Welding wire ?

-
AdamR

AdamR

Big Member
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
17,343
Reaction score
561
Location
Bethel, CT
What guage welding wire should I use for sheet metal ? I'm going to be patching my inner fenders and filling in what seems like thousands of screw holes in my engine compartment.
 
Outlaw, what does changing the wire size do ? This will be my first time playing with a mig.
 
How big is your wire welder? Is it 115v. or 230v? Most of the wire welders I
sell work best with .023. If you have a 200 - 250 amp/230volt unit and you are welding a trailer hitch for your ton dually then the .030 or bigger wire works best. Sheet metal up to 1/4" .023 works fine.
 
Perfect for any thing you want to weld on your car. You will get a better job if you use gas (usually argon/carbon dioxide mix) and not flux core wire.(the flux core wire has a slag that builds up on top of the weld that has to be chipped off) Use a 2 pound spool of .023 wire. It's easer to drive through the liner and is easier on the wire feed motor too. Make sure the metal is cleaned to bare metal. You can weld through paint and rust but that does a very poor job. If you can,
plug the welder directly into the outlet and not through an extension cord.
If you must, use a short H.D. cord. Good luck. toolmanmike
 
How many Amps do I want to be welding at ? I have the following settings

25amps 100% duty cycle 15.2Volts
35 90 15.7
50 45 16.5
75 20 17

Also What about wire speed ?
 
Already have a bottle of Argon and a regulator, What pressure should the reg be set at ?

Man lots of questions LOL
 
Practice on some old sheet metal. Start with a medium setting and weld some spots. If you burn through it's too hot, turn it down a notch. Start the wire feed at a medium setting also. If the wire gets longer as you weld slow the wire down. If it is burning back into the tip, speed it up. You will need to clean the weld splatter from the gas shield (the tube that circles the wire tip)
when it builds up. You can use a screwdriver or a small needle nose pliers to break the chunks of weld loose from inside the tube. I really do think practice is the key. Pay attention to what the weld and the wire are doing and adjust accordingly. You'll do fine. Toolman I will be away for a while(supper time)
 
Thanks for the info, I'm in the same process right now. Getting ready to weld in new floor pans & lower rear 1/4's. It's about time I got started.
 
AdamR said:
Already have a bottle of Argon and a regulator, What pressure should the reg be set at ?

Man lots of questions LOL
Click to expand...

If you are indoors you can run 15 to 17 and get nice welds.
Outside I will run around 20 or so. Anything above 25 is just wasting gas. I have heard of some people using 30 - 35 cfm's outside and 20 - 25 cfm's inside. So to each his own I guess.
 
I run my gas at about 10#

the wire size is according to the material thickness and the gap you are filling for thin shhet metal .023 is fine -when you get into heavy metal (like subframe connectors .033 or .040 is better)
when you have the proper heat and wire speed the sound will be like a steady sizzle (you will know it when you hear it)
also on thin metal drag the gun and heavy metal push the gun
 
I run my gas at 15 to 18, I only weld inside and also have a 115v model. The biggest thing I found is Gas is almost a must for the thinner metal. I use .030 wire as well, next time I'm going to try a little thinner wire. And like mentioned, practice.
Outlaw has great advice, about the weld! :thumblef:
 
I'm a first time welder myself. I was welding trim holes with .030 at first. It was a real tough balance between the two settings on the welder. Once I switched to .023, it was soooo much easier. I say get a fat spool of .025 and weld away. I don't think your welder would be able to weld anything thick enough where you would need .030. Just my opinion.
 
I wont be welding anything thick anyways. My frame connectors are all ready done. Just sheet metal for now. I actually have a bigger welder but I cant plug it in to the garage and Mom wont like me running a cord to the drier.
 
AdamR said:
This is the welder I have.
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/itemdisplay/displayItem.do?itemid=06098
Click to expand...

Adam, You may find that you will have troubles with that welder. My wife got me one of those a few years ago. The wire feed is not consistent, that is it will feed ok for a few inches of wire then hangs up then will start feeding again. Also, you can only weld for a couple of minutes before the over temp trips and you have to let it cool down.

Curious, where did you get the adapter kit so you can use gas? I never did find one before I dropped kicked the unit into the trash.

If you can borrow a Lincoln, Miller or Hobart unit you will be so much happier with the results.
 
Adam, as mentioned, use the .023 wire for auto sheetmetal with 15 to 20 #'s gas pressure. Also, make sure you change the tip on your welder to a .024 so the wire isn't flopping around in the tip, and tighten the tension up on the feed motor to compensate for the smaller wire. The biggest trick to MIG welding on a car is SHORT welds. Pull the trigger, say 1001, and release the trigger. Also remember that a MIG is a cold start arc, so if you're welding two different thickness of sheetmetal together, start your weld on the thinnest piece first. Keeping the ground clamp as close to your weld area as practical also helps with these small units. Practice, practice, practice! :)
 
Dave is right!

I had a Harbor Freight welder a few years back. Not sure if that is the same one or not but it looks similar. It was a POS I wound up stripper the feeder wheel inside within the first week I had it after that was fixed. I was welding the exhaust pipe on my father's work van when it overheated after about 20 seconds or so of continuous use. Felt like forever just to get it welded together. Finally got fed up with it and got a new welder a couple years ago. I picked up a Lincoln 3200HD and it's perfect. Handles everything I ever used it for without battin an eye.

BTW I also couldn't find the adapter to hook it up for gas either. If remember right the gas tubing was a diameter that no one carried. I think it was only a 1/4' wide or something like that.
 
I bought a Harbor Freight 151 (230V) mig. I tried the flux core wire that came with it and it hung up, spit and spattered. I was just about to take it back when I decided to try a spool of some flux core that was in another welder that had croked. That was the problem. The flux core wire that came with the machine is junk. With the good wire it welded perfect.
I've always been told not to buy anything less than 230V on the plug. Better welds and longer duty cycles. :headbang:
 
I barrowed the welder, It has the hose for gas but no tank yet. IO have atank at my fathers on our big welder I was going to snag.
 
gremlin said:
I bought a Harbor Freight 151 (230V) mig. I tried the flux core wire that came with it and it hung up, spit and spattered. I was just about to take it back when I decided to try a spool of some flux core that was in another welder that had croked. That was the problem. The flux core wire that came with the machine is junk. With the good wire it welded perfect.
I've always been told not to buy anything less than 230V on the plug. Better welds and longer duty cycles. :headbang:
Click to expand...

I tried different brands of wire but the unit still had the mentioned problems. I too now have a Lincoln 3200HD and it has been perfect. It will weld anything you need to weld on a car.

FWIW, I took a welding class at the local vocational school and I had the opportunity to work with $10K dollar production machines and the home hobbiest 120v machines. You can do just as good a job with the 120 v machine as you can with the $10k machine it will just take a little longer with the less expensive machine. A 220v machine will certainly give you the ability to weld thicker metal and will likely have some more features than the less expensive 120v machines. For example the 3200HD requires you to open it up and swap cable position connections for reverse voltage required for aluminum welding where a more expensive machine will have a switch. But as I mentioned the 3200HD will weld anything that you might come across on a car.

My recomendation is if you have the extra cash and a 220v service near where you work then go for the bigger machine but the less expensive 120v machine is more than adequate for automotive work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top