Welding uh-ohs

[flyinv55]

Calling all welders...what am I doing wrong? 110 volt flux core, .030 wire, slowest speed and lowest voltage and I get this?

[DJ194950]

#1 welding dirty metal does not work well at all. Clean to shiny metal parts front and back sides whenever possible. Clean metal with a wax and grease remover-automotive type.

 

Never had much luck with flux core welders on sheet metal, but cleaning sure would help!

 

DJ

[casper50]

I used flux core on my coupe.  But gas helped control the weld.

[RobertKB]

Looks like you are not using any gas with your MIG welder. Gas makes your welds much cleaner. I am not a welder but took a course at the local college a few years ago to learn enough so I could weld in new rockers and floor pans. I once had welds that looked like yours and I wondered what I was doing wrong. Duh, I had forgotten to turn the gas on and I got those spatter welds like you have. My MIG was used when I got it with no gas but did have the necessary plumbing to add it. Huge difference.

 

 I also agree you need to clean your surfaces and remove all surface rust. Anywhere I had surface rust I cleaned really well with a wire wheel or angle grinder. Did not use flux core but solid wire and gas.

 

Edited February 1, 2018 by RobertKB

[55 Fargo]

Speed and heat setting need to be tweaked.

Clean surfaces a must.

What brand of wire?

Cheaper off brands more splatter etc.

You can also use anti splatter on the welding tip.

Flux core is much harder to weld sheet metal too too much burn through.

Try higher heat possibly and stitch it by tacking it 1 tack at a time.

What kind of welder brand? 

Butt welding is a bit trickier with flux core too very eay to burn through.

How you hold the torch handle and even how far it is from the weld surface area. 

Get out some practice tin and try to get some practice..

If your welder will accept gas then do it with .022 wire.

Dont forget to change the polarity too..

Edited January 31, 2018 by 55 Fargo Spitfire

[55 Fargo]

Here is what we are using on non structural patches

A complete perimeter seal and tough. No heat and hard areas to weld.

This is Evercoats panel bond.

Used a lot now and works well.

[palmersparts]

Stitch weld ...  weld a inch here, move 8 inches  and weld another inch... this helps keep the panel from getting to much heat in one spot and warping...    flux core is difficult.. but it can be done..    turn the heat up a little   those welds look a tad cold..... if the puddle gets too hot and looks like its going to fall out  let off the trigger and move down the seam  then come back.

 

oh  CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN....

[nkeiser]

Clean the metal, make sure you have a good ground, check the inside of the door to the wire spool for correct heat and wire feed speed settings for the metal thickness and wire diameter you are using. After that, go with tacks that are spaced a few inches apart to let the metal cool.

[Gregarious13]

Practice! Play with the settings on some scrap sheet until you have a reasonable weld. Then practice some more. And just in case, check the polarity on the welder. Flux core is straight polarity i.e. electrode negative. There should be two connections under the cover the "ground" clamp should be on the positive terminal.

You say your on the lowest heat setting but I see your burning through, try turning up the wire feed speed a little until it works.

 

Greg

 

[bobwark]

Strongly recommend switching to solid wire and gas. You will find the difference astounding. A gas set up is worth every penny.

 

[mrwrstory]

The majority of responses mention solid wire and gas.  Solid advice!  Even with solid wire and gas, cannot overstate cleanliness, fit and practice. practice, practice!

[Gregarious13]

It's true that you will have more control and cleaner welds (no slag to chip off) with solid wire. It's much easier on thin sheet metal, but keep that inner shield wire for when you need to weld thick steel as it will penetrate better on a 115V welder. Also use the  inner shield wire for outdoor welding where the wind can blow away the shielding gas.

 

If you do make the switch to GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding) don't forget to switch the polarity on the machine to reverse polarity, "ground" clamp negative. 

 

Greg

Edited February 1, 2018 by Gregarious13

[Dodgeb4ya]

Don't use flux core. Period.

[Gregarious13]

20 hours ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

Don't use flux core. Period.

I think that's poor advise. 

Flux core has it's place. Flux core welding is good at removing surface contaminants by driving them to the surface, meaning less inclusions. Where gas shielding only keeps atmospheric contaminants out. Flux core will also penetrate better with much less chance of cold lap then solid wire when welding thicker steel with a 115V machine.

And If you use gas shielding, together with flux core,  you can get some pretty awesome welds. If you haven't tried it, you may like it. 

 

Greg

[Dodgeb4ya]

He certainly did get good penetration.

[Gregarious13]

Haha! Yes, penetrated right through! 

[55 Fargo]

Okay here is an elcheap flux core 110 volt box Mastercraft by CH.

.030 wire lincoln brand.

20 gauge tin stitched butt weld on 2 heat setting and just below 2 on speed.

Dont forget to trim wire back nicer cleaner starts. 

Not beautiful but full penetration without burning through.

You could have a piece of thick copper behind weld joint might help absorb.

heat

[55 Fargo]

Here are some welds on heavier material.

A few different bead styles.

Decent welds not pro or anything.

If you cant weld with a flux core on heavier materials you need practice.

Flux core welds are great for outdoor work shielding gas is not.

 

[Gregarious13]

Here's 1/4" plate welded with a 115V and .035 flux core wire. Fairly smooth ripples. I know it's painted and harder to see but I don't have any fresh welds around right now.

 

Greg

[Tubman]

Boy, after reading this thread, I went back and looked at the initial picture. In my opinion there is something really wrong going on that can't be corrected by just going to solid wire and gas. I keep a roll of flux core around in case I run out of gas at an inconvenient time, and I never had results like this from it. My suggestion would be for the O/P to go out and buy a fresh spool of flux core, get a couple of scrap pieces of appropriate gauge clean sheet metal and try again, varying the speed and power settings. If he doesn't get significantly better results, he should find someone with a working mig that he can try. I think there may be something wrong with his welder.

[Dave72dt]

If I had to make a guess, I'd say you have the wrong type wire in your welder, not the flux core.that you need

[48Dodger]

I agree....it looks like you're using solid wire w/o the gas.

Check you connections too....there is a diagram for w/gas or w/o gas....

Also, If you weld with a gas .....and it runs out.....It can look just like that.

Flux core doesn't really look like that.

 

Flux core is good for welding outside in the wind etc....if you use gas, the wind will blow your shield away.

There are other reasons for using different types, but for panel repair....that's the basic difference.

 

48D