MIG welding - going from Flux core to bottle, Limited porsche content Options

[VaccaRabite]

I have changed my welding set up from the flux core to true MIG with a bottle of shielding gas.

I have been experimenting with it, and I have some questions.

1) what kind of pressure do I want to be using on my shielding gas? 5 PSI? 15 PSI?

2) how much lead wire to I want sticking out of the tip of the welding gun. IE, how close is the gas nozzle supposed to be to the working surface.

3) How do you see what you are working on with that big ass gas nozzle blocking your view?

I have been getting inconsistant results. I figured out that my wire speed has to be faster and temp set higher then I was used to on flux core wire if I wanted to get any penetration. But that may be simple as I am going from .035 flux wire to .025 MIG wire. The slower wire speed on the thinner wire seemed to flash melt the wire before it was into the work. But a faster wire speed creates a larger bead then I was expecting. It may be that I am using too thin a wire on too thick metal - my first project was welding up a bottle bracket for my welding cart.

Especially with butt welds, I am having a hard time keeping my bead on the seam.

I bought a 60lb bottle of gas from the local welding supply store. Part of my issues were a gas leak at one of my connectors. Fixed that lateish into my practice session when I realized what was going on. But it means that I still don't know what a good pressure to use for the shield gas is. My shop does not have cross breezes.

So far, I like it a lot. Much cleaner looking welds and less burn through on thinner work surfaces. But I need to get better at judging penetration and wire speed, and needs to make sure that I have proper shield gas flow to stave off contamination.

Zach