Follow up to MiG welder

David G

Well-known Member
I appreciate the comments, but have to be honest, there was so much contradicting information, that I am more confused now than before. I bought some .023 wire, have that and the .030 so am going to experiment. I do "think" that the welder controls two things, one is voltage and the other is feed rate, the amps are a byproduct of the combination.

Other than that, I have no clue.
 
Been to many years since I worked on Mig and Tig welders to remember them well. That was part of my job when I worked at Tracker Marine and I spent lot of time repairing those Miller welders. They where as big as a small refrigerator, 3 phase 440 volts. But if I remember right they had feed rate and also amp settings and a couple others if I am remembering correctly but that does not mean a cheap mig has al that
 
Here is picture.

I am assuming knob on right is voltage.
a271847.jpg
 
It's a constant voltage welder. You set the voltage and WFS and the current will fluctuate accordingly. Higher WFS means higher current but there's a limit to how much amperage the wire will carry even though you can feed more wire. Higher voltage give you a longer arc. A lot depends on what gas mixture you're using. You're correct, V is voltage, the other knob is wire feed speed. I worked at Lincoln for 41 years but I'm not a welder, just what I picked up working in R&D. Someone here posted a link to a video within the last couple of weeks. I didn't watch it all but it was some of the best basic welding instruction I've seen.
 
(quoted from post at 17:12:37 06/27/18) I appreciate the comments, but have to be honest, there was so much contradicting information, that I am more confused now than before. I bought some .023 wire, have that and the .030 so am going to experiment. I do "think" that the welder controls two things, one is voltage and the other is feed rate, the amps are a byproduct of the combination.

Other than that, I have no clue.

The .023 will do a better job with that welder.
 
I don't know about Lincoln, but Miller has vidoes on its web site about any type of welding you want to do (and more correct than Joe Schmoe on you tube). By the wire size you put down I'm assuming you are using solid wire so the shielding gas you choose will have a big effect on your welds as well.
 
My Hobart MIG welder has a chart inside the door to the innards that references voltage and wire speed to different thicknesses of metal, for each wire size.

My weld quality improved immensely when I began following the chart instead of "winging" it.
 
I have a small 140 amp lincoln like you described in your othr post. I bought it for light stuff and have never used anything other than the .023 wire in it. My personal feeling is that small machine does not have enough current to use large wire effectivly and will limit you when you want to work thin sheet metal.
 
I?m running .o35 in my little century welder and it does a good job . I had trouble with firepower brand wire it wouldn?t do anything but make gobs switched back to forney brand and it worked again
a271946.jpg

a271947.jpg

a271948.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 10:52:42 06/27/18) How much would it have cost Lincoln to put words under the pictures for the controls?


Global market. That is the universal symbol for [b:95ff2a86e8]Voltage Output[/b:95ff2a86e8].

Look in your car or truck, around your house, in your garage.. Nearly everything now days has universal symbols instead words for control knob and switches. Could you imagine trying to write "Defrost, Oil pressure, Water Temperature" in 50 different languages just for one make and model of a car.

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(quoted from post at 10:39:06 06/28/18) I?m running .o35 in my little century welder and it does a good job . I had trouble with firepower brand wire it wouldn?t do anything but make gobs switched back to forney brand and it worked again..

Give ESAB wire a try
 
(quoted from post at 13:39:06 06/28/18) I?m running .o35 in my little century welder and it does a good job . I had trouble with firepower brand wire it wouldn?t do anything but make gobs switched back to forney brand and it worked again

If the machined is designed for .030 (per notice/boast on front panel) maybe there is more flux and less metal the Forney wire.
 
You could be right but all I could find was .035 tips and .035
wire so that?s what we are running and that weld was on the
end of a 100 foot extension cord which buy the way makes
this thing nearly impossible to get a consistent weld out of .
 

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