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Nebie Welding tips needed

cjohnson

cjohnson

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Durango, Colorado
First, let me say I am NOT one of those guys who thinks a welder is all I need to make my own tube buggy in one Saturday morning, so nobody get defensive or flame me for trying something here!

That said, I got my hands on a cheapie flux welder that I'm hoping to use to learn how to do some of the smaller stuff that doesn't have to look good or save my life on the trail. When I tried to lay some beads on a piece of scrap metal, the flux just seems to bounce around and make little tiny beads all over the place. I can't get it to just lay down in a line. The welder is a small one that plugs into the normal outlet. Any imput on what I may be doing wrong? Do I need more info before that can be answered?

Also, my eyes hurt real bad. Should I be wearing a mask? JUST KIDDING!--my other question is serious, though!
 
How far away are you holding the rod? I know that with my arc welder if I hold the rod to far away from the metal I'm welding it will just spray metal all over the place. Also, you might not have the power turned up enough to melt the metal you are working on. If it is thick you need alot of power to melt it.
 
Disregard half of the last post, since you have a flux core welder.

What thickness is your metal?
Is the welder on high or low?
What speed is the wire feed set at?
Are you pushing the stinger or pulling it when you weld? ----Best to push.
Is the metal clean, unoily, and rust free?
How far away is the nozzle from the material you are welding? -----Should be around 1".
How fast are you moving the stinger along the surface?
 
Flux core wire is going to splatter, not a whole lot that you can do about it. The one thing that does help is a can of Anti-Splatter. You can get it at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. Spray it on the area that your welding and that's it. Not as good as using a gas and no flux core but better than nothing.

Here's a link for some basic welding info if your interested.
http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/BldgConst/Welding01/coursemain.asp
 
Start welding on a piece of scrap with your dials set about half way,have a friend adjust the wire speed and amps while you weld on clean metal. When it gets right it should hum with a little splatter.
 
thanks, guys--I'll play around with it a bit more. I'm just welding on a flat piece of clean sheet metal about 1/16th". Thanks for the link Frank Z
 
one more thing they forgot to add, it will sound kind of like frying bacon when it is set right. i would get some 1/8 bar or plate to practice on because the 1/16 sheet might burn through once you get the heat up. get to where you can run a bead on the thick ( 1/8 ) stuff then practise on the thinner stuff.

on you origional discription it sounded like you needed more heat and /or slower wire feed. what kind of machine did you get, my play around is a little lincoln wire feeder dule shield here at the house and a millermatic dule shield / flux core or a tigwave 350 at work depending on the job.
 
A big thing that most people that weld alot forget to tell someone that doesn't know. You are welding with the puddle, not the arch(flame).

I've tried to help a couple of people that are just starting out and it always seems like it takes them a while before they can see anything but the arch.

FIRE! huhu FIRE! huhu YAH!
 
turn the power up or hold it long enough in one place until you see a puddle start to form.
 
Thanks for all the pointers--I'll get a chance to try some stuff out in a couple days. The welder I got is a Chicago Electric (Harbor Freight Tools) flux core welder. I can't remember all the specs right now. It sounds like the problem is not enough power, but the thing only has a min and max switch, so I'm not sure what to do with that. I'll play around some more. Thanks!
 
That's the one I have. If you're welding on 1/16" you'll want it on the low setting and your wire speed somewhere between 5 and 10. I never use below 5 for wire speed on this one. Try low heat with wire speed 7 and adjust from there.
 
You didn't say if this was a new welder and wire. If the wire has been sitting around for awhile put it in the oven and dry it out.
 
really you need to do tak welds first. you want it to sizzle and make a nice round weld. look for it to flow into the metal and not pudge over on the edges if it does turn it up. flux is pretty good for starting as its cheap but you will want to upgrade to gas wire because it kicks but.
 
if you have the one called a "dual mig" then it comes w/ flux core wire and the polarity set for shield gas. are their a set of posts marked + and - under the feed wheels behind the cover? if not start with 1/8 or better stock and start with MAX on the switch and <4 on the dial. see if you can get a pool started.

-r0

Oh yeah... have you tried tensioning the feeder??? if it's loose you won't get consistant wire speed and it'll spray tards. (just a few things it took to get mine working well)
 
When I was first learning MIG the single biggest peice of advice I ever got was this:

HOLD THE GUN WITH BOTH HANDS!

I always weld stick with one hand no problem, but with MIG I just could not make a nice weld without holding it with both hands. I'd like to think I have steady hands too... lol
 
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