Best gas for mig Welding sheet metal?

[Former Member]

Don't worry about gas, this applies where you use either a CO@/Argon Mix (if you already have it) or FLUX Core (or both in wind days).

Watch this video.

 

[ThirtyOneDriver]

@CalgaryPT - the "C" at the end of the 180 for the Lincoln welders distinguishes between the retail store welders and the commercial units; the 180C is about triple the price IIRC and features machined aluminum drive components rather than the plastic ones. I had a sponsorship deal with Lincoln so I've had a variety of welding machines through them yet I still own/use my OG 220v Mig 180 from ~2006 the most. Just an FYI because you mentioned you weren't sure what the "C" was for.

 

[ThirtyOneDriver]

@Susquatch - welding is something where I can help others - I don't see any issues w/ any of the advice given and if you want some place to sit and work on a project and ask questions, you're free to do that in my shop. My buddy is just finishing off his ice racer after building himself a cage w/ my supervision/guidance.

 

[Darren]

I use 75/25 for most of my mig operations on steel, which is all of my mig operations. It takes practice, bottom line. setup small coupons, weld them, find out what works and what doesn't. Set the heat too high, burn a hole, leave the heat there and trigger it till it works. (sheetmetal only), set it low...etc....practice.

Thats for the bench. In practical use, When you're under a car, you will adapt, trust me, even if you know better, as long as its close. Apply the same to the bench. Once you know your machine, you'll know how to set it or adapt to it, or if its just wrong. When you know, you know..

Working in the field (stick welding mind you, but it applies), sometimes your welder might be 500' away. You may not want to be too picky about your settings. At that point, you adjust to the settings, or do a lot of walking (or walking papers).

 

[CalgaryPT]

@CalgaryPT - the "C" at the end of the 180 for the Lincoln welders distinguishes between the retail store welders and the commercial units; the 180C is about triple the price IIRC and features machined aluminum drive components rather than the plastic ones. I had a sponsorship deal with Lincoln so I've had a variety of welding machines through them yet I still own/use my OG 220v Mig 180 from ~2006 the most. Just an FYI because you mentioned you weren't sure what the "C" was for.

Thanks. I've owned reds as well as blue. I like them both. Nice machines.

 

[Tecnico]

@Susquatch you mentioned that your ability to see the weld might be a factor, one thing I don't think I saw you mention was your welding helmet. For years I welded race cars and all kinds of other things with a stick welder and old school drop down helmet. It was only after I bought my Lincoln 180C (C for continuously adjustable voltage, Lincoln's description) that I broke down and bought an auto-darkening helmet.

For me it made a big difference because not only could I see to get set up where I wanted to weld, I could also focus on the spot without taking my eyes off it to nod the helmet. I bought an ArcOne helmet with a big 5 x 4 window which helps when you need to align your sight line with progressive lenses, that for those of us that have crossed the presbyopia threshold. I found the field of view made a big difference compared to peering out through the mail slot of the old school nod & drop helmets.

My helmet also lets you adjust the darkening to suit what you’re welding, thin/thick steel/aluminum/TIG etc. without having to worry about UV because the lens materials absorb that, not the darkening element. Adjust the darkness to give yourself the best viewing.

This may all be old news to you but it helped me make better use of my welders.

D

 

[ThirtyOneDriver]

The continuously adjustable voltage feature makes sense for the "C" - I wasn't aware of that feature, but did know that welder was a commercial model and not a retail model.

Do the progressive lenses work similar to having a cheater/magnifying lens inside of your mask? @Tecnico

 

[Tecnico]

Do the progressive lenses work similar to having a cheater/magnifying lens inside of your mask? @Tecnico

That makes sense, I've never actually seen the cheater lenses but I have seen it mentioned.

My glasses have the progressive magnification gradient so the further down the lens I look, the closer the focal point is so it sounds like the effect is the same except it's continuously variable. The bigger window really helps the field of view when you're looking through the lower point in the lens. When I was using the letter slot lens I realized I was having trouble focusing because of the limited field of view so the big window was the answer once I understood that.

BTW I do like the 180C, I steered clear of the retail versions and picked mine up at Praxair.

 

[ThirtyOneDriver]

@Tecnico there was a 180C demo available in my area (maybe still?) for $700 that I really wanted to splurge on (replacing a 180 retail in my shop) but I'm hoping to step up to a 260 w/in a year... I just spent $500 USD to replace broken parts inside two of my three welders (all have been in service for a minimum of 8 years). You have a great welder.

Is the ArcOne helmet one of the new generation auto-darkening helmets w/ the "true color" lens when the EDF cartridge activates (when the shield auto darkens)?
I was looking at one of these (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001332182131.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.37c73c008jrfYJ&mp=1) to steal the EDF cartridge from to upgrade my Viking 3350.

Sorry - OG topic was welding gas...

 

[Tecnico]

Hopefully @Susquatch will find this close enough to topic.....

Is the ArcOne helmet one of the new generation auto-darkening helmets w/ the "true color" lens when the EDF cartridge activates (when the shield auto darkens)?
I was looking at one of these (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001332182131.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.37c73c008jrfYJ&mp=1) to steal the EDF cartridge from to upgrade my Viking 3350.

My helmet is about 10 years old (wow, already!) so it doesn't have the latest & greatest so I can't comment on true color. That said it does what I need it to do.

OK, you can get ArcOne filters by themselves to do retrofits (see the link) so they might have something for you. If it was me I'd weigh up ArcOne or someone like them that's North American based bricks & mortar vs. the unknown on AliEx and decide if they were a better deal all around. I'd be more confident that someone like ArcOne or Lincoln etc. would be responsive if I needed support and that they would design to/comply with the applicable ANSI etc. standards for safety.

D

 

[ThirtyOneDriver]

@Tecnico - you have a good point about buying North American brick and mortar... from experience, those brick and mortars get their stuff in sea cans so I was trying to be sneaky and save some money - I have a bunch of helmets and was hoping to upgrade to the new (w/in the last year or so) auto-darkening technology w/o paying $594 for an entire replacement helmet (or ~$200 for the cartridge if I can coax a supplier to special order it). The EDF cartridge is the auto-darkening component, everything else is just different forms of plastic (+ the headband).

 

[Chicken lights]

@Tecnico - you have a good point about buying North American brick and mortar... from experience, those brick and mortars get their stuff in sea cans so I was trying to be sneaky and save some money - I have a bunch of helmets and was hoping to upgrade to the new (w/in the last year or so) auto-darkening technology w/o paying $594 for an entire replacement helmet (or ~$200 for the cartridge if I can coax a supplier to special order it). The EDF cartridge is the auto-darkening component, everything else is just different forms of plastic (+ the headband).

I paid less than $100 for my hood at crappy tire, when it was on sale. For the amount I do, it’s great

 

[Susquatch]

Thanks guys. It's all good info. Most of which I do know.

No, my problem is NOT that I need a better Helmut. I can't see - period. I've had surgery in one eye to correct what they thought was retinal degeneration and I am legally blind in the other eye. Once covid let's up, I am in line to have surgery in my bad eye. When you add in a welding helmut of any kind, things only get worse. I'm not complaining though. I'm still looking at the grass from the green side. It looks pretty darn good. Most of my problems are first world problems. I have no right to complain.

Welding is a challenge for me for many reasons. Eyesight is just one of them. But I will learn to weld. It will just take me a while to do it.

 

[ThirtyOneDriver]

I'm finding it more difficult to see @Susquatch and I'm not trying to work through near as many obstacles... again, my offer stands for welding experience in my shop... I've taught practical skills to students with difficulties in the past (I'm laughing w/ you, not at you) and try really hard to deliver ideas in different ways to gain understanding... I've instructed welding before... just don't take ANY machining advice from me, and I mean NONE - did you see how I had the center doo-hickey setup?

 

[YYCHM]

Welding is a challenge for me for many reasons. Eyesight is just one of them. But I will learn to weld. It will just take me a while to do it.

This sounds like me LOL..... My problem is that I can't see where I'm going and where I want to go and I have a auto darkening helmet. Some suggestions I've had so far include: 1. put a chalk line on the intended track and 2. shine a strong light on the work piece. Haven't tried either so far, I can only weld outside in the summer in good weather and I just wasn't in the mood last summer.

I'll take a pic of the bird bath stand I made for the wife... You'll laugh your a..s off, the welding is pathetic.

 

[DavidR8]

What changed my welding game was:
A) Metering my machine so I knew what voltage each setting put out.
B) Measuring the actual wire put out at various places on the wire feed dial.
C) Getting a decent auto dark helmet.
D) Attaching an LED headlamp to the chin of the helmet.

 

[Susquatch]

What changed my welding game was:
A) Metering my machine so I knew what voltage each setting put out.
B) Measuring the actual wire put out at various places on the wire feed dial.
C) Getting a decent auto dark helmet.
D) Attaching an LED headlamp to the chin of the helmet.

Please tell me more about your metering. I'd like to do that but have not been able to find enough reliable info on what the wave form is supposed to look like. I'm not anxious to destroy a good multimeter or an oscilloscope. So I'd like an idea of what it looks like first.

 

[Susquatch]

I'm finding it more difficult to see @Susquatch and I'm not trying to work through near as many obstacles... again, my offer stands for welding experience in my shop... I've taught practical skills to students with difficulties in the past (I'm laughing w/ you, not at you) and try really hard to deliver ideas in different ways to gain understanding... I've instructed welding before... just don't take ANY machining advice from me, and I mean NONE - did you see how I had the center doo-hickey setup?

Sounds like a GREAT trade to me! I'll get you going on machining and you get me going on welding. I'm old but well used, learn fast, and am a good teacher.

 

[DavidR8]

Please tell me more about your metering. I'd like to do that but have not been able to find enough reliable info on what the wave form is supposed to look like. I'm not anxious to destroy a good multimeter or an oscilloscope. So I'd like an idea of what it looks like first.

I just used my Fluke multimeter. I have a Millermatic 130 which has a four-position voltage selector. I was spending a fair amount of time on the Welding Tips and Tricks forum trying to absorb as much info as possible. When asking for help they want to know exact numbers for voltage and wire speed in inches per minute.
Ignore the clamp bit in the title because he doesn't use a clamp meter.

 

[ThirtyOneDriver]

That list @David_R8 is pretty good - I kind of balked at the first two things until I thought about it a little more.

(Layman explanation, there are numbers out there but I'm not going to look for them right now)
There's certain material transfer phases that MIG welding goes through - their changes happen at certain voltages (https://www.aedmotorsport.com/news/mig-welding-transfer-methods) - this could be very important to help someone... amperage/IPM can impact a bunch of things but is also impacted by the user's technique... so knowing the IPM would be a great way to understand what should be happening w/in a certain voltage range.

I'm sure the guys asking for help greatly assist those who are providing - at the school, we always compared number the first day - by the time test day (day 4) came around, we'd be welding like @dfloen - "it don't matter what it's set at, it's too far to reach, f' it" and as long as you were relatively close to the parameters technique would save you.

Ever see a welder perform a horizontal butt weld using 2 9" long 1/4" aluminum welding coupons w/ a machine capable of 87V fully maxed out on adjustments? (likely 32v, >800IPM) weld? It looks like God himself is shooting through the end of the nozzle and the whole 9" coupon is filled (including a 1/4" deep, 3/4" wide root through the far side) in one breath... about the same length of breath you would take before pulling the trigger while hunting. Instructors said he couldn't be done - we all passed our visual, bend tests, and chemical aided inspections. The numbers are great to make sure you're in the ballpark, once you know what you're doing they're just a guide/reference.