Mig welding question

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rebeldart

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I learned myself how - bought a welder at a pawn shop last winter and did my own patches. Anyway all I've used is gas - today I was out and didn't want to wait till Monday so I bought a roll of flux core and set welder up accordingly. I'm a better welder with this stuff ! I wasn't terrible using gas and solid, never tried flux core before but I did some pretty decent welds on some seat frames I'm working on. What are the disadvantages for a home hobbyist ? Won't ever be doing anything heavy (no skyscraper in my future) is flux core decent on 20-22 gauge sheet metals ?
 
The problems with flux core.. the splatter and the corosion invited by the flux captured in the weld.
 
Ive never had luck with flux core. Gas usually has less splatter.
 
I just bought a mig welder that is combined flux core and solid.
Haven´t tested it yet, but the splatter issue doesn´t sound good.
I´ll do some testing on the wifes LeBaron next weekend.
 
gas allows for cleaner and smoother welded bead. Less corrosion and stronger welds. Also gas reduces spatter, which is nice on your skin lol. Although I haven't messed with the stuff much at all I only work with gas basically.
 
RedFish said:
The problems with flux core.. the splatter and the corosion invited by the flux captured in the weld.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with the spattering, but flux should not be captured in a weld. That would lead to porosity, and weld failure. The adavantages to using flux core wire would be best seen in an outdoor enviroment, where even a slight breeze would blow away your shielding gas, contaminating a weld. Arc welding on high hise building structures has become all but non- existant with the use of "suitcase" style mig flux core welders,as a time saver and more consistant weld quality.

One side note. At a certain time, some were trying prove that mig welding while using flux core wire was causing "weld embrittlement" where welds were failing due to just that, being brittle. I don't hear stories of that happening today, most likely due to the standards that organizations like The American Welding Society have set up have manufactures try to adhere to. Flux-core has its place. Glad you got a chance to try it out!
 
Thanks - not sure why I was laying nicer welds with the flux core - maybe not as "touchy" to heat/speed settings ? Oh and splatter ? You mean all those funny dots all over the seat vinyl, and the moving blanket I caught on fire twice and the funny dance I was doing every few minutes when the stuff fell between my toes ? (Flip-flops and welding a big no-no by the way !)
 
By setting up accordingly I hope you mean set the polarity. Gas requires reversed polarity or it welds like crap!
 
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