practicing with my new mig Question ?

[Jeff Lary]

well if i had just waited to see your resonce it would have been eaiser probobly.To answer you both no i do not think it will handel 045 it has 030 in it and according to the info on the door that is as big as it does handel.I have discovered a couple of things .I have been in the yard praticing and the wire stopped feeding so being the crazy Mainer i am i took the spool out and looked her over.It had the wire buried under a couple of wraps i had to use pliers to get it freed up again.I put it back in and where i used pliers the wire then broke. So i re-feed it through the feed roller and re-tentioned it...too tight by the way and it re-broke again . I did tis 4 times before i calmed down and tightened more gently the spool and the tentioner now im gonna tell you that is one fussy s.o.b. I think it is now under control. Or so i thpought I welded about 6 good 4 inch welds then the welder started tripping the circuit breaker thats when i discovered it was a 15 amp breaker and not the 20 amp required. So i will have to replace the breaker with a 20 amp if that is possible?.I had a first notch electrician do my shop so i guess i will have to ask him if that can be done

 

[Jeff Lary]

Jeff, I do not know which Sears model you have. Most Sears Migs are in the 90-140 amp range which makes the practical limit 1/8 to 3/16 inch stock, if you are using 1/8 - 3/16 in stock to practice with, your mig will not give the best results and be misleading. Shelf shielding wire of any size will run hotter than the same size solid wire and when correctly tuned will always have more spatter than solid wire. 0.045 wires may be too large for your mig; it is intended for 180+ amps. Like stick, wire brands will give different results.

why do you say if i am using 1/8--3/16 it will not give the best results? You are by the way correct on this size range as far as what the welder is ment for smaller too i believe. If it is ment for that size why would'nt i get good results practicing? I have been working on an old mower blade making passes.It is'nt that i dont believe it's that i dont follow what you are trying to tell me. thanks for the advice keep trying i'll get it soon i hope.

 

[Shield Arc]

How far do you want to go with your welding?
Maybe PM Mark and ask him to sharpen his pencil for a new 220-volt Mig welder.
There are deals out there, I paid $300.00 for my Mig welder. 200-amps, 100% duty cycle. Then I added other feeders to it.

 

[Jeff Lary]

You my boy have f-a-r to many toys!!! No really for me i got all the welding stuff i need i guess and with you guys around for advice,...well i got all you got and more

 

[Shield Arc]

You my boy have f-a-r to many toys!!!

Yeah I'm an addict:ashamed:, I have eleven welding machines, CNC O/A & plasma, Ellis 1800 band saw. And way too many tools to mention. And I'm only a hobbyist! Just think what I'd get if I did this for a living!:laughing:

 

[kevinj]

Yeah I'm an addict:ashamed:, I have eleven welding machines, CNC O/A & plasma, Ellis 1800 band saw. And way too many tools to mention. And I'm only a hobbyist! Just think what I'd get if I did this for a living!:laughing:

If you done it for a living you probably could not afford all those toys!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Shield Arc]

If you done it for a living you probably could not afford all those toys!!!!!!!!!!!

I worked as a professional weldor for many years, then went into rigging full time. I would only go back to welding if there weren't enough weldors available.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

It does sound as if you have a gas connection on the back. You'd need a regulator for sure. But .045 really large. Unless you have a big welder, it probably won't handle it very well. A welder like the Everlast inverters with Arc force adjustment will keep spatter down to almost NIL. Most transformer MIGs will still have a good bit of spatter though. But its not anywhere near the amounts you'd have with flux core.

 

[KWentling]

So i will have to replace the breaker with a 20 amp if that is possible?.I had a first notch electrician do my shop so i guess i will have to ask him if that can be done

Probably not possible if he only installed a 15 amp breaker. That would indicate he only used 14 ga. wire. You need 12 ga. for 20 amps.

Kim

 

[kevinj]

I worked as a professional weldor for many years, then went into rigging full time. I would only go back to welding if there weren't enough weldors available.

I have collected a couple machines over the years.