weld pool.
"when I go away from the rod" Are you describing a process where the torch leads the rod and the filler rod is inserted at the rear,
in the direction of travel, of the weld pool? If so it sounds a likely recipe for poor penetration. If not please describe the process.
What follows is from a thirty years out of date perspective, so anybody else is encouraged to tell me it's rubbish.
"Vertically or upside down", in the text books there are diagrams showing the various weld positions with angles demonstrating the accepted terminology and descriptions for the positions. There will be changes in the recommended weld parameters for these positions, almost always it will be lower and slower. An expert can, to some extent, ignore the text books, I reccomend you follow the text books until you can write one.
Nobody does overhead welding if they can avoid it, it's difficult, it's tiring, it's easy to produce sub-standard welds, it's even easier to produce welds that lack something in the cosmetic department. Most of the hot stuff goes down the welder's neck.
What you can do, in all positions, is to rig a support for your hand/wrist. Clamp some, smooth, tube or angle along the intended weld path at an appropriate distance from the material. Unless you have repeat orders this will likely be Heath-Robinson, or I should probably say Rube Goldberg, since this a US site. No matter, if the support allows the welder to move at the desired speed along the joint, it will be found a help to an acolyte. It also reduces burns.
Having said you can rig a support, you can. But if you only have one part to do and your competitors have welders who do not rely on rigging support(s), you will not be in business very long.
"is there any trick in . . ." The trick is don't do it. Move the work to the easiest position. "Small stuff", your description, clamp it, tack weld it, turn it over as often as required so you can weld downhand. When you can do the easy positions perfectly in your sleep, THEN you can save some time with the more difficult positions. You can get all the advice available on PM but you have to do you own practise.
If you have enough welding or get bigger stuff, search "universal balance welding positioner" and view the videos on Youtube. The prices are jaw dropping, but the principle is simple. A shop made one will work just fine and all you need is some round tubes, some allthread and some nuts and bolts. They are very good for back problems, avoiding them, that is.
This was composed hours ago and now contains some otiose statements. Please ignore them.
