Welding How-to Advice

No magnets but you're right about the AC stick welder. Thats exactly what it was.

I mean, if you go up with the voltage, do you have to readjust feed (more than just a tad)? Are you also aware, that 0,6mm wire needs _double_ the feed rate than a

0,8mm wire? Why? the sectional area of 0,6mm is about half of 0,8mm. to get the same "pound per minute of wire", it takes double the feed rate.

I'm still convinced, that you will get it working if you play with the feed. A 0,6mm wire is not so common. Most MAGs are set for 0,8 or 1,0mm wire. You have to adjust (and should be able).

Also, could you describe how the arc looks? Is it long (clearly above

2mm)? How does it sound? A hard, more _fast_ hammering sound, or buzzing and irregular? Does the wire get frequently stuck in the wire-nozzle?

Nick

But you already know how a weld without gas looks like. :-)) If you don't have enough gas, you will have tiny bubbles in the weld. Same as with dirt (grease, oil, etc.).

Get rid of the zinc until you know that you can weld and how to set up your MAG. You need a lot of heat to vaporize that sh*t and it makes controlling the puddle _much_ harder.

Nick

I can't help with welding details, but you could work around it by just welding the *sides* of the joints. I.e., where both surfaces are in the same plane. It would be plenty strong enough for a table. Bob

Thanks to all who responded to my original post.

The solution proved to be going to the larger .030 wire, cranking the voltage up a lot and the feed just a bit.

I'm now able to run the bead in the corner of the joint where it belongs and I'm much more confident about the whole thing.

Barely 36 hours since my first post and not only is the problem solved but I picked up a lot of useful info in the bargain.

Again, thanks a million. You're a good group! :)

Just out of curiosity: If you about double the feed rate and leave the voltage, can you weld with the thinner (0,6mm) wire? I bet yes! OK, you're too lazy to change the coil... :-))

Oh!! When you switched from the 0,6mm wire to the 0,8mm wire, did you also change the wire jet? *) If not, the shop sold the wrong nozzle/jet _and_ wasn't very good in selling you the 0,6mm wire.

*) I don't know how you call it. It's the copper jet where the wire is coming out.

Nick

I found that with increased feed I couldnt maintain that nice sizzling arc, as if the wire couldnt melt fast enough to get out of its own way. But I have to remember that I'm dealing with "Welding For Real Dummies" here and technique may have a LOT to do with it.

I don't remember the terminology either, and I own one! :) But yes, I did change it.

I don't want to be boaring. If you're fed up with my questions and explanations, simply stop answering. I won't mind.

That nice sizzling sound is a spray arc. You normaly get that when the current ist above 200 Amps (with a 0,8mm wire). That implies that the wall thickness should be above 5mm or so. Yours is lower, so current (eg voltage) is too high. You can't make longer fillets without melting your workpiece to one lump. I guess you made just short welds. Right?

If you keep with the sizzling sound with the lower feed rate, the arc starts directly at the wire jet and it will burn it quite fast, or the wire will get stuck. I would say, that your setup still isn't right.

This is a short-circuit arc. It has the hammering sound. Quite regular, and quite noisy. You have the short-circuit-arc with lower thicknesses, like the one you were talking about (3mm, IIRc).

It is dammned interesting to understand the physics behind MIG/MAG welding. Buy a good, more theoretical book and try to understand it. It helps _a_ _lot_ to correct errors!

Nick

"LP" wrote

Do this just for giggles and grins. It is an important lesson.

Set your heat control at the medium position. Weld a little there and notice the sound. Now, try welding at different speeds. You will notice at slower speeds that the molten wire builds up a BB on the end, then when it gets big enough, will transfer to the workpiece. It has a splut splut sound. When it is running at the correct speed, you have the spray, and all you see is a nice arc. Sounds like a nice sizzle. At higher speed, you will see the wire going into the puddle, and really the arc will be somewhat buried. The sizzling sound will be less. If the speed is high enough you will actually feel the wire hitting the base metal.

Grasshoppa, you ask the purpose of this lesson............

So that you understand the different types of transfer processes, and their sounds. You will use the slower wire speeds to weld thin stuff, and the faster ones when you want to actually dig into the base metal so that you get more penetration and fusion. After a while, you will be able to just listen and know if your wirespeed is right. You can tell if the heat is right by looking at the shape of your finished bead. Watch the wire as you weld. That will tell you a lot about your speed....... if it is too slow or too fast.

Now, for the last lesson. If you can hear it very very clearly, you are doing something WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. You are not wearing ear protection. You don't need it because of the sound levels, but to protect you from the little molten BBs. Watch someone else MIG weld. Now look at all those little red BBs flying all over. It's pretty dramatic when you watch someone else do it. One of those in your ear can mess up the rest of your life. If you ever do get one in there and it only singes some hair and melts some wax, it will scare you pretty good. Your eardrum is about as thick and tough as a piece of waxed paper. Behind that is all sorts of things that get messed up when the seal of your eardrum is broken. I love watching those blondes with big hair weld on TV. They'd be bald in a week if they were in any shop I've worked in.

Wear ear protection. I like the spring type because they are easy to take on and off. I think that this is the most common safety violation by welders. If you need to listen to the weld, like to check your wirespeed or to listen to a keyhole on an open root, do so for only a short time. I have welded for thirty years. I once knew a guy that got a bb in his eardrum. His inner ear got infected. They did surgery, and the side of his head was noticeably a different shape from the other. He never welded again. He was never the same again. Point is, it DOES happen, even to very experienced people.

Play with your machine. There's not a lot you can do to mess it up. Get so you are familiar with it, and understand it inside and out.

And, BTW, there are guides in most machines that will give you the proper heat and wirespeed settings for a particular thickness.

Steve

Having become caught up in the hustle and bustle of visits from out-of-towners, there were several responses to my original post to which I did not respond.

This wasn't rudeness on my part. It was just being very busy and being away from home a lot.

So to all who were kind enough to reply I extend a very big Thank You. All of you offered some very good advice and got my mind running in the right direction. I'm now confident that with a bit of practice I'll be quite successful.