Need some welding advice

[2b1ask1]

What is the ideal wire size and voltage/speed settings for welding in my floors and rockers?? Not sure of the metal gauge, but I'm guessing 17. I am running a Hobart 125 with gas, and .035 wire currently and its just not working out.. Lots of splatter, and I cant get it to lay a nice spot.

 

[dube]

.030 wire at about 18v-20v wire speed at 40 60 inpm

 

[getfuzzy]

I did all my sheet metal with .024. You will need to play with the heat and wire speed as your power supply and metal thickness and also your style of welding will come into play.

 

[scottmpls]

Are you using flux wire or mig wire with gas, some times a lot of splatter is a result of the wrong polarity setting for the wire you are using.

 

[dave67fd]

.035 maybe abit large. Can we assume you have practiced enough with different settings and wire feed speeds?

I'm just starting out as well and the settings can be abit frustrating to get just right. You also have to consider other issues like is the metal clean enough? Do you have a good clean grond connection close to your work? Tip clean? Confirm the correct gas setting as well as the type of weld, gun angle and distance. They all factor in.

 

[2b1ask1]

I'm using solid core I think that it was clean enough, but i guess I just need to get in more practice. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[TwoDalesDad]

0.24 should do just fine. You may have to play with the speed...a little bit....but your splatter isue will be gone. Most people try to weld with a crappy ground.....If you clean the grounding surface FIRST...Your welds will be awsome!!

 

[Ranchtruck]

Smaller wire will help because it lowers the current flowing through the weld making it less likely to burn through.

 

[banana]

make sure u have a clean nozzle and gas flow is set properly

 

[Monster Mike]

Grab some .23-.24 & some .30 the .35 is to big for the thin stuff. I'm not saying it can't work but the thinner wire takes less voltage to melt thus less blow through, splatter & warping.

Good luck & go slow

 

[Oatmeal]

On the inside of the welder's door there should be some suggested settings/wire size recommendations but, generally .023 works good for sheetmetal and as was mentioned earlier, make sure you have the polarity set for solid wire/gas as flux core requires the opposite polarity and could be the reason for your spatter (insufficient gas flow could also cause that).

I like to fine tune the wire speed on a piece of scrap metal with the dial while laying down a practice bead (you'll hear it when it's right ).....just don't change welder output (voltage) settings while welding.

Another thing that really makes a big difference...verify that you have proper voltage coming out of the wall receptacle and if using an extension cord, make sure that it is of sufficient gauge to avoid excessive voltage drop.

Hans

 

[bmc69]

Another vote for .023..that is all I use when I'm doing body repair welding. And regardless, I never run anything bigger than .030" in the little Hobart 110V machine; its not big enough to burn .035"..

 

[2b1ask1]

Thanks alot guys.. I will pick up some smaller wire today and hopefully by the end of the weekend I will be a decent welder!! I appreciate all of the responses...

 

[bptommy]

just to echo what everyone else has said, mig setup is the most important thing for a begining welder. making sure your area is clean (bare metal works best), make sure your ground is good (once again bare metal works best plus try and get your ground as close to your work as possible.), if your running gas makre sure it is set correctly, and I agree with everyone else go with smaller wire, it will make things much easier. when your getting your wire pickup up a cheap metal thickness guage will help with your setup alot. All welders are diffrent so you may have to adjust your settings a bit compared to whats on the lid, try youtube look up spot welds, lap welds, and butt welds. good luck ;D

 

[CJ who???]

I'll be doing the same as you soon. I have a Miller 211. I've picked up a lot of scrap to practice on that's about the same thickness as the after-market floor boards.

Something I've read that hasn't been said in this thread yet is to use a "backer" when welding the new floorboards to the original floor. Get a piece of brass that is somewhat thick and keep it below and tight against your welding area to help prevent blowing holes through the thin metal.

My plan (which is what I've read here), is to drill holes bout every 2 inches and screw the new boards to the floor. Remove a screw and spot weld in each hole, moving around alot to keep the heat/warpage down. I also plan on having lots of grinding wheels on hand;D;D;D.

Good luck and tell us how it goes !!!!

 

[chico68]

A lot of good advice so far. Do not forget that the type of gas will affect weld characteristics as well. The 110 welders, although they will run on straight c02 were designed to run on 75% Argon, 25% Co2. Running this combination will give you less spatter, a better apparence, less weld buildup and allow you to run the lower voltages (<18) needed for sheet metal welding.

good luck and happy welding!

 

[Madgyver]

.023 or .025 for the thin stuff. Learn to stitch.. Alternate tacks...