Grrrrr

I just found out that nitrogen won't MIG worth a darn.

I went the other day and traded out a bottle of mixed gas. Didn't look at the new bottle, as both me and the guy doing the exchange spoke fluent English. I DID take off the cap and make sure the valve was tight, a problem I had encountered before.

Fast forward today. I get all ready to weld, and the first weld looks crappy. I check the connections and make sure the gas is on. I do another bead. Still funky. I look, and I am welding with Nitrogen.

I turned it up and glopped and bubblegummed some more on there, just a lockbox. My friend said just to put it on, and he'd do some touchup with Bondo and paint.

Sad world. I don't care if it's the Wendy's drive thru window, or the welding store. Ya gotta check your stuff before you leave. What happened to people who know how to make change and fill an order?

Rant off.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B
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"Steve B" wrote: (clip) I look, and I am welding with Nitrogen. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ It might not hurt to keep a small spool of flux-core on hand for times like that--or when you run out of gas on a weekend. (Don't forget to reverse the polarity.)

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Reply to
JR North

Leo, can you expand that bit of wisdom for a newb?

Reply to
Boris Mohar

You know, Leo, I would not have agreed with that statement YESTERDAY. It is amazing what one can learn in one day, isn't it? I can't wait until tomorrow.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

Full? No. Just a very significant proportion.

Gunner

"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

- Proverbs 22:3

Reply to
Gunner

Had to go by a muffler shop in the "Santa Clarita Valley area" (all names withheld to protect the innocent) to check on arcing at a conduit coupling on the Main, and I could almost hear the strains of "Dueling Banjos" and smell the White Lightnin as I pulled in... ;-P

The screw-ups were numerous and varied, so let me condense six long paragraphs down to two short ones: If you have no (freaking) clue as to how to do your own wiring, CALL SOMEONE WHO DOES! The landlord's responsibility stops at the main panel inside. I fixed the loose conduit coupling ground path, checked that everything works, nothing imminently deadly, it's Friday, buh-bye.

After that, the wiring in the whole place was so cobbled together they really need to get a crowbar and start over from scratch. Clue: Extension cords are not to be permanent wiring, and you don't use heater hose for an EMT coupling that's supposed to be the ground path... But that all falls under "tenant improvements".

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Works great for pressure testing AC linesets and filling airplane tires, not so good for wire-feed shielding gas... ;-P

You reverse the polarity of the gun and the ground lead when running flux-core wire. There should be a label and a set of four studs and two jumpers (and an instruction label) "under the hood" or on the front panel of your welder. I'm not even going to guess at the strange things that can happen if you get the polarity backward...

Electrode (Gun) Negative (DCEN) for flux-core wire (FCAW) process. Electrode Positive (DCEP) for gas shielded solid wire (GMAW) process.

I still have the 1-pound sample spool of flux-core that came with the machine, since I have several full CO2 bottles of various sizes. (Old CO2 fire extinguishers kept following me home, so I bought them a new valve, Hydrotest and fill...) When I empty out a big bottle, I'll trade it in for Argon/CO2 mix.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

"Boris Mohar" wrote: Leo, can you expand that bit of wisdom for a newb? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sure. Steve had a job to do, and discovered that the only gas he had on hand was unusable. Flux-core is like coated rod turned inside-out--it runs without gas. So. if you find yourself "stranded" in the middle of a job, you can use flux core to finish. Flux core runs with opposite polarity from gas shielded wire.

And, Boris, since you are a self-proclaimed newbie, I will add: flux core is very good for welding outdoors, where any breeze interferes with gas shielding.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Indeed. I keep my Weldpac 100 stoked with fluxcore and it stays in the truck.

Gunner

"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

- Proverbs 22:3

Reply to
Gunner

According to ESAB, it's the gas of choice if you're MIG welding copper. Not that that's much consolation in the circumstances.

Mark Rand RTFM

Reply to
Mark Rand

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