Hello all
Started learning MIG welding at last. (done oxy-acet, TIG-stainless, stick/SMA before) Have some questions already...
The transfer mode
When looking on the Web you come across Ed Craig's "Weldreality" site which is mainly about MIG welding. His main topic is being escoriating about people who don't know what mode they are aiming to get and knowing very clearly what range of (voltage, current/wire-feed-speed) puts you firmly in the middle of each transfer mode.
So what do you reckon about being in "short circuit transfer" and "spray transfer"? If those are good questions, what can you say about each and where and why you would each one?
"Google" found me this on the public area of The Welding Institute (TWI) site:
For 0.8mm (0.030inch) wire, which is in all machines at the college
spray | 150A to 250A | 25V to 33V
dip | 45A to 180A | 17V to 22V
Then other information is found on the Web is about the effect of shielding gas. One suggestion is if want to be in spray, use different shielding gas like Ar/5%O2, rather than the Ar/25%CO2 which is in general use, including at the college.
Basically, want to ask - would it be a good thing to do to literally set a machine to say 28V and 180A to observe what you get? As at a college, want to make sure I am asking something reasonable if I ask the instructor if it is OK to try this (1 instructor, >10 students, so want to be reasonable!).
Any good places I could be looking, in books or on the Web, for information?
Richard Smith