welding tips

i just started practicing with a clarke 100e mig welder and am not being too sucessful to be honest.  ops:
 i cant seem to get the nice worms cos it seems to splutter and i cant get a consistant weld.
 any tips would be gratefully accepted. my old man knows how t weld and is giving me help, but we can seem to get the settings on the welder right??? please help!!

John

There's some good advice and useful links on the folowing thread….

http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=18455&highlight=weld

What gas are you using? Is it the little bottle (600g or so) supplied with the welder, and is the valve open fully? Or has it run out? If you're using a big bottle and have a flowmeter, you're looking for around 10-15 l/min.

umm, not using gas?????
 just the fluxed wire, would this be where im going wrong?
 i must seem like a right goon!

 cheers
John

this may also help
Learning MIG Welding

Depends if you have a gasless model or not! If you do then ok but you will get some splatter. If it isn't a gasless model you need the gas! argon / co2 mix is best for minimal splatter.

fluxed wire will splatter..

nothing you can do about it really.

As long as you get good penetration.. dont worry.. once ground down.. it all looks the same

Get a flap disc for your grinder.. this is the best tool for cleaning welds.

Amit

Had the same problem with the electric mig welder I hired last weekend,
Ive welded before using my dads Snap on Gas welder and there is a big difference in performance between using Gas and electric I can tell you!!!

The electric one just couldnt get a good "worm" line on, just kept blowing holes!

When I used Gas it gave a smooth seam weld, with minmal blowing!!

Basically get yourself a Gas welder!!! :wink:

yup now i feel like a total moron!!!
 
 we have a gas welder but we thought that you could use the fluxed wired without gas.
 
 now we know better, gunna get ourselves a bottle of co2 mix and get some serious welding done!
 
cheers

you can use gas welders with fluxed cable.

Only difference between gas and no gas welders is.. the no gas welders dont have the liner and gas valves. You can normaly buy conversion kits to make them into gas welders.

Flux cored welds (no gas) always look shite.. you wont get a nice worm.. it will be all spatery and you will get a lot of slag.

These are good only if you are working in a windy area really.

Amit