You must have gotten a FNG to give you straight Argon to weld steel. I can't believe all of the responses saying you can use it. Most of the the MIG we do is on heavy steel with 1/16" wire and straight CO2. We were welding one night and ran out of CO2 so I used the mixed gas that we use with small wire on light steel. Kevin ran out and grabbed the straight argon we keep for aluminum thinking it was mixed. Couldn't get a decent weld with it. Very porous weld. I haven't heard of anyone using Argon/oxygen mix.
Nor are you likely to. Mixing Oxygen with an inert gas for shielding would result in a weld that was oxidized all the way through. You'd be lucky if it stayed intact trough the cooling process.
O2/ Argon kinda defeats the purpose of inert gas. The idea is to keep air(oxygen) away from the weld.
I almost have no response to this Don't stick it IN your ear... Is it really hard? I dunno.. I'm cracking up. I'm sorry you hurt your finger dude!
FWIW, You're switching from Flux Core to Mig, not "Mig to Mig with gas." Mig stands for Metal Inert Gas, same as GMAW(Gas Metal Arc Welding)....which insiuates you're already using gas. Not busting your chops, most people refer to them as mig machines even if they are just set up for flux core. Just throwing it out there. The more you know...lol
im glad i found this thread i got a gas shielded mig welder for christmas i went to the local welding supply to ask about buying argon yesterday it was more expensive then i thought it would be with tank rental and all is the carbon dioxide/argon mix stuff cheaper then straight argon? , someday id like to learn to weld aluminum but right now my shoebox needs its sheetmetal fixed so to weld sheetmetal and heavier with a gas shielded mig i need to get is co2/argon mix RIGHT?
Both of you guys better stay away from power tools, loaded guns, fire crackers and BB guns! You two will really get fucked up in the kitchen if you're not careful. Come on, really pointed the nozzle straight into his ear and pulled the trigger .lmao with that mental picture. Sucks he got hurt but that's funny. Oh Yea, don't look down the garden hose, might drown.
I absolutely love the comments and advice you get on here when it comes to welding Better than the comedy network. Lots of advice from guys who barely know what a welding machine looks like or how it works beyond turning it on. Mixed gas is what you need for MIG welding steel. 75% CO2 and 25% Argon. Period end of discussion. Pure Argon is for TIG welding only.
You're welcome, and to take it a little further make sure you have the polarity of the machine switched to wire (electrode ) positive for solid wire gas shielded welding. The wire you want for sheetmetal work is .023 (or .024) ER70S-6.
I have the same welder and conversion kit. I have a argon mix of75/25 and it works great! Also make sure you flip the roller around depending on the wire size you're using.
Not trying to be a smart ass by any means but, my supplier(airgas) sells 86%co2/14%argon as their steel mix. Mixes can vary substantially by manufacturer. I will say that I have better results with the 75-25 mix but they all seem to work. Straight argon with mig is a definite nono unless miging aluminum.
"Oh Yea, don't look down the garden hose, might drown. " Ahhh, this site is always good for a laugh ... after spending the afternoon raking my lawn, I needed a good chuckle, thanks much .
True, gas mixes are a kind of proprietary thing everyone has their own recipe and various wild claims as to why their mix is better than all the others. 75-25 is by far the most common and also the most effective. Yes you do.
Not to muddy the waters here any further but lets just add some info. 98% argon 2% o2 (oxygen) is used in mig welding, its for heavy plate with oxidation present on the materials and when spray transfer is used. Straight argon is also used in mig welding heavy plate that is clean when spray transfer is desired. That's very high heat, very high wire speed and most likely a water cooled gun. Different gas for different applications, much like wrenches . Staight. Co2 carbon dioxide, can be used with mig welding, however it produces lots of splatter. Most commonly its used as shielding gas with flux core wire on heavy plate . I have heard that straight co2 with light gauge material and low heat as in short circuit transfer CAN add carbon and oxygen into the weld. That promotes cracking if it happens. 99.5% of the welding discussed on the hamb is not considered heavy. Nor spoken of in spray transfer context. But if a hamber tells as what they use at work, it very well could be. The Bacon frying sound is short circuit transfer and easiest for the novice or hobbiest to master. For that type of welding a mixed gas of argon and co2 is best with argon being the dominant gas. The different ratios are for different applications, and have different results and penetration characteristics.
Lmao, yep just like this. Who died and made you Elvis? I suppose that if the only tool in your toolbox was a hammer it would ok to treat everything like a nail. Your authoritative proclamation above lacks accuracy, ( except the part about being funny)
exactly viki, and well said. thought I would leave that go for ppl who knew better. didn't say it was correct, just posible as I,ve had to do it b4..
Some of you guys might get a kick out of this post I made on my blog a couple weeks ago. Of course, some of you may think I'm an idiot http://watchtheprettylight.tumblr.com/post/4174051226/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat
you can also use straight CO2 that is much cheaper but requires more cleanup. i use mostly a tri-mix for S.S. 304 that is food grade. really crazy expensive!
As a guy who owned this very setup and added on the very add on... did you flip the wire feed wheel. The .025 wire does not work well in the .035 position. Mine had a wheel I could flip as it had both grooves in it. This will affect your wire speed and your welding.
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