welding question

[zc911]

When you mig weld with flux core wire you can weld thicker material than if you weld with gas and solid core wire.
And if you use gas you can weld thinner material.
Can somone explain to me why this is?

[MuddMachine]

Mig wire- With gas your possibilities are endless. You cant use solid core wire WITHOUT gas. And yes you can weld thin material.

Fluxcore wire- 2 types. Gas or gasless. Gasless is generally used on small hobby type machines . Gasless fluxcore is available in all position wich i really like, makes it very versatile.

Regular fluxcore wire. Generally used for structural steel and available up to 3/32 diameter (400+ amps!) Does not like thinner material.

Gases..... solid core, many available, generally high percentages of Argon.

flux core, generally high percentages of CO2.

Tell me what you got and what you wanna do and I'll fill ya in.

:beer:

[zc911]

ok here is the thing, sunday i was welding up an exhaust for my brother, i was using .030 fluxcore wire. The machine is a Lincon electic 240v welder, and even on heat range A it was hard to stop it from burning through the exhasut pipe (didin;t help i broke the blade on the band saw and used the chop saw so the gaps i had to fill where a bit bigger).
I got to thinking that i have watched another shop weld an exhaust with the same machine, but he was using .025 wire with gas. So i checked the chart that came with the machine and sure enough to weld material that thin it suggested gas. On the chart it also shows that you can weld waay thinner stuff when using gas. What is the reason behind it? What does the gas do that allows you to weld stuff that is so thin?

[MuddMachine]

Gas will allow you to run solid core mig wire, usually this is what they use in muffler shops. It doesnt penetrate as deeply, no where near as strong as fluxcore. For exhaust you have to do the "zap zap zap" thing. Even solid core wire will burn thru. Try turning your wire feed down as well.

[zc911]

ahhhhhhh ok, so the solid core wire doesn;t penetrate as much as flux core wich in turns allows you to weld thinner material. That makes sense now. Also makes sense as to why on thicker material you have to use flux core.

My friend is going out to Praxair today to get a bottle of gas so i'll be trying that now :D

now my next question, what brand of wire is good? I have tried princess auto flux core wire and it is SHIIT. The best one i have used so far is the lincon electric stuff from crappy tire, but it's kind of expensive.
Any suggestions?

[MuddMachine]

Originally posted by zc911

now my next question, what brand of wire is good? I have tried princess auto flux core wire and it is SHIIT. The best one i have used so far is the lincon electric stuff from crappy tire, but it's kind of expensive.
Any suggestions?

Lincoln is good wire. I like the crappy tire flux core, it is good stuff. Ive also had excellent luck with Hobart wire and I like Air Liquid wire as well. While buddy is at Praxair he should look at wire and prices. But one thing is very certain with welding wire-

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR ! Cheap wire will run like cheap wire, spend the money for the good stuff and save yourself alot of headaches, trust me.

[zc911]

cool i'll try one of the other brands. Ya the Lincon stuff is great, and i defintaly will continue to buy that if i don;t like the other brands. The stuff from princess auto was HORRIBLE it smoked like crazy and balled and just plain sucked, luckily we used that on our own stupid little projects that have been tossed out or cut up for the steel lol.

Thanks alot for the info :beer: much appreciated:)