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Need mig welding help

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Walter

12-21-2001 20:09:10




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I bought a Solar mig welder to do some rust repairs on my dump truck cab. The floors were rusted so I got another cab from a rolled over fire truck (no rust) I cut my old cab just below the clutch pedal and in the middle of the back window. I butted the two peices together. Now here's my problem. I can't seem to be able to weld without blasting through the sheet metal. I am using 0.30 flux core wire at the lowest voltage setting and a wire speed of 5, out of a total of 8 speeds. Should I get a thinner wire. My welder will also alow me to weld with a shield gas (argon) and a steel wire.I have cleaned back at least an inch from the seam to welded with a grinder then I clean it again with a wire cup on my grinder. Once in while I get a good bead laid down but most of the time it just splatters or blows right through the metal. What am I doing wrong. Thanks Walter

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Trucker

12-22-2001 14:43:55




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 Re: Need mig welding help in reply to Walter, 12-21-2001 20:09:10  
Argon will work but its cheaper to use co2.You need to use solid wire on thin stuff like body sheet metal.The way I do it is try and find a place to cut it where there is a double thickness or a bend,then cut it so you can overlap some of it.The cleaner the better,at least have the paint off of where you are going to weld.Tack it with small tacks,dont make them over an inch long at first if you can.Tack it good though.You might want to practice on some thin metal until you get your heat and speed set.The way I set my speed is get it welding then either have somebody turn the knob until it sounds right or have my hand on the knob and start welding and turn it myself to get it running with as little spatter as possible.Once you get it set like that it kind of sounds like bacon frying.Tack on your test metal and try and break it.When you get a few tacks made that bend the metal and dont break you are ready to start.On your project there I think I would tack it on one side front cut and back cut in about 3 places,then get a couple in the middle checking to see that it stayed lined up.Then I would go to the other side and get some tacks on that side.Then I would check it for being lined up,then I would make tacks,one on one side one on the other untill I got all the way accross both cuts.The tacks need to be about 3 inches apart.You have to alternate a lot,dont stay on one side for more than 3 tacks.After I did that I would look for places that had double thickness or braces on them or structural points and weld them.Use short welds,space them out,move from side to side a lot.Then I would go back to the seams and put tacks in between all of the ones I made before.Then after that I would get a bucket of water and a towel and weld between the tacks,with the towel soaked with water around where I was welding.Try not to quench the weld with water,just keep the metal cool.Take your time,skip from side to side a lot and dont weld more than an inch at a time without going someplace else.If it feels hot where you are working cool it off before you weld there again.Dont worry about burning through because you will if you stay in one place too long.If you burn through move someplace else.When you get about finished cut some strips of metal like what you are welding,or knock the flux off of a welding rod and tack it into any holes you have after you grind them off.Grind any bad welds you see and go over them,tack alternating one end to the other until you get all the way around whatever you use to fill the holes or gaps.Weld between the tacks and you are done.The more time you take to keep it cool the better it will look finished.

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Steve U.S. Alloys

12-22-2001 10:11:43




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 Re: Need mig welding help in reply to Walter, 12-21-2001 20:09:10  
I would agree that .023 and CO2 is the route to go if you don't want to torch weld here. I would also add that a good tube of heat fence will reduce the aggrevation factor considerably. Pushing the gun rather than pulling will be of great benefit as well. You can probably use your cored wire if you overlap the joint and push. It won't be as easy as the other methods but it can be done that way with proper prep and procedure.

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Cliff Neubauer

12-22-2001 06:16:27




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 Re: Need mig welding help in reply to Walter, 12-21-2001 20:09:10  
If you switch to a sheilding gas and solid .023 wire you will have much better luck but even then you won't be able to weld a very long bead before the heat builds up enough to melt through.



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terry t

12-22-2001 01:24:47




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 Re: Need mig welding help in reply to Walter, 12-21-2001 20:09:10  
on lincoln and some if not all small migs you have to change polarity between shielded wire and flux cored. the thing will hiss and spit burnthrough worse than usaual . the shielded will run much much better



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Redtractorman

12-21-2001 20:50:44




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 Re: Need mig welding help in reply to Walter, 12-21-2001 20:09:10  
You need smaller wire and lower setting on heat and wire feed.Gas helps a lot here.



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the tractor vet

12-21-2001 20:47:31




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 Re: Need mig welding help in reply to Walter, 12-21-2001 20:09:10  
Myself i prefer welding with a shield gas .You will do better with just welding in short tack and move down and do it again to keep the heat and warpage down also make sure that you are tight in your fit up .



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Dave

12-22-2001 01:56:20




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 Re: Re: Need mig welding help in reply to the tractor vet, 12-21-2001 20:47:31  
what you are going to want to do is go with sheild gas and .035 wire. you are not going to be able to run a long bead. you will have to do it in a bunch of tacks. And if i remeber corectly it is not a staight argon it is a mix. I would ask you local weld suppyer for witch one will work better for your needs.



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T_Bone

12-22-2001 02:37:16




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 Re: Re: Re: Need mig welding help in reply to Dave, 12-22-2001 01:56:20  
Hi Walter,

You'll find that running solid wire with a shielding gas(no helium mix as it makes the weld puddle too hot, argon or Co2 is ok) much better as your too hot with too much wire speed and probably a little gap.

If the SM joint is not tight, with-in 1/2 of wire dia, then you will need to use a copper or aluminum chill bar on the backside of the weld. I also us a 1/2" x 2" x 8" SS bar that works well.

The approx rule of thumb for tacking is 50 times the thickness of base metal equalls the maxmium spacing between tacks. The thinner the metal the more tacks that are required to keep warpage to a minium.

If you don't have alot to welding, you might consider using oxy/act with a(depending on the gap) 3/32" or 1/8" filler wire. By using a small tip and low temp you can make it look like you Tig welded it.

T_Bone

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Bob Smith

12-22-2001 08:36:52




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Need mig welding help in reply to T_Bone, 12-22-2001 02:37:16  
T-Bone
It's nice to know someone else out there remembers the lost art of gas welding!
Back in welding school this was the frist type of welding you were taught to do then came electric welding, arc,mig,tig!
I still weld alot of things with gas, in fact just a couple of weeks ago I welded a broken sickle bar out in the field on the JD 216 grain head on the 6620 it's still holding up fine.
Bob

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George

12-22-2001 15:40:22




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Need mig welding help in reply to Bob Smith, 12-22-2001 08:36:52  
Bob,
You wouldn't believe the new kids that we get in the auto industry that don't even know what a gas weld is and they are journeyman welders(Well they know but they just can't do it)!!nothing beets a little victor 100 and a double zero tip on sheet metal not to say these newfangled wire welders aren't good, but take them away and some don't know how to weld. Heck some rebar wire and a little heat and you can fix most anything

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jim

12-22-2001 20:16:36




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Need mig welding help in reply to George, 12-22-2001 15:40:22  
t-bones goot it . hammer weld it .



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c dixon the new welder

12-26-2001 20:54:11




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Need mig welding help in reply to jim, 12-22-2001 20:16:36  
i have to agree with george and t-bone on the gas welding. If this were a restoration job I'd say gas weld it. If this is a fix for a truck that gonna bang in the field, mig it. As for the machine spattering, make sure your polarity is correct (reverse), check the type of flux cored wire that you are using, some don't require a shielding gas. A "dual shield" wire uses a shielding gas. Finally, the type of gas is also critical, argon make the puddle hot, so co2 may be the way to go. Remember if you haven't MIG welded before scrap steel is your friend. Good Luck.

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