The Welding Equipment Hookup! (Black And Red Till Im Dead!)

[BoostAddict]

Hey everyone!

First off let me say if you ever have any welding questions or issues that cant get solved I can help you out! I work for Lincoln Electric and we have a TON of literature and information available!

ALSO if you are interested in equipment or gear let me know!  We get a discount price and i may be able to help you out!

[catfishblues]

Good to know! I'm a Miller man myself.  I do use a Power Mig 300 at work, though, and I've got questions about that one pretty often. I've been playing with pulse mode with pretty good results, but I'd like to learn more about using it for stainless and aluminum. Either way, glad to have you here! Settle in, let us know a little about yourself and you Zook, if you've got one.

[BoostAddict]

You can check out my build thread over in the IFS section...

I have a Tracker, they are much easier to come by around here...  Parts are allot easier to find too.

I use a 350MP on a regular basis.  Pulse is fantastic!  Makes even a terrible welder into a good one!! HA.  Much more forgiving process!

[catfishblues]

You can check out my build thread over in the IFS section...

I have a Tracker, they are much easier to come by around here...  Parts are allot easier to find too.

I use a 350MP on a regular basis.  Pulse is fantastic!  Makes even a terrible welder into a good one!! HA.  Much more forgiving process!

I agree and disagree on the pulse thing. When dialed-in right, it works well, especially with a turntable! But it seems harder to get dialed-in right without excessive spatter or undercutting, and it's much more particular about stickout length. You may have the advice I'm looking for to get my settings right, though. I usually run the trim around 1.07-1.10, and I'm working between 400 and 600 IPM on .035 wire. Maybe I need to step up to .040 wire, but this is what I've got to work with currently.

[BoostAddict]

Holy hell what are you welding?  Thats allot of amperage.  Switching wire sizes just allows you to increase amperage with lower wire feed speeds...  As for TRIM, it actually controls puddle width/wash really.  I run at .98 normally on trim.  I find it to give the tightest arc.  If your trying to get more penetration you may need to switch gasses.  As for spatter, thats not necessarily true.  I rarley ever see spatter, but we used 90/10 gas.  We dont weld allot of THICK material.  The higher the content of CO2 the higher the spatter but the more penetration.  Co2 is an active gas so it reacts with the weld puddle and also has a less stable arc.  Argon stabilizes the arc but is Inert.  If you need to kick up the penetration you can also throw helium into the mix.

So why do you want to step up wire size? I know im tooting our own horn BUT have you ever used Lincoln L56 wire?  Runs VERY smooth and has allot of silicon in it to help clean the weld.

Also another tip for helping smooth the weld out is run a SMALLER tip.  I run a .030 tip with .035 wire... The slightly tighter contact on the wire makes for a smoother weld, seems to control the arc better!

[catfishblues]

I weld 1/4" or better with most everything I do. Tube to 1" flanges, etc. I need every amp of that current! Check out my posts in the "Just Showing Off" thread, and you'll get an example. Those were straight short-circuit welds. My pulse welds are even tighter, and somewhat cleaner. I'm running 75/25 gas, just because it's what we've got. I put more time into my TIG setups, like running 50/50 Ar/He on aluminum and playing with tungstens and fillers. I'll try to get some video of my pulse work for you next week. It's fun. I've actually run some 12" parts at (I believe) 700IPM. Wide open, in other words. You do the math, 700IPM on a bead that takes about 1.5-2 minutes solid, non-stop. That's a LOT of wire! The first bead bleached the color out of the exposed material on my blue cape sleeves! You talk about instant sunburn, you've got to be careful! Our supplier has talked to me about the L56 wire, but the Radnor is a lot cheaper, and works fine for what we do. I'd like to get more sophisticated with it, but it's just not cost-effective. I'm lucky I got my Miller Syncrowave 350 when I did. I couldn't imagine working without it now!