| Message |
for sheet metal, which might mean getting a new roller, liner and tip than what you gun came with. The problem is that you need a certain amount of heat (volts with a MIG, amps with a TIG) to maintain the arc. The wire you are using will actually act as a heat sink as you are feeding it into the arc and pull away some of the heat, so you have to either keep the voltage up or you will get a week arc that is hard to start and can blow out. when you turn the voltage up then more heat goes into the metal you are welding and it burns through. The solution is to use a smaller wire that will absorb less heat. I think .024 is about the smallest you can get for a MIG, but the difference between that and .032 on sheet metal is night and day. second tip is to buy a ton of sheet metal to practice on. practicing is extremely wasteful because you need to make up coupons to weld together, but if they are too small then they can't sink as much heat and they will warp really bad vs. the actual body panels. Start with welding beads on the middle of a single piece, then try butt joints, and overlaps, and other types of joint. Final tip is to practice your gun movement. you want to get the travel speed and tip pattern just right. Most people recommend moving the tip in a series of C's down the weld, like a curvy zig-zag if that makes sense. And keep in mind the condition of the base metal will change as you are welding. a given arc temp is good to start, but as the base metal heats you will get more burn through's, which are a royal pain to fix btw. also keep in mind that the real thing will be tougher than what you practice because you will be off position, and because all kinds of shit will cook out of those seems and contaminate your welds. I guess that's it for me, I'm a novice myself and these are some of the things that help me. They say you have to do something 10,000 times to become proficient, and I'm probably in the low hundreds with welding lol.
|
 |
