I just bought an ESAB MIG welder from a friend of mine who was using
it for Aluminum. It's the first MIG I have owned and I have a question
about the shielding gas I should use. The machine was sold to me with
a bottle of pure Argon. I'm going to be welding mostly mild steel, and
read somewhere that for arc stability on thinner materials I should be
using an Ar, CO2 mix. The other day I was trying to weld 2 pieces of
16ga sheet steel with .035 wire and couldn't keep the weld from
blowing through the metal. No matter how I adjusted the machine I
couldn't get it right. I assume that it is partly my newness with this
machine. I was having trouble maintaining an arc at amperages low
enough to keep from blowing through. When the settings were low enough
to keep the metal from holeing I got almost no penetration, and very
tall (rabbit turds) beads. Would switching to a CO2, Ar mix help? I
get great welds on ¼" with this current setup.

Thanks

Peter-

"Constant Velocity" wrote in message
...
I just bought an ESAB MIG welder from a friend of mine who was using
it for Aluminum. It's the first MIG I have owned and I have a question
about the shielding gas I should use. The machine was sold to me with
a bottle of pure Argon. I'm going to be welding mostly mild steel, and
read somewhere that for arc stability on thinner materials I should be
using an Ar, CO2 mix. The other day I was trying to weld 2 pieces of
16ga sheet steel with .035 wire and couldn't keep the weld from
blowing through the metal. No matter how I adjusted the machine I
couldn't get it right. I assume that it is partly my newness with this
machine. I was having trouble maintaining an arc at amperages low
enough to keep from blowing through. When the settings were low enough
to keep the metal from holeing I got almost no penetration, and very
tall (rabbit turds) beads. Would switching to a CO2, Ar mix help? I
get great welds on ¼" with this current setup.

Thanks

Peter-


Argon for aluminum.

Argon/CO2 for steel.

Check your polarity if it is adjustable.

Refer to the manual, or sometimes there is a guide on the inside cover.
Maybe be able to find one online.

Welding 16ga. with .035 is a little too much. Either try smaller wire, or
just spot weld it. Pull the trigger for a very short time and get one spot.
Then do it again. DO NOT make the spots all in a row, or it will distort
quite a bit. Space them out and jump back and forth and allow time for
cooling inbetween. Keep the distance the wire sticks out at the diameter of
the cup or less. Angle the torch from 90 degrees to about 75. Position the
torch so that you can see the puddle. With spots, you probably won't see
much. An autodark hood helps. When spotting, lots of times, I just get
into position, look away, close my eyes, and spot.

You will not be able to "maintain an arc" for very long on sheet metal
because you will reach the melting point, and it will fall away. Any metal
will do this when the size of the puddle is too large for the cross section
of the molten pool in comparison with the thickness of the metal.

Keep trying. Try the things I suggested.

It can be done.

Steve

Definatly get a different gas. While argon will work for MIG, and is
required in some applications (alum), it's not a good general purpose gas.
CO2 is the cheap variety of general gas, but using 75/25 mix (argon CO2 mix)
will usually produce a better looking weld (less spatter). Welding 16ga
with that thick of wire will usually require pretty low settings, and you'll
have to move right along to prevent turning your welding into a hole maker.

--
Lynn "I have opposable thumbs, and I'm not scared to use em" Amick
http://www.amickracing.com

"Constant Velocity" wrote in message
...
I just bought an ESAB MIG welder from a friend of mine who was using
it for Aluminum. It's the first MIG I have owned and I have a question
about the shielding gas I should use. The machine was sold to me with
a bottle of pure Argon. I'm going to be welding mostly mild steel, and
read somewhere that for arc stability on thinner materials I should be
using an Ar, CO2 mix. The other day I was trying to weld 2 pieces of
16ga sheet steel with .035 wire and couldn't keep the weld from
blowing through the metal. No matter how I adjusted the machine I
couldn't get it right. I assume that it is partly my newness with this
machine. I was having trouble maintaining an arc at amperages low
enough to keep from blowing through. When the settings were low enough
to keep the metal from holeing I got almost no penetration, and very
tall (rabbit turds) beads. Would switching to a CO2, Ar mix help? I
get great welds on ¼" with this current setup.

Thanks

Peter-

Constant Velocity wrote:
I just bought an ESAB MIG welder from a friend of mine who was using
it for Aluminum. It's the first MIG I have owned and I have a question
about the shielding gas I should use. The machine was sold to me with
a bottle of pure Argon. I'm going to be welding mostly mild steel, and
read somewhere that for arc stability on thinner materials I should be
using an Ar, CO2 mix. The other day I was trying to weld 2 pieces of
16ga sheet steel with .035 wire and couldn't keep the weld from
blowing through the metal. No matter how I adjusted the machine I
couldn't get it right. I assume that it is partly my newness with this
machine. I was having trouble maintaining an arc at amperages low
enough to keep from blowing through. When the settings were low enough
to keep the metal from holeing I got almost no penetration, and very
tall (rabbit turds) beads. Would switching to a CO2, Ar mix help? I
get great welds on ¼" with this current setup.

Thanks

Peter-

75/25, or C25 is the mix for general purpose MIG, but if you are blowing
through now with pure argon, it's not going to cure that, in fact, it will
be hotter with the CO2.

Try 0.023" wire
"Constant Velocity" wrote in message
...
I just bought an ESAB MIG welder from a friend of mine who was using
it for Aluminum. It's the first MIG I have owned and I have a question
about the shielding gas I should use. The machine was sold to me with
a bottle of pure Argon. I'm going to be welding mostly mild steel, and
read somewhere that for arc stability on thinner materials I should be
using an Ar, CO2 mix. The other day I was trying to weld 2 pieces of
16ga sheet steel with .035 wire and couldn't keep the weld from
blowing through the metal. No matter how I adjusted the machine I
couldn't get it right. I assume that it is partly my newness with this
machine. I was having trouble maintaining an arc at amperages low
enough to keep from blowing through. When the settings were low enough
to keep the metal from holeing I got almost no penetration, and very
tall (rabbit turds) beads. Would switching to a CO2, Ar mix help? I
get great welds on ¼" with this current setup.

Thanks

Peter-



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