Welding Woes: Please help me troubleshoot "or" help the dummy out

Greetings,
I just stomped in from the garage after hurling my welding helmet down and hope you guys can keep me from snatching myself bald headed or just burning down the garage and being done with it.

I'm no welder. I took a metal sculpture class in college and have been practicing a lot lately on scrap steel and most recently on late model steel to get my skills down before I tackle the precious hot rod sheet metal. I built my welding cart no problem. This thin sheet metal is making me crazy though.

I have a Lincoln weldpack with the gas setup. I've heard these are good enough for a hobby welder such as myself. I've got an Argon/CO2 gas setup to it. It's set at 20 p.s.i. because that's what I was taught.

Here's my problem. I'm trying to weld virgin steel sheet metal. 22 gauge. SOMETIMES it welds real good. For instance, tonight I was tacking in a patch panel. One weld, good. Two good. Three, good. On the fourth tack weld it just burns right through. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason.

It almost seems like I have a bad ground sometimes too. Like it will arc, and the gas will hiss out, the wire will feed and melt, but it doesn't make that satisfying snapping sound and the cherry just falls off and dances on the floor.

So. What am I doing wrong? If it's a bad ground, why does it work only half the time? Is the gas too high? Too low? Is my little Lincoln welder hosed? I mean, I don't have a lot of control over where the voltage is set, it's just a,b, c or d. The welder suggests using a voltage setting of "B" and a wire feed of 2.5. Check. An "A" setting just sits on top of the metal and doesn't penetrate. A "C" setting burns through like tissue paper.

I really appreciate any suggestions you guys have. Please let me know if I didn't provide enough information.

 

Are you cleaning the metal before you weld?

 

I'm no expert, but here are a couple of suggestions. Cut the gas back to about 12, and make sure the metal is clean. Could help.

 

Look at this:
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/migfaq.asp

Nick Leone

 

When you say you're tacking in a patch panel, were the 4 tacks right next to each other and performed quickly after each other? The sheet metal could be getting too hot by the 4th and burning through. Try moving the tacks about an inch apart and don't let it get too hot.

 

One thing that comes to mind-you say 1 good, 2 good, 3 good, 4 burns thru-if you are doing tacks right in a row the heat will build the longer you weld. Maybe pause a bit to let it cool would help. 22 gauge is tough too-it's so thin

Not sure if this will help at all, just a thought though. Good luck with it

Dan

 

Haha I type slow tysond

 

I think you are telling us you are pretty sure that your gas feed is ok.

Your problem is NOT a bad ground. If you lose the ground, the wire will come out, bounce off the metal, and nothing else will happen.

What wire are you running? 0.023 diameter? 0.030 diameter? also, what kind of wire? Not brand, but something like ER70S-6. All of the numbers and letters are important.

Is the metal clean? Rusty? Oily? Did you just wipe it with solvent?

All of these things can have an effect on weld quality.

 

I agree with most of the replys. Clean the metal of all oil and dirt, gas pressure between 12-15,amperage around b-c and wire feed about 3. Space the tacks at least 3 inches apart and let it cool down between tacks. It takes a lot of time to do it without warping. Try to keep the gap to about 1/16" between the panels.

 

With the setting you are running just do 3 tacks and let cool. Your getting the metal to hot when you get to #4.

 

And dont get mad and through your helmut. Calm yerself. I am not good with a wire feed on thin metal either. With oxy /acet i can weld ten feet if necessary but with the mig I have to be patient. For me the mig is like Listerene. I hate it but I use it.
Don

 

sounds like too much acumulated heat in the area of your tac's..
slow down..wait a bit longer in between tac's

22G is a beeeotch..if you go at it too fast

also get a piece of scrap, thicker than 22 G and try to lay a nice 2 or 3" long bead..if by the time you start to get half way or more thru the weld does it start skipping?
if so you may have a liner bind issue, and as the heat gets hotter it welds worse and worse? than it could be both liner bind, and possibe dirty or bad tip in your mig handle.

see if slowing down doesnt cure it first

 

this might help a bit. Expose a little more wire out of the nozzle. Then count to 5 between your tacks.

 

the wire will feed and melt...........
Make sure your tip is clean i really hate my small welder wish i would have got the next up.

 

Wow, all kinds of things to consider. Thanks a lot for the tips and suggestions.
I thought I was doing pretty good with the tacks being far enough apart but it almost seems if it is getting too hot. I will let it cool longer and also turn the gas down a bit.
I'll also check the bind possibility.

For Rond: The metal is clean and sanded. The wire I've got is ER70S-6 .25" L-56.

I can't wait to get back out there and try it all again. Thanks guys.

 

that hissing sound is the wire vaporizing before it is deposited on the metal. It is caused by the wire being fed too slowly. The reason why it works intermittently is your gun and it's cable.

The housing may be worn out, tip is shot or you may be putting too much of a bend in your gun cable. Also check the tension on the drive rollers and their condition. If this machine has some age on it, those parts do wear out. Cheaper machines have shorter life expectancies.

Good luck.

 

Another small but important step to consider is, removing the tiny ball at the end of the wire after each tack. These balls tend to glaze from the oxidizers in the wire's coating. They don't glaze consistantly and certainly not every time. It is however often enough, that it's a good policy to clip them off just the same. Starting a tack with a clipped wire end will make your life easier.

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

I can't add anything else here except as you stated " late model steel" I think herein lies your problem,, late model steel have a temper to enhance crush in a collision.
My 2 cents

 

Damn. That's a lot to consider! All good things to think about that I never would have thought of on my own.

 

If your settings are wrong, or the machine is screwing up, all the practice in the world won't fix it. It will only have you adjusting to the problem. When the problem is fixed, you are back to square one and will have to readjust and start all over.
Find the problem and fix it, then practice.
All these pretty welds we see is because these the welders have their machines synchronized to the materials that they work with everyday.

 

Are you butt welding or lap welding? There's a big difference in aproaching each of these. Either way though is when I'm tacking 2 pieces toegther , you just can't go slow enough . Heat is a killer, so if you can't touch the area that your welding it's too hot and let it cool. Do 3 tacks and then let it cool until you can lay your hand on it, then your ready to go again. This is really important in butt welding.

 

Im with ELpolacko.
I think your wire is coming out in different speed,somtimes it hooks up and slows down the wire feed and thats when it gets messed up.
I dont know what all the parts in your welding gun are called in us (i think you wont get it if i write in swedish ).
Blow some air in the metalhose that the wire is going thru and just pull the trigger and look at the wire if its coming out in different speeds.
You can also look at the wheels that pushes the wire out fron the welder,maby they are to loose or worn out ore dirty.
Maby you got some rust on the wire?

 

Mine welds like that when I over run the duty cycle of the machine.

 

Aren't these supposed to flip their internal breaker when they go over the duty cycle?

The wire speed is something I'm going to have to check. This machine is essentially brand new. I've really only put a few hours on it. SInce I hooked up the gas it's been fits and starts.

I really appreciate all of the suggestions and tips.

 

the metal you are useing might be galvanized

 

Two things I look for in this scenario that may not have been mentioned yet is; consistent gap of the material you are welding and your power source.

 

Most of the body panels for Traditional HAMB type projects are going to use 18ga. Not 22ga.! This alone could be a big part of the problem you are having trying to weld. Get the right gauge of metal to start with. It may be you are trying to deal with too many variables. It sounds like you have the right wire size for sheetmetal and the gas is 75%/25%, CO2/argon? This is a new machine with minimal hours, make sure your contact tip is clean, no dingle-balls attached to it and periodically scrape the dingle-balls from inside the nozzle (nozzle removed from the gun). Be sure your ground is attached to clean metal (no rusty stuff, no paint).
For myself, I prefer to use tapered contact tips and a tapered nozzle too. It helps contain/direct the flow of cover-gas onto the weld. This is more important on sheetmetal where the weld sizes are smaller and largely/mainly consequetively placed tacks. Those brief welds have to be well covered for the metal to flow properly.

Just other thoughts ...

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Cleanliness is next to godliness. Also if you can access the weld from behind, try using a heat sinc like a chunk of brass or a copper paddle.

 

In it's simplest form, if you are burning holes, you are running too hot or moving too slow. Also moving in an arc taking metal from each side helps, then watch the wire coming into the puddle as you weld. If it is too slow, you can see it disappear then more will come out then disappear. If it does this, speed up the wire until it comes in steady.
Also watch the distance of the cup from the surface. Keep it tight.

 

Make sure you have your machine set up for gas shielded wire. You wouldn't be the first guy to forget to reverse the set up. Check the owners manual.