Welding for the first time - need advice

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At some point you might want to get a good
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ground clamp. My mig was sputtering last time I used it. Replaced the goofy ground clamp it had with one similar to the above link.....sputtering solved...
 
Actually, even if you overlap the sheet metal without a flanged step it will be ok. If you consider the thickness of the metal it really does not add up to much. I always overlap without the flange step and the use fiberglass with the ground up pieces in it to seal the weld. A little bondo a voila, now one will tell the difference. My bud who restores cars for a living told me this and I have seen his work and it looks flawless. the factory overlapped sheet metal too. Just don't go overboard with the overlap 1 inch will do.
Also another little trick when welding body panels is to have the heat up a little bit higher the what you would expect to use and then turn up the wire speed til it starts to seem like its too fast then turn it down just a notch. the extra wire will cool down the puddle and the higher heat will make good fast penetrating welds. especially when you are just doing one spot weld at a time.
 
I got out there today to practice again and I just don't think the gas is working.

When I turn the gas on the gauge on the left reads 25 CFH. I pull the trigger and it momentarily drops to 22-23 and then back to 25 as soon as I let go.

I disconnected the wire feed and put my ear up to the gas nozzle and I don't hear anything. I also used the lighter trick and the flame never went out or even blew around. It seems like I'm not getting any gas at all even though the gauge acts like I am.

I wasn't hearing the solenoid like you guys were talking about so I reversed the polarity of the wires and pulled the trigger again and got the same sound, so I don't even think the solenoid is working at all.

I'll try calling Hobart but I've had the thing for 3 1/2 years so I doubt they'll be of any help.
 
For the gauge to drop the gas is feeding and going somewhere. Check inside on the wire feed section and see if the clear plastic tube is attached. I've never opened mine, but that must go to the solenoid in the other side of the cabinet which I believe is a bunch of screws to get to..
 
FWIW, if you're trying to do sheet metal, get some heavier stuff to practice on first.

Also, with a Mig, I'd be surprised if you're going to lay a bead. It's more like a series of small tack welds (kinda like stitch welding) that eventually overlap. You'll tack it here, then way over there, and then over yonder away from the first two, and so on, so you don't build a lot of heat into the panel and warp it.
 
Go to your local community college, sign up for a beginner welding class.

They should offer one of these that would fit most peoples schedule. Something like one night a week for 4 or 5 hours. It may cost you a couple hundred but you will get the benefit or burning up their materials while experiencing a variety of welders, and processes.

Something like a "Collision Repair Welding 1" would teach all the basics for an automotive hobbiest.
 
The O-rings on the mig gun cable where it inserts into the main case may be bad. Make sure the cable is fully inserted in the main case.

Check all the lines from the solenoid to the cable.

Hobart CS should be pretty good, they are part of the Miller family and miller service is top notch.
 
Thanks for the tips everyone. I have gas! :headbang: Just as you said crackedback, the cable wasn't fully inserted into the case. At some point the thumbscrew loosened up and pulled the cable out enough to barely see the O ring. I got it seated and finally had gas at the nozzle.

I practiced a little more. It seems like with the voltage at 2, I can only have the trigger pressed for about 2 tenths of a second before it completely blows through. With the voltage at 1, I laid down about 3 what I think are decent looking welds (on the left side and middle of the pic) but it's tough to be consistent with it. I bought a piece of copper to shape into a backer and I promptly lost it immediately after I got home so I'm going to get another one and practice some more this weekend.

 
jos51700 said:
FWIW, if you're trying to do sheet metal, get some heavier stuff to practice on first. .
Click to expand...


THIS

You do realize, that trying to practice "cold turkey" on that thin stuff is the hardest thing you can do. Get some thicker scrap to practice
 
Lookin good, just takes practice! You can hear a good weld, if it sizzles it's good, when it's filled it makes a stressed sound.
 
Bueno, love it when it's an easy fix.

Those three tacks look real good. You might try turning the wire speed up just a smidge and see what happens.

The third, fifth through eight look OK. 3 and 5 appear to be the best. 6-7-8 are OK. Look on the backside to see how the metal fused there.

If you are blowing through on tap 2, use more stickout to ween off some voltage. The further away from material (more stickout), the more voltage required to melt your wire, base metal. When you have a tapped voltage machine, you need to find ways around the limitations.
 
Thanks a bunch guys, I'm going to get a bunch of practice in and then try and tackle this quarter panel patch project. Luckily the AMD patch and the metal on my quarter is thicker than this newer sheetmetal that I'm practicing on. Once I get this down, it should only get easier.

Cracked, thanks for the comments. I'm going to try your ideas and see what I can do. I feel like I had the gun pretty close to the metal so I'll back it off a bit and see what happens. Is the wire feed going too slow if you get a small piece of wire stuck in the weld once in a while?

67dart, I've ran beads on scrap iron with it but it just doesn't seem like it helps me at all with this project. The settings all have to be different and there's a ton of give with thicker metal. I can cut this fender up any which way to practice so I figure if I can get good on this fender, then doing my quarter panel patch with thicker sheetmetal will be a lot easier.
 
Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but use EXTREME care not to thin the edges when you remove paint. Been there done that...
 
Starting to get a little better at it. Not blowing through nearly as often. Seems as if pulling the weld puddle keeps it cooler than pushing it across the gap. Will go back over this to clean up the pin holes. Metal is all warped to hell but I'm concentrating more on just getting decent welds down at this point so I'm not taking a bunch of time to let them cool. Once I feel real comfortable with it, my final practice run on this fender will be the real deal where I cool the welds and do everything exactly the way I'm going to do them on my Duster.



 
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