Help with welding?

[Squareforceone]

First of let me say i have no expericence welding, i have read a lot online but only tried it once and didn't have the right settings. I have a cheap 110v flux core ONLY welder and i have no idea how to adjust it for what i'm helping i'm terrible with knowing guage of metal and stuff like that any tips? I have it loaded with 0.30 flux core wire and want to just put some welds on my scrap metal, but the dials suck the heat setting is just low or high and there aren't numbers on the wire speed knob... any help would be great, i posted pics of the welders face plate and my metal

[cableguy0]

That welder is always going to either be too hot or too cold. It looks like your metal is about the thickness of exhaust pipe maybe a bit thicker. Start with the high temperature setting. Set your wire speed about 3/4 of the way up. Your going to have a really hard time getting a good result with that welder being flux core and lacking multiple heat settings you dont have much of a chance of any decent looking welds.

[Dunenutt]

What he said^^^^ Burn a short pass and post pics.

BTW, make sure you have at least a #10 lens in your welding helmet.

[cableguy0]

Originally Posted by Dunenutt

What he said^^^^ Burn a short pass and post pics.

BTW, make sure you have at least a #10 lens in your welding helmet.

If he wants a chance at decent welds with a nice start he should spend the 75 bucks or so and at least get a cheapie auto darkening helmet. It will make a night and day difference in your welding.

[Squareforceone]

hey guys not to be rude but no **** this welder sucks i want a nice mig set up but can not afford it i got lucky and got this p.o.s. for 40 bucks

[cableguy0]

The biggest issue is trying to learn to weld when you cant reliably adjust anything. Welding with flux core is messy regardless of the name on the welder. Save your pennies. Theres quite a few pretty decent mig welders in the 300 dollar range that you can run solid core wire and use shielding gas. They will also have multiple heat and speed settings. IM not saying you cant learn to weld with that machine but unless you are welding the right thickness metal for the generic heat setting its going to be really hard to learn. http://www.weldprogases.com/catalog/...33/7756755.htm that welder is a copy of a lincoln 140 and works great.

[Dunenutt]

Originally Posted by Squareforceone

hey guys not to be rude but no **** this welder sucks i want a nice mig set up but can not afford it i got lucky and got this p.o.s. for 40 bucks

I wasn't knocking it. I just wanted to see a pass, to see what it is capable of. It is going to be able to weld thin metal, and thicker metal. What the thickness of those two pieces of metal are, we dont know.

Everyone needs to start somewhere! I have been welding for 36 years. In the Navy, it was my job. I have burned tons of rod and wire, and used some really cool machines. At home, I still dont have super trick wizz bang machines. I have a a Century 135 wire machine, and a lincoln tombstone stick welder. Both machines have served me well.

You asked for help, and we are trying to help.

[Dunenutt]

http://speedwaytools.com/Speedway-Se...B000JUJJKI.htm
This looks like it. It says it will do 18ga, and 3/16". 10% duty cycle, wich means 90% of your welding time is going to be spent cooling it off. Several reviews there and on other sites, Looks like the drive motor needs to be tinkered with to get it to work well.

[Mike Bradbury]

I am not familiar with that particular welder but it looks like one of those Chinese models that speedway has put their logo on. The results will probably be acceptable for a beginner who is just trying to read the puddle. When you can finally afford a better model it will make you appreciate it the higher cost even more.

As for the welding part, since it is flux core only it may or may not have polarity settings. Most F.C. wire is straight polarity but some is reversed and you need to make sure what kind of wire you have. Most likely it is straight where the electrode (the wire) needs to be hooked up to the negative lead, and the work clamp hooked up to the positive. This puts the majority of the heat on the work and helps penetration.
As far as the duty cycle goes the 10% is really low, and you will have to work around that limitation, or get accustom to being frustrated. The 10% is at full load, so if you just keep the metal thinner then you will not bump into the high end duty cycle as quick. The duty cycle is weld time in a ten minute span of time at wide open throttle. So that is 1 minute of work out of ten, or more precisely about 6 seconds out of a minute! Another trick is to see if you can find some .023 F.C. wire. It takes less energy for the machine to melt it and therefore lengthens the duty cycle run time. .023 F.C. is a little harder to find because it is so thin but I have seen it out there.
WWith out any refferance numbers for the settings you should start high then adjust the machine down to get the best setting. When you are setting the machine, like was said, start at around 3/4 speed, what you want to feel is the wire stubbing on the parent metal. what this means is you are feeding the wire too fast and you need to reduce the feed rate until the burn off matches the feed rate. I Will not go into the theory behind short circuit transfer now but, it should have an even buzzing sound and should feel smooth in the gun. If the wire pops then disappears into the contact tip, then your wire feed speed is way too low.
Good luck and have fun

[blime81]

Mike's post on initial setup is spot on.

Miller has some good info for beginners and pros alike on their site and this site is a good overview with some tips on technique and position.
http://www.gowelding.org/FCAW_Flux_C...c_Welding.html

I'm no expert, but a few tips I'll offer:
A tub of nozzle gel can really lower frustration when using flux core because it will help keep the tip feeding smoothly.
Always clip the end of the wire before starting a new pass. If you get into this habit your starts will be much better.
Replace the ground clamp. Most cheap wire feeders have crappy jumper cable clamps. Something like this http://www.harborfreight.com/400-amp...amp-66708.html and a clean ground will help a lot.
Plug your welder into an outlet closest to the breaker with nothing else plugged in.
Never use an extension cord.

This isn't gonna make that welder capable of doing frame repairs or building roll cages but I think it'll help you improve your skills with less frustration.

Best of luck!

[Squareforceone]

okay i found a video that explained how to set a wire feed welder a little bit better i have read a bunch on welding and know what duty cycle means and all that just didn't know how to dial my cheap welder in i did a few passes and did okay but try doing to much at once and warped and later broke my metal. Where is the best place to get weldable scarp metal? at the hardware store it's horribly overpriced i just need some old rusty sheets or something would a scrap yard sell me something?

[Dunenutt]

Go to a steel supply house, and ask for remmnants. They usually sell them for $1 a pound.

[Squareforceone]

Originally Posted by Dunenutt

Go to a steel supply house, and ask for remmnants. They usually sell them for $1 a pound.

you know i have heard steel yard and said before but i'm not sure if theres one around me or not... hey could you explain how to determine the thickness of metal or the gauge i don't get that i'm not great with fractions of inches

[Dunenutt]

http://www.sheetmetalguy.com/sheet_m...auge_chart.htm
.0625 = 1/16"
.125 = 1/8"
.250 = 1/4"
ect.

[100%Chevy]

If you're learning to weld for metalwork on cars,I'd suggest you get your metal from the U-Pull-It.Cheap and plentiful.And comes in all shapes and guages!
If you can learn to weld with the machine you have,a real mig will be a piece of cake!Like using a gluegun.
Just play with it and good luck!
Mike.

[Mike Bradbury]

When learning to use a wire feed welder there are several terms you have to understand, first is "short circuit transfer" second is constant voltage, and third is "stick out".

Short circuit transfer is what is being described in the video clip, and what I described in my first post. The welder is automatically feeding wire through the gun and into the weld puddle, you need to match the burn off rate with the feed rate, too fast and it will stub, too slow and it will burn back into the tip. The video shows how the wire actually makes contact with the parent metal and short circuits. when this happens an arc is created and from that arc the puddle is formed. If the puddle is too cold (like when you bump up against the duty cycle limit) then the bead will just sit on top of the parent metal and no penetration occurs. This is sometimes called "cold lap".
Because of the small arc being created during the short circuit, manipulation (circles, zig zag, semi circles, etc...) of the gun is a must for anything over 16 ga. material. Anything below that and the arc is generally enough to melt both sides and a straight "drag" or "push" technique can be done. Think of it like a sewing machine, if you only sew on one side of the material then the two pieces will not be stitched together.

The term "constant voltage" is describing what the welder is doing as it is operating. Think of the relationship between amps and volt like a teeter totter, as voltage drops amps increase, and vise versa. In a constant voltage process the welder is trying to keep the voltage constant even though the amperage may vary. "stick out" is how far the wire sticks out of the gun before it touches the metal. Generally for the size wire you are using 1/2 inch stick out is a good place to start. the closer you hold the gun to the work the higher the amperage and thus the hotter the puddle. Be careful though, get too close and you will weld the wire to the contact tip. Conversely the further away you get the less amperage is used, a fifty amp swing is not uncommon by simply moving from 1/4 to 3/4 inch stick out. While all this is happening the welder is trying to keep the voltage constant. The better the circuitry in the welder the better it can keep up with the fluctuations in distance. If your welds are looking too cold then you might be too far away from the puddle.

This video shows the Short circuit process but also the difference between an expensive welder with good arc controls and standard mig without any arc control. Expand it to full screen to view it.



You can find cheep metal at the local junk yard or craigs list, get yourself an old wheel barrow or something. Cut it up and put it back together.





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