I have a roll of .03" stainless wire meant for wire feed. I bought it
for tig welding some thin stainless. I'm on an island and it was the
thinnest SS wire available. Still a little too thick for the job I
bought it for but it worked OK. Anyway, I put this wire in a Lincoln
SP 125 Plus. I used pure argon instead of the C25 mix used for 70S-6
wire. I only had .035 tips though. I used a ball bearing to close down
the hole in the tip so that the wire was a snug fit but would still
feed. Anyway, it ran terribly. The welds appeared to be aluminum, not
SS. And I could not get a continuous bead, only globs really. I think
this is because the .035 tip does not make good enough contact with
the wire. Is there anything else I should do besides use the proper
tip? Is straight argon best?
Thank You,
Eric R Snow,
Metal Hack,
E T Persicion hakking,
Coffing two...

In article ,
Eric R Snow wrote:

I have a roll of .03" stainless wire meant for wire feed. I bought it
for tig welding some thin stainless. I'm on an island and it was the
thinnest SS wire available. Still a little too thick for the job I
bought it for but it worked OK. Anyway, I put this wire in a Lincoln
SP 125 Plus. I used pure argon instead of the C25 mix used for 70S-6
wire. I only had .035 tips though. I used a ball bearing to close down
the hole in the tip so that the wire was a snug fit but would still
feed. Anyway, it ran terribly. The welds appeared to be aluminum, not
SS. And I could not get a continuous bead, only globs really. I think
this is because the .035 tip does not make good enough contact with
the wire. Is there anything else I should do besides use the proper
tip? Is straight argon best?
Thank You,
Eric R Snow,
Metal Hack,
E T Persicion hakking,
Coffing two...

SS in a MIG requires higher volts due to the electrical resistance of
the SS wire.
You have to hold a really short wire stickout with a slightly higher
wire speed than steel.

C25 is far better than pure Argon for Stainless.
You need the greater heat of the CO2 in the mix to offset the lack of
current going through the stainless wire.
Oxygen or helium tri-mixes are even better due to their higher arc temp.

Pure argon would be terrible.
Leave the 0.035" tip alone.
It should feed the 0.030" wire OK without any crimping.

Higher volts, faster wire speed, hotter shielding gas, shorter wire
stick out.

--
Welding Instructor - South Seattle Comm. Coll.
- Divers Institute of Technology
CWI/CWE
WABO Examiner

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:

C25 is far better than pure Argon for Stainless.

But this increases the carbon content in the weld. As most SS are _very_
low carbon, they will rust.


Nick
--
DIY-DRO // Eigenbau-Digitalanzeige
Available now in USA / Canada
http://www.yadro.de

On Fri, 19 May 2006 07:24:13 GMT, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

In article ,
Eric R Snow wrote:

I have a roll of .03" stainless wire meant for wire feed. I bought it
for tig welding some thin stainless. I'm on an island and it was the
thinnest SS wire available. Still a little too thick for the job I
bought it for but it worked OK. Anyway, I put this wire in a Lincoln
SP 125 Plus. I used pure argon instead of the C25 mix used for 70S-6
wire. I only had .035 tips though. I used a ball bearing to close down
the hole in the tip so that the wire was a snug fit but would still
feed. Anyway, it ran terribly. The welds appeared to be aluminum, not
SS. And I could not get a continuous bead, only globs really. I think
this is because the .035 tip does not make good enough contact with
the wire. Is there anything else I should do besides use the proper
tip? Is straight argon best?
Thank You,
Eric R Snow,
Metal Hack,
E T Persicion hakking,
Coffing two...

SS in a MIG requires higher volts due to the electrical resistance of
the SS wire.
You have to hold a really short wire stickout with a slightly higher
wire speed than steel.

C25 is far better than pure Argon for Stainless.
You need the greater heat of the CO2 in the mix to offset the lack of
current going through the stainless wire.
Oxygen or helium tri-mixes are even better due to their higher arc temp.

Pure argon would be terrible.
Leave the 0.035" tip alone.
It should feed the 0.030" wire OK without any crimping.

Higher volts, faster wire speed, hotter shielding gas, shorter wire
stick out.
Thanks Ernie! How about another question? Why doesn't the oxygen in
the tri-mix cause oxidation in the weld? And one more. Why does argon
work so well for tig ss and not mig ss?
Thanks,
Eric

On Thu, 18 May 2006 08:21:37 -0700, Eric R Snow
wrote:

I have a roll of .03" stainless wire meant for wire feed. I bought it
for tig welding some thin stainless. I'm on an island and it was the
thinnest SS wire available. Still a little too thick for the job I
bought it for but it worked OK. Anyway, I put this wire in a Lincoln
SP 125 Plus. I used pure argon instead of the C25 mix used for 70S-6
wire. I only had .035 tips though. I used a ball bearing to close down
the hole in the tip so that the wire was a snug fit but would still
feed. Anyway, it ran terribly. The welds appeared to be aluminum, not
SS. And I could not get a continuous bead, only globs really. I think
this is because the .035 tip does not make good enough contact with
the wire. Is there anything else I should do besides use the proper
tip? Is straight argon best?
Thank You,
Eric R Snow,
Metal Hack,
E T Persicion hakking,
Coffing two...


You need the proper contact tip..and you need a tank of Trimix..though
argon should have given you a fairly reasonable weld..though not
great.

The nickel in the wire does weird ****. Btw..try it with C25..oddly
enough..sometimes..sometimes..it will work. YMMV

Gunner

"If thy pride is sorely vexed when others disparage your offering, be
as lamb's wool is to cold rain and the Gore-tex of Odin's raiment
is to gull**** in the gale, for thy angst shall vex them not at
all. Yea, they shall scorn thee all the more. Rejoice in
sharing what you have to share without expectation of adoration,
knowing that sharing your treasure does not diminish your treasure
but enriches it."

- Onni 1:33

On Sat, 20 May 2006 17:05:31 GMT, Gunner
wrote:

On Thu, 18 May 2006 08:21:37 -0700, Eric R Snow
wrote:

I have a roll of .03" stainless wire meant for wire feed. I bought it
for tig welding some thin stainless. I'm on an island and it was the
thinnest SS wire available. Still a little too thick for the job I
bought it for but it worked OK. Anyway, I put this wire in a Lincoln
SP 125 Plus. I used pure argon instead of the C25 mix used for 70S-6
wire. I only had .035 tips though. I used a ball bearing to close down
the hole in the tip so that the wire was a snug fit but would still
feed. Anyway, it ran terribly. The welds appeared to be aluminum, not
SS. And I could not get a continuous bead, only globs really. I think
this is because the .035 tip does not make good enough contact with
the wire. Is there anything else I should do besides use the proper
tip? Is straight argon best?
Thank You,
Eric R Snow,
Metal Hack,
E T Persicion hakking,
Coffing two...


I just canceled my reply..as it was totally incorrect. Thats why I
love having resources like Ernie around. He is able to shoot all
hearsay knowledge down.

Gunner, learned something. Again

"If thy pride is sorely vexed when others disparage your offering, be
as lamb's wool is to cold rain and the Gore-tex of Odin's raiment
is to gull**** in the gale, for thy angst shall vex them not at
all. Yea, they shall scorn thee all the more. Rejoice in
sharing what you have to share without expectation of adoration,
knowing that sharing your treasure does not diminish your treasure
but enriches it."

- Onni 1:33

Eric R Snow wrote:

Why doesn't the oxygen in the tri-mix cause oxidation in the weld?

Only thing I can tell you is that the chemistry is quite complicated.
Oxygen is even used in shielding gas for Al. But in quantities below 1%.

Nick
--
DIY-DRO // Eigenbau-Digitalanzeige
Available now in USA / Canada
http://www.yadro.de