I've been welding a long time. First in high school I learned arc welding. Then later I bought a wire feed welder for my work shop. The last time I picked up a new welder I made sure to get one that I could convert from flux core to gas. I finally went out and picked up a bottle of 100% argon and switched over from gas. My first mistake was forgetting to switch the polarity on my welder, but once that was sorted I had better luck. The welds are so much cleaner than with flux core wire. Here's my question. Sometimes my wire melts before I hit the metal I'm trying to weld. I've been playing around with a few things trying to figure it out, but I figured there's probably a lot of experienced guys here that might be able to clue my novice ass in. I've been keeping my gas flow right around 20 cfm while working. I'm using a .030 wire. What all can cause this. Voltage, speed, distance from the metal, more gas, any info would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
For most uses CO2 is good enough, and CO2/Argon mix is a little cleaner. 100% Argon is best for aluminum. 15 to 20 PSI should be good. I don't know the reason, but maybe try a little more stick-out when you start. Let the wire stick-out a bit further than normal, which increases the resistance.
I am far from an expert, but make sure that your polarity is correct. You typically need to swap the leads when going from flux core to gas. If you don't. it will do some funky stuff.
most of the time if the wire melts in the cap and not on the metal it is because of metal not bring ground clean. Sure you may be able to weld through paint or light rust with a stick but wire is alot like tig it needs to be clean before it will make contact. Also check and make sure you have wire speed high enough. Practice makes perfect and I am only practicing. If your weld sounds like bacon frying you should be close. Hope this helps RED
Why are you using 100% argon? Do yourself a favor and go trade that bottle in on some 75/25. You'll notice a differance right away. Brick
I'd vote to make sure your surface is clean. Also, check to make sure your wire is feeding correctly and not getting jammed in the lead or gun. I would also switch to an argomix rather than pure argon.
20 cubic feet per minute of gas seems to be too high. I usually run around 3-5 CFM. For me straight CO2 has been more than sufficient unless you are doing stainless.
75/25 was what I went to buy, but some "welder" at the gas shop talked me out of it. He said he welds everything with Argon. I really should have just gone by what the book said. I might just pick up another bottle. The 100% argon will come in handy for aluminum. I think my biggest problem so far was probably wire speed and a bad ground. I played around on some scrap today and by the end the welds where not too bad. I did some reading online that said the CO2 helps get better penetration. Some of my welds really seam like they're sitting on top the metal too much. I'm betting the pure argon is the reason why.
Triple check that you polarity is correct per your owner's manual. Also be sure that the air isn't too breezy as you weld. That will blow away your shielding. Many people hold the tip of the gun too far away from the work. Close enough is sometimes "too close" for many people to hold it to the metal. With flux cored the distance would not be much of a problem, but with shielding gas you want to make sure your work stays in the shielded atmosphere. Make sure your cup and tip are correct in relation to each other. If the cup extends too far past the tip it will cause the wire to weld to it if the wire bends when it contacts the work. Lastly, check that your feed is high enough. Again this is something that is sometimes too fast for many people to believe is correct. I hope something in all that helps. Steve
I have a Lincoln Power Mig 200, and my experience has been that every welder is unique and has its own sweet spot. Start by setting your dials where recommended by the factory. If you have some scrap of similar thickness for testing, just start running beads and make adjustments. With my technique it's usually easiest to adjust volatge to get the weld right. If you have a high, round weld with little penetration, increase your voltage. if you then start to burn through, increase your wire speed. No one welds exactly the same way, and in my opinion no two machines work exactly the same... Keep practicing...
Up your wire speed just a shade and see if that helps out. I was having the same problem. My wire speed is set on a 1-10 scale and I was only on 3. Bumped it up to about 4.5 and problem went away.
Dead on. 100% with a mig is no good. Been through this recently. I never knew but the 75/25 is a neccesity for the mig. Has something to do with conducting the arc or something like that. Read-up on it and you'll get the whole story. Sorry I don't remember the explaination, but there is a thread on here somewhere. My problem sounds just like what you said, works OK but no penetration and erratic when changing settings. I do a lot of TIG and always use 100% for that when doing steel or alum. but I accidently got a 100% tank for my MIG machine. I was having a lot of problems. I thought I got a tank of bad gas. I hooked it up to the TIG and it worked just fine. After some reading here I found the thread that explained it. Got the 75/25 and it works perfectly. Start there.
If your wire balls up before it hits the work the wire speed is too slow, if you feel it bumping the gun the speed is too fast. When it's running good it should sound like bacon frying in a pan. Most important thing is keep the cup and tip clean and make sure there are no kinks or sharp turns in the gun . Check the cup and tip constantly.
One thing I do is beef up the ground on the mig, I put the bigest wire I can shove through the ground hole in the box, next I put on a twyco bronz ground clamp, use the size that works best with your work(clamp comes in three sizes) and wela! good ground/good welds...Roach.
I'm welding inside and there's no fans so it's not a wind problem. I really think my biggest issue was listening to a couple of random guys at the gas/welding supply shop. I should have stuck with my gut and followed what the manual for my welder said. The manual also told me to keep the gas at 20cfm. Once I have the right 75/25 mix and I test things, maybe I'll turn it down some to save gas. My first priority will be getting a good weld out of the rig. Thanks so much for all the input.
If the metal is piling up like bubble gum stuck on top of something it is usually a heat to speed problem. All wires run different I have found even if you stick with the same brand and size. I get variation. 75/25 is fine, co2 is a heavier gas and if you are welding outside might be a good idea. Better sheilding but not much. Play around with the machine. You may just have to find its sweet spot.
it took five deliveries to get the right mig tips for my machine and a trip to the welding supply to get the right ones even though i gave them the gun model and number. I walked up to the counter looked over and saw my tips! Very few employees actually weld and they dont give very good advice. I got the "Wow, we had em all the time!" DEh deh deh
your 20cfm is about right, i run 18cfm, your 100% argon needs to go, i run 75/25 but most times you can get by with CO2. try swaping your polarity around without making any changes to your set up to find out what is correct. mig doent not like rust, paint, oil at all must be clean and by that i mean it should be ground clean.
I sorted the polarity part the first day. I had to reverse it from what I had set previously for flux core wire. I went out Wednesday and picked up 75/25 and ohh man did it make a difference. From what I've read the CO2 actually helps with penetration. I noticed a difference immediately. It's what I get for listening to some random guy that doesn't know jack about my welder. Book said 75/25 I should have done what it told me. Thanks a lot for all the help. I appreciate it.
I never had much luck with thirty thousands wire.....seemed like I was allways pokin holes in sheet metal........I like to use 25 wire and 75 25 gas, with practice you will be weldin razor blades together in no time. For beefier welds I allways switch polarity and run 35 flux core. (with no gas of course)
You read right, the CO2 affects the penetration and the Argon aids in arc stability. Also, you want to keep your electrode length (measured from contact tip end to electrode tip) about 3/8" to 1/2" other wise your just melting wire. All of the other advise is pretty much right on.
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