Welding tips for a noob?

[username]

I just bought MIG welder earlier today and have been dinking around on some scrap stuff, I eventually will be replacing some floor pans in the cutlass. I was using the flux core wire that came with the unit and was wondering when I use soild wire and gas can I weld thinner materials? or does that come with stepping down in wire size? I was practicing on similar thickness material as floor pans and couldnt seem to get the temp low enough.

 

[Silent viewer]

if you can afford it jump up to gas, flux core is a total pain to use if you ask me. is your mig got the stuff to upgrade to gas?

 

[carmangary]

Yea, when you go to gas and thinner wire you can weld thinner stuff and welding will be easier in general. You can even butt weld sheetmetal with MIG. That flux core stuff is nice for welding big stuff outdoors where it might be windy but otherwise the gas and solid wire is so much nicer.

 

[username]

Yeah it came with a regulator and hose just need to fill a bottle.The welder is a hobart 140.I have a bottle of CO2 but what Ive been reading that is for greater pentration.So next week some time I'll go get a bottle of mixed.Do you guys think that if I drop to like a .023 soild wire I could use the straight CO2 or should I just go ahead and get Ar/CO2 mix?

 

[Bonnewagon]

I like the Argon mix, and you really don't need to have it blowing hard, just sort of "breathing" on the work. If the wind is howling you probably shouldn't be welding anyway. How low can you turn down the amps? I got the Lincoln unit because it went as low as 25 amps, good for thin material. In a pinch, I ran out of gas and continued to weld without it, and it really wasn't so bad. Some weld contamination, but nowhere as bad as a flux core wire or flux coated stick welder. And as great as a MIG is, I still keep my acetylene welder for some things.

 

[username]

I like the Argon mix, and you really don't need to have it blowing hard, just sort of "breathing" on the work. If the wind is howling you probably shouldn't be welding anyway. How low can you turn down the amps? I got the Lincoln unit because it went as low as 25 amps, good for thin material. In a pinch, I ran out of gas and continued to weld without it, and it really wasn't so bad. Some weld contamination, but nowhere as bad as a flux core wire or flux coated stick welder. And as great as a MIG is, I still keep my acetylene welder for some things.

I'm not sure how low you can turn down the amps it has 4 settings for voltage numbered 1-4 :?:

 

[Bonnewagon]

The amps range on the Hobart 140 is 25 to 140. A very good unit. You will enjoy welding with it. The cheap imports start at 30 or even 40 amps, not good for car sheet metal.

 

[joey_schel]

Going to gas would be a great idea for something like floor pans.. alot less cleanup and such... You can actually get some decent looking welds with flux core, it depends on the thickness of material and how you orient the welding gun. Are you dragging or pushing the gun into the work? I find with flux it comes out nicer when you drag the gun rather than "push the weld".

Joe

 

[pokertramp]

Try skipping around and do not weld in a continuous bead at one time. Give the metal time to cool. Practice on how to plug weld too, very useful. Drill out dime sized holes or smaller in the patch panel and when you weld up to existing work all you are doing is pretty much filling in the hole.

Not good at explaining things, hopefully it's good enough. I have done all kinds of welding but haven't done it in years. I tried with my friends cheap mig and couldn't do crap with it but with a good welding machine it makes a huge difference.