Thread: Picked up a welder...

A few months back we (me and b15newyork) picked up a Lincoln 220v mig with 75/25 argon/co2 mix.

I'm still learning how to use this thing properly, been lots of fun. I recently did over my entire exhaust, but I didn't like the way the welds came out. I did 100% better job on test material.

What size wire are you guys using to do exhaust piping?

mig is ok for it the wire your using is fine. just have to adjust the settings alittle more how do the welds look? the best type of welding for exhaust though would be tig. but to most people its alittle tougher then mig. anyways. what does the end result turn out like? bunch of holes? burnt looking residue all over? one of few things could be wrong. your shielding gas isnt high enough or too high, your wire speed could be too slow or too fast and your amps could be too high or low.

It just lumped up, and not as flat as it should be. The machine came w/ .25 wire
I barely had time to try and pull the weld pool...it would just harden and lump up. I also have a BS harborfreight flux wire feed welder and I can do wtf i want w/ the weld pool, no issues. The gas is set to 25 iirc.

The second pic is me testing, first pic is my attempt at a flange lol

on the door for the wire access should be a guide decal that shows the settings. but that there looks like the metal isnt getting hot enough so amps might need turned up and gas down.... mess with the amps on some test coupons if you have any... and then gas..

I used the settings on the door haha, but the flange was like 4x as thick as the pipe...not sure if that's why

probably since your switching from different thickness metals. that second pic doesnt look too bad. if im seeing things the weld is caving in?

Nah, it wasn't caving it, that's where I stopped/started

ah my eyes were jacking with me there a min. id try turning up the amps a bit. if that does something but doesnt fix it turn the gas down maybe.

tnx, i'll give it a shot

gah all this talk makes me want to go pick up a welder now. hmmmm car parts or welder... decisions

yeah let me know how it comes out.

Turn the heat up and get some .030/.035 wire. When welding a pipe to a flange you need to keep the heat and the weld pool on the flange and then pull it to the thinner pipe or you'll burn through the thinner material. Some times I just leave the heat up and do quick 1/2 second welds and overlap them starting at the edge of the prior weld. Less likely to burn through and easier to make it look nice...... With some practice it'll look like a fake tig weld.

Ah, that makes sense

Finished product, at least it doesn't leak haha

No leaks or cracks, it's definitely not pretty but it got the job done..haha.

good job!! save ur money for shop do weld for you lol..

.025 wire is for doing sheet metal like body panels. You can't get the heat up enough to do thicker stuff because the wire just burns back to the tip.

You have to learn by doing...... if I think I need more heat (flatter weld/more penetration) I'll slow the wire down so I can slow down the travel, which puts more heat into the area.

You have to balance wire speed, heat, and weld speed. A lot of times I do stitch welding / overlapping spot welds.

Man, you make too much sense...gonna fux w/ it this weekend

I have been welding for about 6 years. I currently have a welding job and through my experience i have learned several techniques and methods of the trade. The problem with welding that most dont understand is the prep work that must be done before running any welding beads. Most iron steel such as your exhaust is coated with a zinc coating known as galvanized steel. The trick is to remove this coating with a Oxy Fuel torch, or by grinding the steel. When grinding sparks indicate that the galvanized coating has been removed. When using a torch the galvanized coating literally pops off from the intense heat. From there if fitting flanges or pipe a slighty small grap between the joints improves penetration and helps the bead lay much flatter.

i agree with justin and blake....

you have to make sure your wire is the correct size and type for the materials. i would also suggest .035 wire. very versatile for auto use. make sure your heat is right. i would turn that up a little bit. you want a nice flat fillet that penetrates both pieces. when one piece is thicker than the other focus your heat mainly on the larger and wash your bead onto the thinner piece. and definately prep work esp. with galv. metal. when you weld over the galv. coating it creates a really noxcious fume. you call smell it. its 100% poisonous....you want to get the coating off before welding then paint over the bare so it wont rust.

hope that helps. play with it. you'll learn a lot of little tricks....