Welding Wire Size?

Wondered if any of you more experianced welders out there could tell me which would be the better welding wire size to use.

I'm mainly welding thin body panels together and currently using 0.6mm on quite a high wire feed.

Wondered if 0.8mm would be better so i could turn the wire feed down and thought it might take some heat away from the panels and less likely to blow through,

any help would be appreciated as i've just run out of wire and going shopping this aft

 :dontknow:

Too much information guys,

Now i really don't which one to choose, all that advice has confused me  

well I am by no means experienced, your suggestion is interesting but the only advice I could really give is to try it out for yourself and see how you get on with it.

what gas are you using? straight co2 or an argon mix?

and for heat control you could try this stuff called cold front, which is a putty you put round the area your welding on which absorbs some of the heat.

Cheers mate,

just about done with the welding now with any luck,

i'm using the agorn mix as i've been told it good for thin panel work,

went with the 0.6 in the end as thats what i got used to, maybe try 0.8 next time,

thanks for tip of that  heat reomover stuff, worth keeping in mind,

was only joking about the lack of advice thing, nice to get one reply though :mrgreen:

Stick with 0.6 on thin car bodywork , if you use larger wire you will spend more time grinding down thick welds . The welder especially if DIY type will not be as powerfull and may trip due to overheating .

Just got my bill for another years rental on my MIG Gas bottle ?49.49  8O  From Engineering Welding , would'nt mind but i don't think i've used it more than twice this year so it may have to go !


Happy welding ………..

I use pub gas.  Came accoss a bottle and get it filled for ?6 a time at the local - plain Co2 works fine for me

Yeah I've found that Argon/CO2 mix really puts a load of heat in the panel so its more likely to warp and If the spatter hits you its even more painful as its that bit hotter! I bought a bottle recently to try out after having used CO2 for years. Maybe I prefer CO2 because its what I'm used to though :dontknow:
I don't weld massively so a refillable 1KG bottle of CO2 from my local sealey dealer is great for me. You pay about ?25 first of all to get a bottle then pay about ?8 a refill. It lasts me ages. You get your surcharge back on the bottle if you ever stop using it.

I've only used 0.6 wire, havent seen any need to go for 0.8.

crazyquiff said

I use pub gas.  

I get gas every time i've been to the pub Rich , mostly in the morning  

chudd said

crazyquiff said

I use pub gas.  

I get gas every time i've been to the pub Rich , mostly in the morning  

So do I  ops:

thanks for the advice lads,

looks like i'll be sticking with 0.6 wire then and might go back to CO2, i wondered why i had more holes in my skin and clothes once i changed the gas,

i like the idea of being able to fill up with pub gas, anybody have an idea where i can snaffle a gas bottle from,

other than the obvious, outside a pub?!

Apart from the bottle , you will also need an adaptor nut to fit your regulator as the pub gas has an external thread and the welding gas has yes you've guess it right an internal thread .

I used to use pub gas but found it harder and harder to get hold of . Hence paying rental on cylinders .

Local Landlord      :dontknow:

chudd said

Apart from the bottle , you will also need an adaptor nut to fit your regulator as the pub gas has an external thread and the welding gas has yes you've guess it right an internal thread .

I used to use pub gas but found it harder and harder to get hold of . Hence paying rental on cylinders .

Local Landlord      :dontknow:

Drink more beer!