[31zook]

Is that pure argon? It looks like it... Which if your not doing stainless or alloy.... Is wrong.

[Critical Energy]

Doing stainless

[Critical Energy]

Had a quick go today, gas reg is faulty aparently, anyway, do I copy the specs written on the welder for the equivalent material in stainless?
Welds looked pretty ordinary to be honest, is this the norm with stainless in the mig?

[SierraDan]

I use it as a guide to adjust from.

[zooky08]

Critical Energy wrote:

Had a quick go today, gas reg is faulty aparently, anyway, do I copy the specs written on the welder for the equivalent material in stainless?
Welds looked pretty ordinary to be honest, is this the norm with stainless in the mig?

Get some scrap that is the same thickness as the metal you are trying to weld. Have a few practice welds until you get the right settings.

[Critical Energy]

Yeah been doing that, welds are just very dirty looking and a bit porus, bit weird.

[31zook]

If its getting porosity its too much gas or too little. 15-25lpm ill do. Other things like pulling the going over all the fittings and making sure there tight so that it can't suck air from anywhere else. Also stainless needs pre and post gas. So there should (cant remember 100%) be settings for this.

A quick guide to setting it up is:
Very spattery = too much wire
Just makes a slow drip of wire/noise= not enough wire

From here you just pick your heat, so:
Weld too narrow/doesn't melt into the steel= too cold.
Weld warps plate and blows through = too hot.

EG, lay your first bead and it sitting ontop of the steel and very spattery, too cold with too much wire, make a fairly large adjustment on the heat and a small adjustment on the wire. Go again and its getting closer but not 100% happy. Now at this point people will blame set up of the MIG, but the last 40% of a welds quality is your steady hand and angle of the gun. If you imagine the gun side on looking into the corner of a 90° fillet weld. The gun should be at roughly 45° to the plate. The next setup in the lead angle. Now most people will point it exactly at the base so 90° to the weld, or drag it. You want to push the weld pool along with a lead angle of about 30°. From here is getting a steady hand and practice. This is how you weld the same thickness material on a down hand 90° fillet weld. If you change position/different thicknesses/angles you will need to adjust your machine/style of welding.

If you just remember this stuff MIG welding will become very easy very quickly.

[tanshi]

Has any one looked into the possibility of turning an old Mig into a portable 24 volt setup that you can hook up to 2 batterys for use on the trail?

[Critical Energy]

So officially I'm a dickhead (that's what I was told anyway) didn't have the hose to gun connected in far enough so gas was escaping inside the welder rather than out the gun. Shouldn't rush stuff I suppose. Got some niceish (passable) welds straight away after setting up right, staino not too different to weld than mild, will be good to make our brackets in house now.

[PurpleZOOK]

So from what i've read around the $300-$500 mark will get me a good quality inverter stick welder? On 15amp

[zoukshin]

Reading through all this, it looks like it comes down to

- Don't buy a crappy cheap mig, save for a good one
- Don't buy a gasless mig, use gas mig
- Lincoln 180 is the MIG you want (1000$)
- If you are on a budget and want casual welding, stick (arc) welding is an option (IE BOC smootharc MMA 170)
- Get a decent mask with controls

Of course it's all debatable and there are many many details than can be argued.

[Gwagensteve]

I agree with all of that zoukshin, except that stick welding is an option. For an inexperienced welder, there's almost nothing on a suzuki that's thick enough to weld well with stick. You'll be blowing holes in everything. 2.5mm thick material is pretty tough to weld with a stick and that's about the thickest part on a standard suzuki.

A heavier car like a rover or cruiser will have plenty of things you could weld with stick on it though.

[Red89]

PurpleZOOK wrote:

So from what i've read around the $300-$500 mark will get me a good quality inverter stick welder? On 15amp

I have welded everything, except panels, on my Sierra with a Cigweld 170 inverter stick without any dramas and I only picked up a welder 2 years ago so I am far from experienced, even welded up the full exhaust from the manifold back and that is well under 2.5mm. Bullbars, sliders, rear bars, TC cradles, bash plates, rear draws, overhead consoles, roof racks, spotlight and aerial mounts will all be around 2.5mm or more and are all easily welded using an inverter stick.

For $400 you will have everything you need to get started with plenty left over for scrap steel to practice on, as opposed to $600+ for a cheapish MIG plus $250 - $300 for consumables and ongoing rental on something that may only get used half a dozen times a year

[PurpleZOOK]

Red89 wrote:

PurpleZOOK wrote:

So from what i've read around the $300-$500 mark will get me a good quality inverter stick welder? On 15amp

I have welded everything, except panels, on my Sierra with a Cigweld 170 inverter stick without any dramas and I only picked up a welder 2 years ago so I am far from experienced, even welded up the full exhaust from the manifold back and that is well under 2.5mm. Bullbars, sliders, rear bars, TC cradles, bash plates, rear draws, overhead consoles, roof racks, spotlight and aerial mounts will all be around 2.5mm or more and are all easily welded using an inverter stick.

For $400 you will have everything you need to get started with plenty left over for scrap steel to practice on, as opposed to $600+ for a cheapish MIG plus $250 - $300 for consumables and ongoing rental on something that may only get used half a dozen times a year

Yeah sweet, i was taught to weld with a old stick welder not to sure what it is but its my dads so its time for my own and for $400 its not very expensive for a good quality stick.

[SierraDan]

I cant imagine many things worse than building a car with a stick welder.
Gas MIG is easy to learn, easy to control and clean. For the extra money, the results pay for themselves.

[droverdave]

But if you are going to get Gas for your MIG, i think you might as well get a DC inverter stick welder, and then buy a TIG torche and get some Argon gas.

I bought one of those MMA 130 BOC welders, as shown on previous page, and stick welding with it is absoluately nothing like stick welding with an old transformer welder.

I bought the MMA130 as it has a lift tig function, which as far as i can tell is a step up from the scratch start with less damage/contamination to the tungsten.

This is all theory about the TIG, as ive not personally tried it yet. I've got a TIG torch on my Christmas list this year....

No TIG foot pedal on my welder which is a downside, but we'll see how it goes.

Youtube videos showing similar DC inverter TIG setups seem to give good results.

Admitedly MIG is much easier than TIG for anythign other than stuff on the work bench.

[Red89]

SierraDan wrote:

I cant imagine many things worse than building a car with a stick welder.
Gas MIG is easy to learn, easy to control and clean. For the extra money, the results pay for themselves.

You connect the earth, set the amps, tap the rod on the steel till it sparks, how much easier do you want it to be
If you can do a half decent weld using quality rods then the slag often falls off on its own, you can also use a positive earth which helps control the arc a bit better and helps when welding thinner material as it doesnt heat it up as much.

[PurpleZOOK]

droverdave wrote:

But if you are going to get Gas for your MIG, i think you might as well get a DC inverter stick welder, and then buy a TIG torche and get some Argon gas.

I bought one of those MMA 130 BOC welders, as shown on previous page, and stick welding with it is absoluately nothing like stick welding with an old transformer welder.

I bought the MMA130 as it has a lift tig function, which as far as i can tell is a step up from the scratch start with less damage/contamination to the tungsten.

This is all theory about the TIG, as ive not personally tried it yet. I've got a TIG torch on my Christmas list this year....

No TIG foot pedal on my welder which is a downside, but we'll see how it goes.

Youtube videos showing similar DC inverter TIG setups seem to give good results.

Admitedly MIG is much easier than TIG for anythign other than stuff on the work bench.

I've used my bosses tig welder its basically the same as oxy copper brazing/weld im a refrig/air con tech by trade so its pretty easy for me.

[zoukshin]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I agree with all of that zoukshin, except that stick welding is an option. For an inexperienced welder, there's almost nothing on a suzuki that's thick enough to weld well with stick. You'll be blowing holes in everything. 2.5mm thick material is pretty tough to weld with a stick and that's about the thickest part on a standard suzuki.

A heavier car like a rover or cruiser will have plenty of things you could weld with stick on it though.

Ah crap I forgot to mention that detail

"for general welding ie bar work, (NOT panels) ARC/MMA is ok."

[SierraDan]

I reckon its garbage Bevan, but I know you get results youre happy with.

[PurpleZOOK]

what do you guys reckon about one of these for some light bar work ?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Unimig-Mini-Mig-180-KMM180-/231061595307?pt=AU_Welding&hash=item35cc5824ab&_uhb=1

[31zook]

Ticks all the boxes, just no idea on quality. To purchase it for $400 they're making it for less... which might leave a little to be desired...

[PurpleZOOK]

I'm just going to spend the money what do you guys reckon Lincoln 180c vs 180i or a unimig 250???

[31zook]

I have a 180C but ive no idea about the UNIMIGs, people seem to like them so I would check it out.

[SierraDan]

Yet to use a good UNIMIG.

[PurpleZOOK]

Good to know thanks dan, brings me back to 180c vs 180i??

[SierraDan]

I have a 180C like Josh, nice machine.

[31zook]

^yep yep, ive used over 40 different welders and I still haven't used welder as smooth as the Lincoln 180c

[tanshi]

I think aaron has a 180c and i really struggle with the light weight torch it has

[31zook]

As in the duty cycle is too low on them? Or your too manly and the light weight hand piece feels feminine...