,030 or ,035 fluxcore for baby MIG?

Aug 01, 2012 8 Replies

I have a Lincoln SP135-T (90A max) MIG. I want to get some fluxcore for outside welding & when I don't want to lug the tank around.



The wire is available in .030 & .035. My feeling is that .030 would be better for my small MIG, as less heat would be required for melting the wire & more available for melting the base material. Am I on the right track, or am I missing something?



Also, I just want a 1 or 2 pound spool. The Lincoln Innershield is available in this size, but I haven't found ESAB in that size. Is there any chance of my finding ESAB wire in less than 10lb spools?



Thanks, Bob


I use .035 flux core in my WeldPac 100 , same output specs as yours . Flux core burns hotter than solid wire , so I don't use it for really thin stuff . Up to about 11ga it does pretty good , but anything over that it just doesn't have the amps for a decent weld .

For the thicker stuff I fire up the AC Tombstone .

Have you ever used .030 fluxcore? Did it burn hotter than .035?

Thanks, Bob

Never tried .030 , all I've used with this machine is .035 flux and .025/CO2 or C25 . I actually prefer solid wire , but a lot of my welding is done outside and when the shield gas blows away it makes for a really s***ty weld .

Yeah, like when you forget to open the gas valve! "WTF - this weld sucks. Oh ... no gas!"

My changeover point is at 1/8" ... unless it's a small piece , then I might go 3/16" . And I use CO2 a lot more than the C25 .

Which unit ? The tombstone is 225 amps , the Weldpak is like 90 amps at 18 volts IIRC . Max OCV is 32 according to the pdf manual I just downloaded ...

I use the suggested settings on the inside of the door for a starting point . I've learned what settings work for the materials I usually use , fr'instance 11ga square tube with .035" flux core welds nicely on power setting 4 and about 3.5-4 on the speed control .

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