Gasless Flux Core - Surprise

I don't follow all the new products for welding, but there always seems to be something out there that surprises me.

GMAW or MIG is usually DCEP C25 Steel / Tri-mix SS / Argon or Ar/He Aluminum --- and others.

FCAW DCEP for dual shield DCEN for gasless

Having my morning coffee and surfing YouTube videos this morning I ran across a gasless flux core wire for stainless and it says to run DCEP. Blue Demon WMS312LCF.

I use gas less flux core fairly regularly working outdoors. I do have a DC power TIG supply that can run stick, but the little Miller/Hobart/Weldmark (has all three names on the machine) 187 MIG machine is a lot handier to drag outside. For steel I run DCEN with FCAW wire. I was surprised by the DCEP call out on the 312LCF. I haven't bought any, but it might be handy for quick and dirty jobs like welding up replacement BBQ grills.

Have any of you guys run stainless FCAW gasless wire? What did you think of it?

I watched a couple videos and the welds look cleaner than most FCAW welds, but there was a shell of slag you need to pop off with your slag hammer like burning stick. It also looked a little ropey like maybe they were running a little cold, but I've only made a couple stainless welds (304) in my life, and I did that with TIG. Bob La Londe

-------------------------------- Thanks, that may be useful if I ever try the large spool of SS flux-core a dealer gave me for free because a roof leak had destroyed the box. I've used dealer-recommended 312 stick on stainless pipe and 0.055" sheet and it came out well and survived much abuse as the road-salt-proof bucket on my front end loader. I may have to upgrade from my 75A Century Tote MIG.

I have a couple of rolls of flux core SS , one is 309 the other is missing part of the label so I don't know but I think it too is 309 . My experience was that the bead starts out cold and tall , but get a half inch down the bead and it goes too hot . I was welding exhaust pipe so that's probably not a fair test . That was also using my old 110V MIG machine IIRC . I've also got some 309L/.023 solid wire but I don't have the proper shield gas for it . Neither straight CO2 nor argon worked well .

Yeah, generally MIG stainless takes tri-mix.

Tri-mix - contains helium? You seem to get / use much more He in the USA.

I once got to try a mix with He on stainless steel - rubbish welds at their "house" conditions in "dip". But when no-one was looking I flipped it into "spray" and the foreman returning jumped backwards and his his jaw dropped, and recovering a bit he asked "Did you just do that?!". To which I answered "Yes. Here's the weld you want."

For most stainless MIG here we use Ar-1%O2. Never tried it.

Yes, He seems to be the proverbial magic sauce in some welding operations. The USA used to have a HUGE strategic reserve of helium, but I do not know how that stands today. Helium is still expensive.

I've heard of O2 in welding, but I always wondering how it worked since O2 is the primary reactive gas in "air" that you shield from with welding gases.

MIG stainless - you have to "hot-up" the arc and give fluidity. 1% O2 in Ar is the best economically achievable for MIG stainless. MIG stainless with 100%Ar is next-to-useless - no penetration and little fluidity (I have tried putting TIG gas (100%Ar) on a MIG welder with stainless wire - that is the limit of my experience). TIG is inherently penetrative - runs perfectly on 100%Ar, as you know.

I did the same with steel and MIG some years back when BOC were out of Argoshield light and the guy thought it would be OK, 100% Ar not good, fortunately the local depot got the Argoshield back in stock and swapped the bottle FOC. I use the Argoshield light on stainless from time to time and find it fine, IIRC 93/5/2 Ar/CO2,O2.

By the way - never tried it but - stainless flux-cored-wire runs on any argomix - Argon with some CO2. Guess the wire isn't going to rust if you keep it hung from the roof in the shed... (ie. if kept in a bag to keep it clean, it should feed just fine)

By the way - never tried it but - stainless flux-cored-wire runs on any argomix - Argon with some CO2.

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Does it run with either gas alone? I have Argon for TIG and CO2 for autobody MIG, and free stainless flux-core that I haven't tried yet. I modified my old 75A Century machine to allow changing polarity. If I had a good reason a neighbor might loan me his Hobart 140.

Simple answer - don't know (pure Ar or pure CO2). Ask the Co. who makes the wire? Look up in spec-sheets from the likes of Lincoln, Bohler, etc?

Not if its mystery wire as atleast one poster in this thread has posted.

I generally run pure Ar on the TIG machine for everything and on MIG for Al. I run C25 for Mig steel. For most things it just works. I had a bottle of trimix when I first started learning to MIG weld because the gas supplier said it would run stainless or steel. I hated it, and it probably added years to my learning curve. I don't weld all that much, and welded even less back then.

In order to remember basics I have written some of them on the top of my Miller 212 with a black paint marker. (In spite of my gripes about things he didn't follow through on, Gunner's suggestion of a Xylene based paint marker was excellent.)

As to xylene based paint markers, I don't buy any other kind now, and then get lost long before they quit working. The markings hole up fairly well. The markers last a long time. They seem to mark on stuff other markers won't leave a readable line for long. They have one issue. Markings take a long time to dry. I can live with that.

I've found many different answers, perhaps they all work. This says straight CO2 is OK.

As I understand it here in the UK CO2 usage at pubs went up quite a bit with the introduction of cheap MIG welders as a mate down the pub could swap a bottle on the side, apparently the brewers now track usage much more closely to make sure it tallies with drink sales. No idea what happens on your side of the pond. I've never tried straight CO2 but I know a few people that have in the past and rebuilt a few cars with pub gas.

Interesting CO2 source😄️

I've always used 75/25 mix... Was told by weld supply and have since read numerous times that CO2 will give better penetration but also more splatter than 75/25🤷️

I've been using straight CO2 on my MIG machine since I bought it . Leaves more spatter* than C25 , but most of my projects are function over form and looks ain't near as important as function . *I've been told that a spray of PAM lessens the difficulty of spatter removal . Haven't tried it so ...

My first CO2 bottle started life under a fountain head ... and they're right , better penetration but more cleanup . I've used CO2 from the time I bought a MIG machine . Tried C25 at first with a tiny bottle and it was OK ... then Bill gave me the CO2 bottle . And the rest is history .

I've been using straight CO2 on my MIG machine since I bought it . Leaves more spatter* than C25 , but most of my projects are function over form and looks ain't near as important as function . *I've been told that a spray of PAM lessens the difficulty of spatter removal . Haven't tried it so ...

I have never used PAM, but I do use anti spatter spray when I am working on the welding table to minimize surface damage.

Trimix for "black" (carbon-manganese steel) doesn't sound like it would be a happy experience. As it would be more expensive than Ar-CO2 MIG steel gas, never got to try it.