You are a good instructor! I learn more from you than any other videos that I watched way far away! I am 78 years old and trying to learn some welding for a project and maybe some small projects later thank you very much gerry
These videos are great. I recently bought a 110v MIG and have been practicing. I looked into adult extended studies or local community college courses but they all seem to be 600 hour weld cert type courses, 4 days a week, 4 hours a day. So it’s TH-cam university for me and I feel I am learning all I need to know for home use.
Hi Tim, I am 2 days into a 5 day MIG Welding course at the moment and have found your videos extremely informative. All of the issues I have been stuck on you have addressed succinctly and simply enough for this complete novice to understand. I shall keep watching for new videos and save them all to re-enforce what I have learned so far. Thank you so much
Honestly? These are the best videos I have found on TH-cam, I need to talk to my wife about purchasing the course since they are the ones who bought me the welder Vevor Mig-270 which do all these things
That was cool I went to welding school back in 2011-2012 and even though I wasn’t very good with it I did graduate and went back into construction. I was waiting for the housing market to turn around after the crash but the reason why I wanted to learn welding was to add another learning experience to my toolbox. I wish I could have seen your videos back then but I have more of an understanding about the things you mention. Thanks 😊
Today was my first day at my mig job! The thing is....I have basically no experience. I went to school for welding, but mig was only 3 weeks, and that was 8 months ago. I mean I did the weld test at the interview and got the job, so I'm not terrible, but after the first day I truly realized how little I know. I have the motovation and the drive, but what we're doing here is soooo different from what we were doing at school. I already went back to school once to practice, but idk how often I can, im.gonna try agian though. I'v learned a lot from watching though.
I have watched dozens of vids, but honestly learned MORE from you in this one video!!! I’m going to re-watch it a couple times- because your info pours out so fast and full! Love it! THANK YOU!!!!!
Never seen any of your videos before tonight, I'm a an entry level welder and no one to teach. You just in 1 video explained every issue I've been having and how to remedy it.
I agree with the scrap plate tip. I always had a piece of clean scrap near by, to do my final dial in. Even though I already knew about where to set the machine, tips get a bit worn, liners get a bit dirty but not bad enough to replace. This and other factors will affect the final "tune in" on the wire feeder. Retired now, after 35 plus years.
Tim you such a good teacher. While I could take a welding class, what you provide here is such a good start to welding. Later on I may take a class but I feel I am well prepared to dive in and do it safely.
I learned a lot from you showing the over-voltage examples. That was new for me. You do a great job showing the scenarios that come up and what the results are with different settings. Thank you!
Learning to weld and the teachers don’t explain much, so I watched this video last night and.. I’m back, probably gonna be watching this video for the next 2 months. Anyone learning mig specifically in Europe? I could use a hand
OMG LOL I've learnt a lot !!!! i've definitely been doing the opposite🤔 going back in on monday and resetting my machine 👍thank you Tim!!!! I really mean that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Tim. I really appreciate your videos and the effort you put in to help new guys like me out. I'm fighting a random porosity issue myself, and think I have it narrowed down to a gas issue.
You've always been a problem solver. Thanks for your contributions. I also need your assistance on gasless flux core welder, I just got one, I need the chart and how to dial it properly. One love from Nigeria 🇳🇬
This was really helpful, in fact I've been binging the channel and I've learned a lot, most importantly that I've been doing it wrong up until now. I have one question though: What about welders that use voltage selector rocker switches rather than a rotary dial? My welder has two switches that are numbered 1/2 and min/max, but they don't correspond to a voltage, and the manual doesn't mention anything about it either. Has anyone come across these before?
I welded missile launchers for the navy for 10 years along with crane frames. You did a good job on your training, but nothing was said about the type of gas. I use 75/25 mix at home and you will get a lot more splatter. Don't know if some of your students would know this. Professionally we always used to set inches per minutes before anything else. Thanks for your instruction.
I generally use a Miller in my job, I've got bo qualification in welding but I'm always trying to learn. Generally we keep the same settings we are comfortable with over the whole chassis because it's target based changing settings amd making the best welds we can isn't a priority to the company but I want to improve and do that regardless so thanks for the info. We generally use 3-5mm thick mild steel and as you said its numbered something like 1 to 10 lol so I use c for voltage just over 7 for wire speed and 4 for current... If I remeber rightly. I was thought on my week long training course to go off sound it should sound like frying bacon!
i usually do 9.5m/s at 24.5v 200-300 amps on semi-auto mig depending on conectivity and if metal is clean or not. for 2-3mm thickness material i go 8.5 at 21.5 22.5 for me that works.
119 amp 19 volts 0.35> 125 amps 20 volts in both after setting Amps & Volts then Set wire feed Speed till it sounds like Bacon Sizzling. Remember this works in all Short arc welding. .25 in from the face of your Gun.
Useful to see, I imagine at least some of this transfers to flux core (I don't have a bottle yet). Unfortunately my welder (a Yeswelder MIG205DS) only has "synergic" controls: set material thickness, and then you use the amps knob to adjust something... It's supposed to be easier but I can find no information on how to use it well, other than that you can get it to go slower/colder for thin stuff if you tell it mig instead of flux core (yes the allowed ranges differ between the processes). I know they sent you the tig version of this machine, not the mig one, but if you have access to a machine with these kinds of settings, I would really appreciate a few minutes of tips: it may be easier but nobody teaches how to use it, everybody teaches voltage and wire feed speed.
While I've never used that particular model, I'll explain how other machines that I've used with synergic controls work. Typically, you turn a knob for the material thickness, which will set your wire speed (it's like the charts I showed, just programmed in). It will then automatically set a baseline voltage based on that wire speed, but they typically allow you to adjust the voltage up or down a little from that level. In order to run higher wire speed (and thus amperage), you can just set it a little thicker than you are running and vise versa. The voltage can be tuned a little above or below their recommended level to get it running well for your application, which is basically the same thing I did in this video. Again, I've never run that particular machine, but I assume it can be operated in a similar way.
Hi from Australia I'm starting to learn to mig weld and find your videos most helpful I have an Australian made Unimig 180amp multi On it there's a dial for burnback adjustment I'm just wondering how to set it right the dial just goes from 1-10 there's no explanation of the settings in manual Thanks Craig
Just wondering, if anyone wonders about wire feedability. Even determining drive roll pressure versus drive type (knurled/v-grooved). Gun cable liner & contact tip condition. Can you rotate the contact tip 90 degrees once worn or better to replace it? Is there a better manufacturer's solid wire over another? Are the easy feed pads (clip-on) helpful?
I just found you on TH-cam. Subscribed. You're a great help! So, I've been MIG welding at my job for the last 5 years. But, it's minor welding here and there (about 15% of my job responsibilities). My employer is sending me to school. Now, at school, I'm doing stuff I've never done before and I feel that I'm not getting the attention I need (too many students, not enough instructors). Can you tell me how to run a long bead (8" or more) without burning my hands (ruining my gloves) and also, how I can do a straight line on a blank flat plate without guides? I can't see crap! Soap stone didn't work, new glass in my helmet, etc. I mostly deal with 1" x 1" and 2" x 2" mild steel. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Thanks for the insight, Tim. I'm wondering how one might change the voltage on one of the less-expensive inverter welders that only has a control for amps. Also, I'd like to know a bit more about transfer modes. . . Cheers!
Question.. I have a multimatic 255 that according to the door chart, suggests that for flux core .035 wire on .250" mild steel should be run at 22.3v with 356ipm wire speed. A friend of mine, using a millermatic 252, using 035 solid wire with 75/25 gas on .250" mild steel runs 19.5v with 215ipm wire speed. Why is there such a difference?
OK I need guidance with Mig Gas and Flux core gasses welding. AS a beginner DIYer my problem is I have a "Bossweld BUDDY MIG 150" that only has voltage and average (so no wire speed feed settings). I am using 0.8 mm flux core roll of wire (an I have at the ready, 0.9 steel wire with Argon/co2 gas too). I can't find in product manual how to set the voltage and amps for different thicknesses of steel welding.
I've done this before and found that the really cheap Harbor Freight meters don't work, but my nicer Fluke meter did. That being said, the actual voltage doesn't matter as much as how it's running. You can do the same thing I did with a knob that reads 1-10 or A-F, just working your way up through the setting until it runs smoothly.
My wire machine of choice is the Hobart motor generator. It had a wire speed dial, and a voltage and amp meter. There was three ranges to weld with by tapping into the windings externally. I chose to run my Mach on high. The reason was to use the entire generator coil instead of a partial. Then on hot days, my machine is not running at full capacity to do the same work. For .035 wire and CO2 gas, I used my wire speed to set the voltage at 90 volts, and dial in my amps to 100 amps. Or was it Vice versa ? I could weld all day because ......in this case.....less IS more. I used to rebuild generator sets for the army. I understood how it works. Most importantly here, please pay attention to this. PROTECT YOUR EYES. You are not that good to avoid eye damage. Here is what you do, and this takes serious practice. While you learn this technique use soap stone on your joint. A thin line will fluoresce so you can see the line. Use your peripheral vision as your guide. Look ahead of your weld pool. Do not look directly at the arc. You will save your retina from serious damage, so when you get old, you will still be able to see. Do not inhale galvanize weld fumes. Last but not least is to protect your hearing. Let the others laugh at you. No big deal, until you can’t hear shit, when you can’t remember shit, while you can’t see shit either. Remember, you ain’t that good to avoid these things.
I have a question about prep work before welding. DO you sand off the MILL SCALE before you weld? If not will the settings change because you have to weld through the MILL SCALE
when I dial in a hot snot gun (mig/mag) do I do it entirely based on the sound. I get a piece of scrap, look towards the machine and away from the scrap, start the arc with one hand and dial in the settings with the other until it sounds about right to my ears. after that do I put down a test weld and see if the settings were right and re do but lower or higher amps depending on my needs. i'm not a hot snot welder tho so I don't know the tips and tricks about setting up a hot snot machine. what i'm good at is tig and stick welding pipes and I am able to set up and run a pipe weld with both tig and stick in my sleep
Yer Awesome, doin sheet metal 56 chev and after market parts ( rockers toe boards a front quarter patc panel 18-20 gauge I think ) using 0.30 wire and tips hope that what I need any advice thanks William the self taught welder
2:46 that's precisely the calculation that beginners need to see and learn. that's what i thought i was going to learn from this video. imagine children sitting in maths class hearing the teacher say "i did all the calculation for you". there is no point watching any further.
Fantastic, I love how you cut right to it! Thank you Tim! I would think that Voltage setting is of course dependent on the wire feed speed but independent of the material thickness. The wire has a positive charge (voltage) and the work piece is effectively ground regardless of its size, shape or thickness. Is material thickness that important when setting the voltage?
I'm not Tim, but I can tell you that voltage will have a lot to do with the degree of penetration and the likelihood of burn through. If you use too much voltage on a thinner piece, burning through the piece will become a probability, especially at the edges. Using too little voltage usually results in insufficient penetration for a strong joint. I can tell you from experience that the weld itself can look really good, but if there is insufficient penetration, the joint will break apart under sufficient stress. I hope that this helps.
I have a Lincoln SP100T with Just A B C & D for voltage selection and 1-10 for wire speed . Any Idea what the voltage settings are for the A,B,C, or D settings Also what settings would be good for welding body panels with .025 mig wire. Thank you.
A or B and somewhere around 3. You can Google the manual for a chart and adjust from there. You can also run through a couple tests using the procedure in this video. The exact voltage and wire speed aren’t that important as long as it’s running well.
I use 0.9mm fluxcore on galv material from 1.6mm to 3mm. Most welds are butt, v down or fillet, at 1.6 around 13.5 to 14.2 with 3.3 to 4.1metres ws. At 3mm I jump to about 16.5 to 18 and 5 to 6.5 ws to weld all my positions. If it sounds like frying bacon I got it sweet.
Run weld beads. Change setting in minor amounts. Continue welding beads. Find a speed of wire that works well with your preferred travel speed. Then move faster or slower depending on what you are doing.
Tim, can I practice mig welding with a solid wire without having to use the argon gas until I get better? Or I need to use the gas at the same time? Thanks for your input!
Can you do the dialing of those same wire feed speed numbers and voltage on an analog display machine? What's the increment and where should the dials be?
Can you talk about more on synegic mode? I have noticed that my spartud easy MIG 215 has a limit on material thicknes so could I use that machine to get the job done with multiple passes incl root weld
I have a MIG155Gsv and new to welding. What temp and wire speed should I start out on when welding a 1/8 of an inch metal flat rod on the door of a smoker?
Say your connecting 2 different thicknesses of metal. Maybe .090 to .185 ? Is it correct to set speed & voltage for the .090 & weld in the middle ? Or, would I try to set the speed & voltage for the .185 and try to weld more on the side of the thicker pcs. ?? Thanks for your consideration, Sincerely ...............
HA HA haha No, Tim keep giving imperial as well. Lots of us still like to use human instead of metric. I notice the Miller Welding Calculator app uses both systems. Seeing we can't go back to the good old days it's great that some folks like yourself are kind enough to give us both.
As the owner of an180 amp MIG with six fixed settings (A,B,C,D,E,&F) How would I estimate the Amp output settings? I'll assume that at (F)ull speed (F) I am getting the rated 180 amps which I will likely never need but what about the lesser settings? I can easily and cheaply waste some flux core off my ten pound roll and multiply to find the wire speed.
I'll link an article with some rules of thumb for estimating amperage at a particular wire speed and wire diameter. That being said, I'm not usually too concerned with what the actual amperage is as long as I'm getting a good result. Flux cored wire will behave a little differently, but the principal still applies. www.millerwelds.com/resources/article-library/miggmaw-101-setting-the-correct-parameters
Typically the settings are voltage settings. The wire speed is an infinite control like a potentiometer. That being said: Your fixed settings typically control voltage … most likely in 1.5 ish volts increments … the highest setting is about 25 volts arc volt and the lowest setting is about 15 or 16 volt ish …. So in your case you can’t really pick a wire speed and match voltage …. You almost need to “tune” the wire speed based on your voltage ….. Talking about amperage …. Some very smart people and some text books will tell you there is no such thing as amperage in mig welding ( seeing mig is a constant voltage process vs tig/stick which are constant current ( amperage ) processes) HOWEVER wire type ( solid steel, flux cored, stainless, aluminum) effect amperage and the main driving factors are wire speed and wire diameter! The faster the wire is fed and the larger the diameter is, the more amps the machine puts out. In order to get 180 amps out of your machine you wont be able to do that with 023 wire you need at least 030 maybe even 035 wire depending on how fast your machine feeds the wire. Does this make things more clear ?
My machine has just 4 fixed settings of voltage and a knob to regulate wire speed and amperage at the same time. So I have to do it the other way round. First set the voltage (considering material thickness) then find matching wire speed.
You can't fine tune the amps on a welder that has A, B, C, D, E, and F, you CAN adjust wire speed to compensate for the unknown amperage to a certain extent..
it is the reason why the infinite control of the heat input is a very good thing to have when you shop for a new welding machine, on many low range MIG machines, the infinite heat control is an option
Welder, Lincoln 140, ran great for a long time then got really erratic and weird. Turns out it was dirty feed rollers. What’s the best way to keep them clean?
So, gots a question for Tim here, or anybody else really. Let's say you're doing heavy industrial MIG... you have 90/10 argom/co2... and let's say the company you work for want the machines set between 23 and 27 volts... What would you set your wire speed to? These are all tacks and horizontal fillet welds. We're allowed to lower settings for downhill/uphill. Any thoughts?
Yes, the amperage is proportional to the wire speed. The reason wire feed welding is done with a constant voltage supply (you set the volts) rather than a constant current power supply is that you don't directly control the arc length as wire feeds out. Because arc length is proportional to voltage and the power supply is trying to maintain a constant voltage, it has to automatically increase amperage to melt the amount of material added when the wire is pushed in faster. On the other hand, with TIG or stick welding, you manually control the arc length, so using a constant current supply gives more stability.
@@TimWelds thank you so much for taking time answer my question . Your videos have been a great help. I will be purchasing your online course to learn more. Thanks Tim
Having quite considerable experience with older arc welding techniques, I bought a wire feed welder without doing much research. My 110/120 volt welder does not have a voltage adjustment. I only have a scaled wire feed setting and a fan speed setting ! How do I regulate as you describe ? Thanks.
hi george here i have a gas dirv lc 305 and i have ln25 lc and i haveing litte promb i cant get it to work the way to get it to look the right way . do you have a in seat to my prb
Hi Tim, I actually learned how to set up my MIG from your previous video, + one or two others. All in one day, and I run smooth beads on 1.5mm butt joints and fillets joints. So... Thanks! Can you explain what is "under cut"? I see a lot of comments on Instagram that this or that weld is undercut or that if you'll do this or that you'll get undercut. And it's been a long time that I have no idea what they're talking about. I tried to search but the answers are conflicting or don't make any sense.
Undercut is when you actually have a a gouge around your weld into the base Metal that is not filled with your filler Metal. It creates a weakness around the weld that you’ll want to avoid. Hope that helps.
You can learn to weld. I'll show you exactly what to do in my affordable online welding courses at courses.timwelds.com.
You are a good instructor! I learn more from you than any other videos that I watched way far away! I am 78 years old and trying to learn some welding for a project and maybe some small projects later thank you very much gerry
These videos are great. I recently bought a 110v MIG and have been practicing. I looked into adult extended studies or local community college courses but they all seem to be 600 hour weld cert type courses, 4 days a week, 4 hours a day. So it’s TH-cam university for me and I feel I am learning all I need to know for home use.
This was one of the finest videos explaining the setup parameters for MIG welding. Beginners and experts can learn a lot from Tim's video.
Hi Tim, I am 2 days into a 5 day MIG Welding course at the moment and have found your videos extremely informative. All of the issues I have been stuck on you have addressed succinctly and simply enough for this complete novice to understand. I shall keep watching for new videos and save them all to re-enforce what I have learned so far. Thank you so much
Honestly? These are the best videos I have found on TH-cam, I need to talk to my wife about purchasing the course since they are the ones who bought me the welder Vevor Mig-270 which do all these things
For many welder, Miller's especially, that 1-10 dial for wire speed is actually in 100's of inches per minute. IE setting 4 is 400ipm.
That was cool I went to welding school back in 2011-2012 and even though I wasn’t very good with it I did graduate and went back into construction. I was waiting for the housing market to turn around after the crash but the reason why I wanted to learn welding was to add another learning experience to my toolbox. I wish I could have seen your videos back then but I have more of an understanding about the things you mention. Thanks 😊
Today was my first day at my mig job! The thing is....I have basically no experience. I went to school for welding, but mig was only 3 weeks, and that was 8 months ago. I mean I did the weld test at the interview and got the job, so I'm not terrible, but after the first day I truly realized how little I know. I have the motovation and the drive, but what we're doing here is soooo different from what we were doing at school. I already went back to school once to practice, but idk how often I can, im.gonna try agian though. I'v learned a lot from watching though.
I have watched dozens of vids, but honestly learned MORE from you in this one video!!! I’m going to re-watch it a couple times- because your info pours out so fast and full! Love it! THANK YOU!!!!!
Was just thinking I need to save this video to watch several times while actually practicing.
Can you talk more about what a good pool/arc looks like?? What should we be looking for?
He’s got a video somewhere on that that I watched
Never seen any of your videos before tonight, I'm a an entry level welder and no one to teach. You just in 1 video explained every issue I've been having and how to remedy it.
I agree with the scrap plate tip. I always had a piece of clean scrap near by, to do my final dial in. Even though I already knew about where to set the machine, tips get a bit worn, liners get a bit dirty but not bad enough to replace. This and other factors will affect the final "tune in" on the wire feeder. Retired now, after 35 plus years.
Tim you such a good teacher. While I could take a welding class, what you provide here is such a good start to welding. Later on I may take a class but I feel I am well prepared to dive in and do it safely.
Thanks Tim, this vid came at the perfect time as we just started Mig welding in my highschool welding class :)
Awesome! Enjoy the class and learn all that you can; the skill will serve you well no matter what you end up doing professionally.
I learned a lot from you showing the over-voltage examples. That was new for me. You do a great job showing the scenarios that come up and what the results are with different settings. Thank you!
I am just loving your talks, we the followers of your site have learnt so much, so please tell us all about transfer mode.
sincerely Bryan.
MAN!, THAT WAS GOOD. I'M LEARNING MUCH MORE FROM YOU GUY THAN FROM ANY OTHER. THANKS.
Learning to weld and the teachers don’t explain much, so I watched this video last night and.. I’m back, probably gonna be watching this video for the next 2 months. Anyone learning mig specifically in Europe? I could use a hand
I wish I found your channel sooner. The best explanation on welder settings I have seen.
Helpful for me! you spoke my language.
I'm greatly appreciative!
Tim, you are getting better with each video. Well done! Would love to see a video about transfer modes.
Thanks a ton!
Hey_Its_That_Guy : you're right repeatedly teaching something makes you organize your thoughts more concisely and you can get better at the same time.
I just love how easy You put that gun back in the holder at 5:03 - without looking! LOL 😂
OMG LOL I've learnt a lot !!!! i've definitely been doing the opposite🤔 going back in on monday and resetting my machine 👍thank you Tim!!!! I really mean that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BRILLIANT ... really good explanations of what's going on during the MIG welding process !!
Thanks Tim. I really appreciate your videos and the effort you put in to help new guys like me out. I'm fighting a random porosity issue myself, and think I have it narrowed down to a gas issue.
Thanks. That sequence makes a lot more sense rather than having a problem and trying to solve it by doing this or that.
You've always been a problem solver. Thanks for your contributions.
I also need your assistance on gasless flux core welder, I just got one, I need the chart and how to dial it properly. One love from Nigeria 🇳🇬
Tim you're the goat. Thank you for everything
This was really helpful, in fact I've been binging the channel and I've learned a lot, most importantly that I've been doing it wrong up until now. I have one question though: What about welders that use voltage selector rocker switches rather than a rotary dial? My welder has two switches that are numbered 1/2 and min/max, but they don't correspond to a voltage, and the manual doesn't mention anything about it either. Has anyone come across these before?
A good topic/video might also be choosing the wire right wire diameter for your welder and application?
I welded missile launchers for the navy for 10 years along with crane frames. You did a good job on your training, but nothing was said about the type of gas. I use 75/25 mix at home and you will get a lot more splatter. Don't know if some of your students would know this. Professionally we always used to set inches per minutes before anything else. Thanks for your instruction.
I generally use a Miller in my job, I've got bo qualification in welding but I'm always trying to learn. Generally we keep the same settings we are comfortable with over the whole chassis because it's target based changing settings amd making the best welds we can isn't a priority to the company but I want to improve and do that regardless so thanks for the info.
We generally use 3-5mm thick mild steel and as you said its numbered something like 1 to 10 lol so I use c for voltage just over 7 for wire speed and 4 for current... If I remeber rightly. I was thought on my week long training course to go off sound it should sound like frying bacon!
i usually do 9.5m/s at 24.5v 200-300 amps on semi-auto mig depending on conectivity and if metal is clean or not. for 2-3mm thickness material i go 8.5 at 21.5 22.5 for me that works.
I have yet to find a video explaining wire feed speed and voltage as well as you have; thank you Tim!
Hi so when I set wire high and the voltage also high
You are awesome! Thanks for the help thru out the years!
119 amp 19 volts 0.35> 125 amps 20 volts in both after setting Amps & Volts then Set wire feed Speed till it sounds like Bacon Sizzling. Remember this works in all Short arc welding. .25 in from the face of your Gun.
Great video! Very informative as usual!
Thank you Tim for all your helpful posts
You're welcome! Thanks a ton for the comment!
LOLZ, your welds are better than my "good" ones 😭
I need some help! My new job is running an old school Lincoln MIG machine, 3/8"-1/2" plate, the WFS is 400, and the voltage was set at... 1.2??
Nice Video. I enjoy the information you give us.
This video was seriously helpful
Useful to see, I imagine at least some of this transfers to flux core (I don't have a bottle yet). Unfortunately my welder (a Yeswelder MIG205DS) only has "synergic" controls: set material thickness, and then you use the amps knob to adjust something... It's supposed to be easier but I can find no information on how to use it well, other than that you can get it to go slower/colder for thin stuff if you tell it mig instead of flux core (yes the allowed ranges differ between the processes). I know they sent you the tig version of this machine, not the mig one, but if you have access to a machine with these kinds of settings, I would really appreciate a few minutes of tips: it may be easier but nobody teaches how to use it, everybody teaches voltage and wire feed speed.
While I've never used that particular model, I'll explain how other machines that I've used with synergic controls work. Typically, you turn a knob for the material thickness, which will set your wire speed (it's like the charts I showed, just programmed in). It will then automatically set a baseline voltage based on that wire speed, but they typically allow you to adjust the voltage up or down a little from that level. In order to run higher wire speed (and thus amperage), you can just set it a little thicker than you are running and vise versa. The voltage can be tuned a little above or below their recommended level to get it running well for your application, which is basically the same thing I did in this video. Again, I've never run that particular machine, but I assume it can be operated in a similar way.
@@TimWelds thanks a bunch, this is really helpful!
Hi from Australia
I'm starting to learn to mig weld and find your videos most helpful
I have an Australian made Unimig 180amp multi
On it there's a dial for burnback adjustment I'm just wondering how to set it right the dial just goes from 1-10 there's no explanation of the settings in manual
Thanks Craig
Just wondering, if anyone wonders about wire feedability. Even determining drive roll pressure versus drive type (knurled/v-grooved). Gun cable liner & contact tip condition. Can you rotate the contact tip 90 degrees once worn or better to replace it? Is there a better manufacturer's solid wire over another? Are the easy feed pads (clip-on) helpful?
I just found you on TH-cam. Subscribed. You're a great help! So, I've been MIG welding at my job for the last 5 years. But, it's minor welding here and there (about 15% of my job responsibilities). My employer is sending me to school. Now, at school, I'm doing stuff I've never done before and I feel that I'm not getting the attention I need (too many students, not enough instructors). Can you tell me how to run a long bead (8" or more) without burning my hands (ruining my gloves) and also, how I can do a straight line on a blank flat plate without guides? I can't see crap! Soap stone didn't work, new glass in my helmet, etc. I mostly deal with 1" x 1" and 2" x 2" mild steel. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Thanks for the insight, Tim. I'm wondering how one might change the voltage on one of the less-expensive inverter welders that only has a control for amps. Also, I'd like to know a bit more about transfer modes. . .
Cheers!
Question.. I have a multimatic 255 that according to the door chart, suggests that for flux core .035 wire on .250" mild steel should be run at 22.3v with 356ipm wire speed. A friend of mine, using a millermatic 252, using 035 solid wire with 75/25 gas on .250" mild steel runs 19.5v with 215ipm wire speed. Why is there such a difference?
OK I need guidance with Mig Gas and Flux core gasses welding. AS a beginner DIYer my problem is I have a "Bossweld BUDDY MIG 150" that only has voltage and average (so no wire speed feed settings). I am using 0.8 mm flux core roll of wire (an I have at the ready, 0.9 steel wire with Argon/co2 gas too). I can't find in product manual how to set the voltage and amps for different thicknesses of steel welding.
Is it possible to put a voltage meter across the poles inside the welder to monitor the voltage?
Was thinking the same thing cheap digital readout
I've done this before and found that the really cheap Harbor Freight meters don't work, but my nicer Fluke meter did. That being said, the actual voltage doesn't matter as much as how it's running. You can do the same thing I did with a knob that reads 1-10 or A-F, just working your way up through the setting until it runs smoothly.
What are the two different fire extinguishers behind you for?
Thanks again for a fine video.
My wire machine of choice is the Hobart motor generator. It had a wire speed dial, and a voltage and amp meter. There was three ranges to weld with by tapping into the windings externally. I chose to run my Mach on high. The reason was to use the entire generator coil instead of a partial. Then on hot days, my machine is not running at full capacity to do the same work. For .035 wire and CO2 gas, I used my wire speed to set the voltage at 90 volts, and dial in my amps to 100 amps. Or was it Vice versa ? I could weld all day because ......in this case.....less IS more.
I used to rebuild generator sets for the army. I understood how it works. Most importantly here, please pay attention to this. PROTECT YOUR EYES. You are not that good to avoid eye damage. Here is what you do, and this takes serious practice. While you learn this technique use soap stone on your joint. A thin line will fluoresce so you can see the line. Use your peripheral vision as your guide. Look ahead of your weld pool. Do not look directly at the arc. You will save your retina from serious damage, so when you get old, you will still be able to see.
Do not inhale galvanize weld fumes.
Last but not least is to protect your hearing. Let the others laugh at you. No big deal, until you can’t hear shit, when you can’t remember shit, while you can’t see shit either. Remember, you ain’t that good to avoid these things.
I have a question about prep work before welding. DO you sand off the MILL SCALE before you weld? If not will the settings change because you have to weld through the MILL SCALE
when I dial in a hot snot gun (mig/mag) do I do it entirely based on the sound. I get a piece of scrap, look towards the machine and away from the scrap, start the arc with one hand and dial in the settings with the other until it sounds about right to my ears. after that do I put down a test weld and see if the settings were right and re do but lower or higher amps depending on my needs.
i'm not a hot snot welder tho so I don't know the tips and tricks about setting up a hot snot machine. what i'm good at is tig and stick welding pipes and I am able to set up and run a pipe weld with both tig and stick in my sleep
Yer Awesome, doin sheet metal 56 chev and after market parts ( rockers toe boards a front quarter patc panel 18-20 gauge I think ) using 0.30 wire and tips hope that what I need any advice thanks William the self taught welder
2:46 that's precisely the calculation that beginners need to see and learn. that's what i thought i was going to learn from this video. imagine children sitting in maths class hearing the teacher say "i did all the calculation for you". there is no point watching any further.
Fantastic, I love how you cut right to it! Thank you Tim!
I would think that Voltage setting is of course dependent on the wire feed speed but independent of the material thickness. The wire has a positive charge (voltage) and the work piece is effectively ground regardless of its size, shape or thickness. Is material thickness that important when setting the voltage?
I'm not Tim, but I can tell you that voltage will have a lot to do with the degree of penetration and the likelihood of burn through. If you use too much voltage on a thinner piece, burning through the piece will become a probability, especially at the edges. Using too little voltage usually results in insufficient penetration for a strong joint. I can tell you from experience that the weld itself can look really good, but if there is insufficient penetration, the joint will break apart under sufficient stress. I hope that this helps.
That's great info, eyes and ears.
I have a Lincoln SP100T with Just A B C & D for voltage selection and 1-10 for wire speed . Any Idea what the voltage settings are for the A,B,C, or D settings Also what settings would be good for welding body panels with .025 mig wire. Thank you.
A or B and somewhere around 3. You can Google the manual for a chart and adjust from there. You can also run through a couple tests using the procedure in this video. The exact voltage and wire speed aren’t that important as long as it’s running well.
Best vid on wire speed my welder knob is 1-10 plus setting voltage and the chart !!
I use 0.9mm fluxcore on galv material from 1.6mm to 3mm. Most welds are butt, v down or fillet, at 1.6 around 13.5 to 14.2 with 3.3 to 4.1metres ws. At 3mm I jump to about 16.5 to 18 and 5 to 6.5 ws to weld all my positions. If it sounds like frying bacon I got it sweet.
That’s for a continuous bead, what do you do differently for stitch welding?
Great video...how do you stop the wire welding itself to the torch tip?
Just watched youre video ..im trying to get the flux core under control can you help advise?
Run weld beads.
Change setting in minor amounts.
Continue welding beads.
Find a speed of wire that works well with your preferred travel speed.
Then move faster or slower depending on what you are doing.
Excellent video!👍
Thank you very much!
Tim, can I practice mig welding with a solid wire without having to use the argon gas until I get better? Or I need to use the gas at the same time? Thanks for your input!
You need gas whenever you’re welding with solid wire. It’ll make a huge mess without it. You can start with flux core wire without gas.
Can you do the dialing of those same wire feed speed numbers and voltage on an analog display machine? What's the increment and where should the dials be?
Very helpful information, much appreciated!
Thanks so much!
Can you talk about more on synegic mode? I have noticed that my spartud easy MIG 215 has a limit on material thicknes so could I use that machine to get the job done with multiple passes incl root weld
I have a MIG155Gsv and new to welding. What temp and wire speed should I start out on when welding a 1/8 of an inch metal flat rod on the door of a smoker?
have you got any info on distance of the tip from the part you’re welding and gas pressure used? many thanks...
Hi Tim, is the wire speed table in this vid accessible for download? I need the metric one.
Say your connecting 2 different thicknesses of metal. Maybe .090 to .185 ? Is it correct to set speed & voltage for the .090 & weld in the middle ? Or, would I try to set the speed & voltage for the .185 and try to weld more on the side of the thicker pcs. ??
Thanks for your consideration,
Sincerely ...............
HA HA haha
No, Tim keep giving imperial as well. Lots of us still like to use human instead of metric. I notice the Miller Welding Calculator app uses both systems. Seeing we can't go back to the good old days it's great that some folks like yourself are kind enough to give us both.
Thanks for another great video
Great informative video. Love the metric too, but what is the wire. We have .06 .08 .09 1.2 . Thanks Tim
My technique sucks! This helped my a lot!
I am new to welding I got me a yes welder mig 205ds I am using fluxcore right now
As the owner of an180 amp MIG with six fixed settings (A,B,C,D,E,&F) How would I estimate the Amp output settings? I'll assume that at (F)ull speed (F) I am getting the rated 180 amps which I will likely never need but what about the lesser settings? I can easily and cheaply waste some flux core off my ten pound roll and multiply to find the wire speed.
I'll link an article with some rules of thumb for estimating amperage at a particular wire speed and wire diameter. That being said, I'm not usually too concerned with what the actual amperage is as long as I'm getting a good result. Flux cored wire will behave a little differently, but the principal still applies.
www.millerwelds.com/resources/article-library/miggmaw-101-setting-the-correct-parameters
Typically the settings are voltage settings.
The wire speed is an infinite control like a potentiometer.
That being said:
Your fixed settings typically control voltage … most likely in 1.5 ish volts increments … the highest setting is about 25 volts arc volt and the lowest setting is about 15 or 16 volt ish ….
So in your case you can’t really pick a wire speed and match voltage …. You almost need to “tune” the wire speed based on your voltage …..
Talking about amperage ….
Some very smart people and some text books will tell you there is no such thing as amperage in mig welding ( seeing mig is a constant voltage process vs tig/stick which are constant current ( amperage ) processes)
HOWEVER wire type ( solid steel, flux cored, stainless, aluminum) effect amperage and the main driving factors are wire speed and wire diameter!
The faster the wire is fed and the larger the diameter is, the more amps the machine puts out.
In order to get 180 amps out of your machine you wont be able to do that with 023 wire you need at least 030 maybe even 035 wire depending on how fast your machine feeds the wire.
Does this make things more clear ?
My machine has just 4 fixed settings of voltage and a knob to regulate wire speed and amperage at the same time. So I have to do it the other way round. First set the voltage (considering material thickness) then find matching wire speed.
The buttons and switches control volts, the wire speed dictates amps😎
Thank you for your informative videos... 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Great explanation, thank you!
Hi sir can i ask a question did you try mig weld smootharc 250c advance with inductance?
I haven't tried that machine. I'm not sure if it's available in the USA.
Very well explained!
You can't fine tune the amps on a welder that has A, B, C, D, E, and F, you CAN adjust wire speed to compensate for the unknown amperage to a certain extent..
it is the reason why the infinite control of the heat input is a very good thing to have when you shop for a new welding machine, on many low range MIG machines, the infinite heat control is an option
Welder, Lincoln 140, ran great for a long time then got really erratic and weird. Turns out it was dirty feed rollers. What’s the best way to keep them clean?
So, gots a question for Tim here, or anybody else really.
Let's say you're doing heavy industrial MIG... you have 90/10 argom/co2... and let's say the company you work for want the machines set between 23 and 27 volts...
What would you set your wire speed to?
These are all tacks and horizontal fillet welds. We're allowed to lower settings for downhill/uphill.
Any thoughts?
Why does Ampage not get set while MIG welding? Is the wire feed spees linked to ampage?
Yes, the amperage is proportional to the wire speed. The reason wire feed welding is done with a constant voltage supply (you set the volts) rather than a constant current power supply is that you don't directly control the arc length as wire feeds out. Because arc length is proportional to voltage and the power supply is trying to maintain a constant voltage, it has to automatically increase amperage to melt the amount of material added when the wire is pushed in faster. On the other hand, with TIG or stick welding, you manually control the arc length, so using a constant current supply gives more stability.
@@TimWelds thank you so much for taking time answer my question . Your videos have been a great help. I will be purchasing your online course to learn more. Thanks Tim
Great video!
A nother gold nugget ..
hellooo sir ....can you show fcaw 3g co2 mig welding root run #hot pass and capping pass
Having quite considerable experience with older arc welding techniques, I bought a wire feed welder without doing much research. My 110/120 volt welder does not have a voltage adjustment. I only have a scaled wire feed setting and a fan speed setting ! How do I regulate as you describe ? Thanks.
Never heard of that What make and model?
hi george here i have a gas dirv lc 305 and i have ln25 lc and i haveing litte promb i cant get it to work the way to get it to look the right way . do you have a in seat to my prb
Hi Tim, I actually learned how to set up my MIG from your previous video, + one or two others. All in one day, and I run smooth beads on 1.5mm butt joints and fillets joints. So... Thanks!
Can you explain what is "under cut"? I see a lot of comments on Instagram that this or that weld is undercut or that if you'll do this or that you'll get undercut. And it's been a long time that I have no idea what they're talking about. I tried to search but the answers are conflicting or don't make any sense.
Undercut is when you actually have a a gouge around your weld into the base Metal that is not filled with your filler Metal. It creates a weakness around the weld that you’ll want to avoid. Hope that helps.
Can you ad metric with your imperial measurements that would be great, we have no idea what inches is in oz 🤔
Try downloading a conversion chart. That’s what I do for metric.
For the video how about metric subtitles?
For the rest of the world.
Great video BTW
transfer mode lets go. whats the tm for fcaw ?
Thanks for the vid!
Great tutorial, but what if I only have Amp, wire feed and inductance to choose from??? Great work, thanks