***Sheet Metal Welding Woes...Need Advice***

[wagesofsin]

Thanks a bunch guys...I'll be tracking down some .023 wire & tips +++doing some practice before I hit the car again.

where you at?

il send you some tips and wire.

you said your running 25 psi?

is that argon/co2 mix ?
i use .023 and run 8 psi

to much gas is a bad thing, as is not enough.

you wanna hear a nice bzzz

not snap crackle pop.

additionally, make sure the sheilding tip is clean, a bad weld can cause slag to accumulate and mar the flow of sheilding gas.

[Bullitt-]

where you at?

il send you some tips and wire.

you said your running 25 psi?

is that argon/co2 mix ?
i use .023 and run 8 psi

to much gas is a bad thing, as is not enough.

you wanna hear a nice bzzz

not snap crackle pop.

additionally, make sure the sheilding tip is clean, a bad weld can cause slag to accumulate and mar the flow of sheilding gas.

Thanks for the offer but I've already bought the wire & tips...

Gas is Argon/CO2  75/25.....I was at 15psi & upped it to 25psi based on a Youtube tutorial & it seemed to help... I have been working outside in low-no wind but plan on taking things inside to see if things will work better & try lower settings

Yea I sometimes get a bzzz in between the pops.....Will report back in a little while. 

[gkring]

You guys keep saying PSI, but don't you mean cfm on the sheilding gas? I have yet to see a set of welding gauges that were marked PSI on the output side. No magical tricks to add. Practice , practice, practice and use thinnest wire possible on sheetmetal. Personnaly I don't have much patience and try to weld too much at one time when doing patch panels. So far I stick to floor patches or areas that will be hidden. I leeave the painted sheetmetal for the pros.

[bb71challenger]

You are probably right Greg. My home set is preset at some unkown level. The type we have at work have the little clear tube that has markings. I just set it to 30-35.   

[wagesofsin]

You guys keep saying PSI, but don't you mean cfm on the sheilding gas? I have yet to see a set of welding gauges that were marked PSI on the output side. No magical tricks to add. Practice , practice, practice and use thinnest wire possible on sheetmetal. Personnaly I don't have much patience and try to weld too much at one time when doing patch panels. So far I stick to floor patches or areas that will be hidden. I leeave the painted sheetmetal for the pros.

i agree, but...

not standing in front of the individual experiancing difficulty, i must reply in the terminology they present.

thats all.

 

the actual

[Bullitt-]

Never had a gauge rated in CFM. 
 Anywho I put in the .024 wire (note to self: ALWAYS keep one hand on the wire spool  )
 Set the PSI uhh CFM to as close to 8 as I could make it...tested on the scrap..looked ok so I hit the patch panel...still a lot of pfst & sparks... Noticed that the wire was burning down to the tip so I upped the speed to 30 & tested...looked better, so I hit the patch a couple of times...see results below
   
      All Comments Welcome

[Alaskan_TA]

It loooks like you just welded a booby? Looks like an A cup to me.

Maybe you should do sculpture.






Or, maybe I need to get out more. 

[wagesofsin]

yea, they can get away from ya quick!!!


keep feeding wire, thats the idea on thin material

to have more wire than heat
try a little less gas even, minimums are maximums here
number 3 looks good .
up your wire speed a hair, and try it again.
all ya wanna do is penetrate , and fuse
you are not actually welding plate.
you are tacking, dont try and lay a bead, youll blow through.
look for an even heat dissipation around the tack.

[Bullitt-]

It loooks like you just welded a booby? Looks like an A cup to me.

Maybe you should do sculpture.






Or, maybe I need to get out more. 

Better than those saggy DDDs I's making yesterday....Or maybe you'd prefer 

[Alaskan_TA]

I like As, Bs & Cs - in pairs. 

[bb71challenger]

Dont leave the D's hanging Barry, they need love too  ( * )( * )   

[Bullitt-]

I upped the wire speed to 40, seems like I get about the same results in almost 1/2 the time.
So I go back & forth making little spots till it appears I have a complete circle, dropped my copper heat sinks, held a light behind & it looks like I'm only about 2/3s done. 

  Just keep welding or try something different?

[71chally416]

If you feed the wire too quickly it will "bird nest" on you and if it's too slow it will come off in little droplets and might melt the tip closed. For thin stuff I use 21 amps (unhook the reel and watch the gage to adjust for 21 amps) and then play with the wire speed to get a good arc start and a sound like frying eggs. It helps alot to clip the wire at an angle so it starts easier too with a sharp point instead of a flat cut wire. And YES, you want to hold the nozzel close to the metal.

The .023" "easy grind" wire on the market for auto body work doesn't have the same tensil strength of the industrial type .030" wire, but either one will work for auto body stuff. I prefer the .030" myself to make good tack welds with. The smaller wire is worthless for any kind of structural welding like rear end perchs. Being a newbie welder I think you'll find the .023" wire is harder to work with. 

[cwestra]

I like to keep the gun moving ever so slightly side-to-side when I weld, like I'm building a bridge accross the gap of the 2 pieces of metal (which you're actually doing).  The crackling sounds is typical of lack of gas, as was suggested.  I keep the gun pretty close to the work as well, maybe 1/2 inch (12.7mm for the rest of the world).  That way the gas is more concentrated. 

I went through the learning process on my car over the past couple of years.  I had never picked up a mig welder before.  I started out with the ugliest globs of welds you have ever seen.  But as I went along, I learned what worked and what didn't.  Be patient.  Old metal can burn through pretty quick if you get it too hot.

There's no question, this is an art.  It is perfected through trial and error.  In the end, though, you'll be so good you'll be looking for more stuff to weld.

Good luck.

[71chally416]

I welded zyglow inspected (leak-proof) containers for a Transformer company for a couple of decades. Usually 60" continuous seams or less running 27 volts in spray-arc mode. There really is no substitute for experience in any kind of welding, but I've seen some guys get better every year while others never seem to make a pretty weld no matter how long they do it. Having good eyesite and the right shade lens in your helmet is imperative.