argh! welding quetions

So as I was running out of fluxcore wire I figured I should make the jump to the bottle. I ended up with Blue Shield 8/7 R20,40. The wire I'm using right now is .030 ER70S-6 which I picked up at the same time. The wire is described on a web site as "Solid Carbon-Steel Welding Wire: Sound, porosity-free welds with powerful deoxidizers for your work with shielding gases. Great for construction work, farm implement fabrication, shaft buildup, tanks, truck bodies and general shop applications with poor fit-up or rusty, oily plates. A great all-purpose steel mig wire!

Requires 100% Carbon Dioxide or 75% Argon / 25% Carbon Dioxide Shielding Gas. "

Now I can't get penetration to save my life with this current setup. Do I have the wrong wire, wire/gas combo or do I need to play around with settings more? I told the guy what I was doing with my welder, what it was and that I don't have much of a clue yet and he didn't say that I was making a mistake.

Also does anyone know where you can get half decent wire wheels and cups for a grinder that won't bankrupt me? I'm not getting much life out of the ones I've been picking up at Canadian Tire and they arn't exactly cheap.

Any info is appreciated especially for a source for lots of cheap wire wheels. I'll probably be picking up a different and smaller wire tomorrow and giving that a whirl.

---

Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

hudson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So as I was running out of fluxcore wire I figured
> I should make the jump to the bottle.
> I ended up
> with Blue Shield 8/7 R20,40. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<???????????????????

>The wire I'm using
> right now is .030 ER70S-6 which I picked up at the
> same time.

Sounds good




The wire is described on a web site as
> A great all-purpose steel mig wire!
>
> Requires 100% Carbon Dioxide or 75% Argon / 25% <<<<<<<<READ!!!!!<<<<<<<<<
> Carbon Dioxide Shielding Gas. "
>
>
Doooooood, what the fuck is the gas mix you have?
I use 75/25 argon/CO2

Turn the feed down, heat up.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

I hear you john. The guy said this blue shield stuff is the stuff I want and then said that wire will be good. I think the mix is close to 75/25 argon/CO2.

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Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

This may sound like a silly question, but did you switch polarity? I have to on my welder when I switch between cored and solid wire.

Biran

Brian has hit the nail on the head. Solid core is usually DCEP, *most* flux wires are made to run DCEN. Read your manual to see how to flip your polarity.

Blue shield is good stuff however, you will likely find sheet metal a LOT easier now! You can try princess auto for wire wheels, make sure you're buying the knotted ones...

Yes I did eventually switch the polarity. My bud was over and while I was cutting out some rust in the car he was setting up the welder. The polarity switch looks just like that on my welder, like something you can turn. It was stiff and he turned it with a big crescent wrench twisting the plastic underneith.. turns out that you have to take the "dial" off and do it manually (makes sense really that it would be more involved, but why they made it look like a dial we don't know).

Anyways it still wasn't penetrating well at all. And the welds tended to be big in volume and high..

So I went down to CT and got some .025 wire which is now after some playing working quite well. I still don't know how to maximize my gas regulator however.. and since my regulator has no gauges I doubt I will ever get it "just so".

All in all it's much easier to work on sheet now.. doesn't want to burn through as much, cleaner welds.. and the stink is no where near as bad.

I'll have to make a point of checking the prices of wire wheels at princess auto next time I find my self at that end of the city. They're around $20 bucks a pop at CT and don't last all that long. I got a brake there for $38 bucks earlier this week, which works well enough.

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Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

Gas isn't that critical and too much CAN make turbulence around the puddle and cause problems.

I use 030 for sheet metal work but I am trained and I DO make the material CLEAN as in shiney with a 120 grit disc.
Did you try higher heat and slower feed with the 030 wire.
Just what are you welding?
Didya look under the cover where they usually haver reccomendations as to wire dia, feed and heat settings????
I don't like 025 because in order to deposit enough material I need to dwell so long the area locally overheats and the tip does as well then the wire starts grabbing in the tip.

How clean have you made your work areas????

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Penetration is 90% preparation, as we used to have beaten into our heads in class...

It's penetrating quite well now with the .025 with the heat turned up a lot. I have checked the chart as to settings and I've cleaned up the surfaces well. I think I need to upgrade to a 20amp breaker to get much use with .030. (I'm ussing a 110v jobbie)

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Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

The technique i use to set up a wire feed welder for a given application is to adjust wire speed to control amperage and and adjust voltage to match wire speed. In other words, pick a wire speed and make adjusments to the voltage setting untill you are satisfied the weld quality is optimized. If the the weld is too hot, back off the wire speed and readjust the voltage again. The wire you are using is what 98% are using, it is a general use wire, the 75/25 mix is also the most universal as well. The only other sugestion is: Practice, practice, Practice.....
Hope this helps.
Shawn...

whitsend Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The technique i use to set up a wire feed welder
> for a given application is to adjust wire speed to
> control amperage and and adjust voltage to match
> wire speed. In other words, pick a wire speed and
> make adjusments to the voltage setting untill you
> are satisfied the weld quality is optimized. If
> the the weld is too hot, back off the wire speed
> and readjust the voltage again. The wire you are
> using is what 98% are using, it is a general use
> wire, the 75/25 mix is also the most universal as
> well. The only other sugestion is: Practice,
> practice, Practice.....
> Hope this helps.
> Shawn...

Shawn,

Good advice. It's going much better now with the .025 wire.. I think I had trouble making the mental jump from fluxcore to gas + wire. Some time and my neighbours auto dimming helmet have cured all.

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Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

OK now get back to the 030, you WILL eventually overheat the tip and locally overhjeat the sheetmetal.
030 will carry more current so control the heat.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

what are you welding anyway?

hudson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I think I need to upgrade to a
> 20amp breaker to get much use with .030. (I'm
> ussing a 110v jobbie)
>
>
> Andrew McNally
> Hamilton ON
> 26


No you would need to upgrade the wire ( I'm talking about the electrical connection, not the welding wire), breakers protect the wire - they don't supply more power. Find out what size electrical wiring you have, install the correct electrical connection for your equipment and use the appropriate size breaker for the wire. If this is too much, hire an electrician. Don't burn your house down.

---

Scott Manley
Spokane, WA
86' XR4Ti
37

Scott Manley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hudson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> I think I need to upgrade to a
> > 20amp breaker to get much use with .030.
> (I'm
> > ussing a 110v jobbie)
> >
> >
> > Andrew McNally
> > Hamilton ON
> > 26
>
>
> No you would need to upgrade the wire ( I'm
> talking about the electrical connection, not the
> welding wire), breakers protect the wire - they
> don't supply more power. Find out what size
> electrical wiring you have, install the correct
> electrical connection for your equipment and use
> the appropriate size breaker for the wire. If
> this is too much, hire an electrician. Don't burn
> your house down.
>
> Scott Manley
> Spokane, WA
> 86' XR4Ti
> 32


Spokane Scott does bring up a good point.
I have seen houses with little teeeeeeenie 16g wire in the wall, and I have seen garages with the old 20s and 30s style CLOTH cover wire and I was staring at the turbs and wondering why I couldn't weld anymore (premature senility was my answer).

Check your house wires, make some home made extention cords with some herk huge wires so the welder sees what comes off the pole, it makes a big difference.
Or go 230v..

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.