Author Topic: Need welding advice (Read 4953 times)

Homefries · « **on:** Feb 09, 2008, 11:07:08 AM »

Just like the title says I need some info from you guys. I am trying to do some mods to my truck which requires some welding and I can't get a bead of weld on my truck for the life of me

Everytime I start for about two seconds it goes good then it starts to pop and the bead looks like a speed bump. I have ground down the frame to bare metal and I have cleaned it with every cleaner that I can think of. The welder is a Miller wire feed w/ gas, not sure on the model. My buddy (who has a college degree in welding and fabrication) came over a while back and gave me a cheat sheet on wire speed and voltage for metal thicknesses before he left to Iraq. So I have no one else locally to ask to come over and help. So here I am needing your guys' and gals help. I will get pics up in a couple of days if that helps. Thanks in advance.

skipnrocks · « **Reply #1 on:** Feb 09, 2008, 11:13:05 AM »

I would reccomend turning the wire down, if you getting popping and cracking and a huge puddle it is because there is too much wire being fed for the current and material. At least thats been my personal experience. What are you welding on? But you either need to slow the wire or turn up the heat...

Oh and make sure your tip distnace is good also...

Homefries · « **Reply #2 on:** Feb 09, 2008, 11:15:47 AM »

I am welding on my shackle hangers and rock sliders to my frame. I welded the drop hanger the same day and had no problems.

79coyotefrg · « **Reply #3 on:** Feb 09, 2008, 01:05:34 PM »

i'm a stickman myself

Gittinit · « **Reply #4 on:** Feb 09, 2008, 03:27:42 PM »

Turn the power up. Turning the wire speed down will keep your pedal under controll a little more, but you need more power to get the best penetration.

If this is a 110 welder you should set it up on a dedicated outlet for best results. It would also be a good idea to have the shortest amount of electrical, cord between the breaker box and the welder as possible.

skipnrocks · « **Reply #5 on:** Feb 09, 2008, 03:45:05 PM »

Quote from: 79coyotefrg on Feb 09, 2008, 01:05:34 PM

i'm a stickman myself

Come on glen your a little puggy!!

LOL JK

kneedownnate · « **Reply #6 on:** Feb 09, 2008, 09:47:56 PM »

You beat me to it

emsvitil · « **Reply #7 on:** Feb 09, 2008, 10:51:18 PM »

If your outside, wind can blow the shielding gas away.........

Homefries · « **Reply #8 on:** Feb 10, 2008, 09:04:49 AM »

This is a 220 welder on a dedicated circuit and I'm welding indoors. So I guess that I'll try to turn down the wire speed and maybe turn up the juice.

I guess trial and error is the way to go unless I can get someone there to help me. Thanks guys for the help so far. $Beer Chug\'n$

skipnrocks · « **Reply #9 on:** Feb 10, 2008, 09:31:35 AM »

That would be my best guess, I would give ya a hand but im pretty sure your not in my neck of the woods..

Hammerhead · « **Reply #10 on:** Feb 10, 2008, 04:55:34 PM »

Throw a piece of scrap with similar thickness on the bench and use it to zero in your wire speed and heat. When tuned properly it should sound something like frying bacon.

emsvitil · « **Reply #11 on:** Feb 10, 2008, 06:17:01 PM »

Check your polarity..........

I started with cored wire (don't need gas), and when I finally got the gas hooked up I forgot about the polarity with the normal wire...............

skipnrocks · « **Reply #12 on:** Feb 10, 2008, 06:57:46 PM »

If your bro had it set up for gas the polarity should be right, but you can get on the website and download the owners manual. And make sure everything is hooked up right. It should also give ya the recomendations for speed and heat.

Homefries · « **Reply #13 on:** Feb 10, 2008, 07:57:13 PM »

Thanks for the info guys I really appreciate it.

DN1911 · « **Reply #14 on:** Feb 10, 2008, 08:04:00 PM »

also one big thing to look for is that your groung clamp is making good contact where ever you place it. a crappy groung can cause a rough weld.

norcalyota · « **Reply #15 on:** Feb 10, 2008, 08:13:58 PM »

angle the tip at 45 degrees

TXSS · « **Reply #16 on:** Feb 12, 2008, 08:51:17 AM »

one other thing to check is make sure your hose is straight, I have mine on a cart and if it hangs over the edge of the cart it spits and sputters, but if you pull it straight it welds like a dream. My buddys Miller is also very sensitive to this problem.

KWP · « **Reply #17 on:** Feb 12, 2008, 11:08:35 AM »

I will second practicing on a piece of scrap. I weld for a living and use miller welders every day. There are several things that can cause a welder to do that. Bad ground, wire speed to high for the temp you are using, contamination on the surface your welding or your tip being to far away from the weld puddle just to name a few. The best thing to do would be to practice on scrap similar to what you intend to weld to set your welder up right

. Without actually being there, it's hard to say exactly what's causing the problem.

Not A Toy · « **Reply #18 on:** Feb 12, 2008, 11:54:19 AM »

Quote from: TXSS on Feb 12, 2008, 08:51:17 AM

one other thing to check is make sure your hose is straight, I have mine on a cart and if it hangs over the edge of the cart it spits and sputters, but if you pull it straight it welds like a dream. My buddys Miller is also very sensitive to this problem.

ive also heard this about every miller welder, and also the one i used to use at work (miller) if the lead was drooping off the cart or if it was even in too tight of a loop it would cause so much grief. once you learned to keep your lead straight tho it was a dream.... practice on some scrap so you dont ruin what you really need to be done, rewelding stuff could possibly weaken it.

DN1911 · « **Reply #19 on:** Feb 12, 2008, 02:28:40 PM »

if a welder seems to be sensitive to how the gun/liner are positioned it usually means it is time for a new liner. it either has developed some small kinks on has to much dirt and debris built up. also you try to blow them out with some compressed air. it has helped in pinch a few times.

skipnrocks · « **Reply #20 on:** Feb 12, 2008, 02:46:22 PM »

Also their should be a tension adjustment on the feed wheel. Any time I have had this problem just a little more tension and it shoots on through no problems.

So if your having issues it could be a hose liner or the tensioner is loose. I guess you could also have too much tension on the spool but its not likely.

Homefries · « **Reply #21 on:** Feb 12, 2008, 05:55:28 PM »

Thank you everyone for all your input but you are all wrong.

The welder just died today and it won't turn on anymore. I've checked everything to make sure it has power but it still won't turn on. So, I loaded up the welder into my other truck and took it to a welding supply shop to see if they could fix it. He called me back later today and said that the internals were burnt up and it would probably be more cost effective to buy a new welder rather than fixing this one.

What do you guys think? Fix it or buy a new one?

skipnrocks · « **Reply #22 on:** Feb 12, 2008, 05:57:59 PM »

Buy a new one, if its more cost effective for a new one. Even if you got it fixed you would still have an old run down one with some new parts. Just as well get all new with a warrenty.

KWP · « **Reply #23 on:** Feb 13, 2008, 11:46:10 AM »

Buy a new one. Look around on Ebay, I see them on there all the time dirt cheap. Like I said earlier, it's hard to tell exactly what's wrong with a welder without actually being there. What ever you do, don't buy a lincoln mig. We had two brand new lincolns, comparable to the millermatic 251's, brought to our plant and I had both of them burned up within a week

They are crap. I would not own a mig unless it was a miller. That's all we use now, we can't kill them

DTB · « **Reply #24 on:** Feb 13, 2008, 11:50:01 AM »

Quote from: KWP on Feb 13, 2008, 11:46:10 AM

Buy a new one. Look around on Ebay, I see them on there all the time dirt cheap.

x2, we bought a new miller MIG on ebay for dirt cheap (like 200 dollars cheaper than ANYWHERE else) from a welding supply company...came with the cart too!

skipnrocks · « **Reply #25 on:** Feb 13, 2008, 12:05:42 PM »

I am pretty hobart and miller are the same company now. I have a hobart and have built several projects and never had any trouble.

DTB · « **Reply #26 on:** Feb 13, 2008, 12:08:52 PM »

Quote from: skipnrocks on Feb 13, 2008, 12:05:42 PM

I am pretty hobart and miller are the same company now. I have a hobart and have built several projects and never had any trouble.

That is correct...same company....millers are just upgraded with some higher quality parts....

94MtnYote · « **Reply #27 on:** Feb 14, 2008, 02:08:28 AM »

Miller is the pro line and Hobart appeals more to the hobbyist.

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