Zap! Zap! Zap! My welding stinks.

Can someone that knows how to weld tell give me a diagnosis?

I'm running a 110volt lincoln with .035 wire and gas, no flux core.

Ever since I put a new roll of wire on I've been getting that zap zap zap when I want to run a bead. Anybody know what I need to do to fix it? I've tried everything I can think of but obviously I don't know enough. The wire feeds fine and smoothly when I'm not running a bead. I ran out of gas somewhere along the line(my setup doesn't have gauges, just the regulator) so my welds look like fruity pebbles or a meteor

It doesn't seem like I'm getting any penetration or adhesion, I'm not sure the right words to use but basically when I'm joining two pieces of metal you can just pop them off unless I really hold down the trigger and eventually I get there. The result is really ugly though.

If it makes a difference I've had the same problem with sheetmetal of similar thickness and with metals of different thicknesses.

Also I've tried every heat setting and wire speed from slow to fast, tried adjusting the drag on the wire, distance from electrode to metal, everything I can think of .

Hopefully its just something dumb or the fact I ran out of argon/co2.

If someone has the answer, I'd sure appreciate it. Thanks!

 

If you're getting alot of spatter and rough arc starts its your gas. mig welding without gas is tough. hard to get a good looking bead without a shielding gas. Get your tank filled and a regulator with gauges on it and let us know how it runs with that.

 

Yeah tons of spatter. Maybe its just coincidence I probably ran outta gas about the same time I changed spools and didn't realize it.

I swear I just filled that stupid bottle, maybe I left it open overnight by accident.
I have to score a larger tank than my little one.

 

Lol well let me know how it runs with a full bottle. another thing to remember is to set your regulator to about 20-25 cfm's

 

"I ran out of gas somewhere along the line(my setup doesn't have gauges, just the regulator)"

get some gauges

 

You sure as hell can't mig weld solid wire without gas, preferably 75% argon 25% co2 mix.

 

also might want to try some .023 wire those little machines dont seem to like .035

 

make sure the polarity is right too ... work on negative and whip(gun) on positive ... but defenitly get your gas ......if you get a ssshh pop sound wire speed is slow or liner is bad ... if its a machine gun sound ...pop-pop-pop-pop wire speed is high ... if its a harbor freight machine , its a harbor freight .. hope i can add my 2 cents.

 

.023

 

If your welds have little holes all through them then thats a no gas problem.

 

Curse my inexperience! Well I sure as heck know what it looks like when you run solid core wire without gas now!

Shit. I just realized how it all went down. I was running fluxcore because I had it in the machine, with gas( welds *did* look better than my usual, so I figured why not).

I must have run out of gas along the way.

Since I was running fluxcore it wasn't as obvious that I was out of gas(what a waste, evidentally).

The next roll was solid core, and all my welds were crap.

OK, NOW I get it. I'll get a refill and throw in the .023 and see if I don't get better results.

Thanks all!

I was thinking it was a setting or something, when it was really just that simple.

 

One more thing too with the penetration issue, do not to use extension cords on your welder, it will ruin the welder eventually, but it also won't give you an accurate amount of penetration.That may not sound right, but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say.

 

That is my thinking.

 

CHANGE THE POLARITY!!!!!!!!!!! Gas and flux use different polarity. you will see the connections inside the lid by the feed.

 

sounds like you need to learn a few more basics before welding - like what kind of wire you should be using, gas flow, settings for different metal/thickness etc.. hopefully you arent welding anything structural/

 

also sounds like you may want to go over your old welds before continuing..better to be safe than sorry

 

I have found the chart inside the lid on my Lincoln 100 to be pretty reliable for starting out and fine adjust from there. Don't know the age of your machine, but my older unit says that 030 solid wire is the thickest, and if you run 035 it should be flux cored wire. I also rewired my wall outlet to 25 amps, and I can now successfully run 030 at the suggested settings. And don't skimp out by buying no name wire.

 

And polarity..........

 

I agree on what's already been said...I would be lost without the gages on my tank..it tells me how much gas is in the tank plus I can regulate how much gas I'm applying to the welds...ideally 23-30 CFH. I use Unishield gas 75% Argon,25% Carbon Dioxide...I use 030 (.8mm) non flux wire...I just adjust the wire speed according to the welding amps,usually the more amps the more wire speed and I'm good to go..... I use a Lincoln SP 170T welder .So far the problems I've encountered have all been traced directly backed to me...........FNG........

 

Ditto, .023-.025 wire.....

 

??????

An extension cord of the right gage won't affect either the weld or the machine. Think about it - the wire from the breaker box to the outlet is really nothing more than an extension cord from the utilities' cable.

The only time an extension cord is detrimental is if it's too small a gage to carry the amps being called for.

 

orig. poster..please respond with polarity...you changed it with the wire..RIGHT?

 

What everyone else said plus are you using a branch circut with 20 amp breaker? These little 110 units need all the amps they can get, they won't work right on a shared circut.

 

Chances are, if you have little bee hive type welds.. your out of gas..

zinc coated parts dont weld all that well either.. if theres any that your using.. even the coated steels dont weld all that well.

I might be wrong.. but thats what Ive experienced..

 

And don't skimp out by buying no name wire.[/quote]

10/4, ROGER OVER & OUT on the no name wire. I tried using Harbor Fright .35 wire. I could not get a good weld to save my a--. Went back to Hobart wire.

 

Thats what I was getting at, I've seen guys using the thin orange extension cords, most good machines warn you about this.

 

10/4, ROGER OVER & OUT on the no name wire. I tried using Harbor Fright .35 wire. I could not get a good weld to save my a--. Went back to Hobart wire.[/quote]

harbor freight wire isnt to bad ...

 

"Thats what I was getting at, I've seen guys using the thin orange extension cords, most good machines warn you about this."

Sorry. I misunderstood what you were saying....my bad !

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164822

Harbor Freight mig wire story

 

it been said and still no word if it was changed.... polarity..... If it was not changed when you add the gas you will find......well..... just what you say is happening!!