School me on Pulse MIG welding

[LD1]

Long story, but where I work, we have two old school guys that are set in their ways and dont like change:confused2:

Our welder in the shop is a miller 350P, with pulse mig capability. I understand the benefits and when/why it is better, but they do not. And I am having a hard time explaining it to them.

They are the type of welders who use the short circuit process in combination with a nice weave pattern to give that "row of nickels" look.

That is fine. I use that method for a lot of things too. And sometimes I dont do the weave pattern. It just depends. But these guys think that a weld that lacks that "row of nickels" look isnt a good weld. Wether by short circuit or pulse.

I was messing around with some 1/4" scrap peices today and had the machine set to pulse with a wire feed of 400 and a arc length of 50 (0-99 range) and made some really good looking welds IMO. But they insist that they dont look good

I have tried to explain how the penetration is better, spatter is less, and can weld faster, all to no avail. Maybe it is hopeless and I should just stop trying to convince them. But I like pulse welding. I dont like them thinking my welds are inferior though:confused2:

Here is a pic of some pulse welds on 1/4" with settings mentioned above. And this is by no means my best welding. This is just screwing around with some scraps in the shop:thumbsup:

 

[Chef Pa]

What about some samples side by side and cut out some cross sections? Maybe a visual would help?

Greg

 

[slowzuki]

Any time someone has spent years perfecting a technique, you'll have a hard time convincing them a fast automated version of what they do, done by a less experienced person is as good.

One of their own will have to discover pulsed mig and popularize it or a manager will have to force them to use it until the grumbling stops and they actually evaluate the usefulness of it.

 

[jwmorris]

Being a welder and having delt with many over the years I would say you are waisting your time with talk. Weld some samples together, identical but with different methods. Take them to the press and load them to destruction. One of two things happens at this point, they see how your process is better or you see that the way they are comfortable is just fine.

If you really want to get an "old" welder out of their comfort zone get them to try spray arc welding.

 

[Shield Arc]

I remember when wire feeders started being used in construction in the 1970's. Now that was a battle getting old school stick hands to pull the trigger. Some jobs were wobbled, some hands just flat refused to run them, all welding production dropped. But in time they came around, now a days wire feeders are the norm! It is an up hill battle to get people to change their attitude, and way of thinking.

Correct me if I'm wrong, because I've never run pulsed Mig, but isn't it primarily for thin material? So you don't inject too much heat into the base metal? Never ran spray either, been meaning to give it a try, all I need is a bottle of gas. Anymore I don't do projects big enough to justify the cost of another bottle of gas.

 

[LD1]

Correct me if I'm wrong, because I've never run pulsed Mig, but isn't it primarily for thin material? So you don't inject too much heat into the base metal? Never ran spray either, been meaning to give it a try, all I need is a bottle of gas. Anymore I don't do projects big enough to justify the cost of another bottle of gas.

It is actually recomended for materials over 1/8" thick.

The short-circuit is the only thing recomended for thin stuff.

Pulse is actually very similar to spray. But spray is 1/4"+. By having a pulse machine, allows the same characteristics of a spray, but down as thin as 1/8", as well as being easier to set-up and weld with vs spray. Spray, you need everything set JUST right. Pulse isnt as finikey.

Advantages of pulse are: more penetration, less spatter, more uniform weld.

BUT, it is not good for out-of-position welding, filling any kind of gaps/poor fitment, or really thin stuff.

And you can pulse with 75/25 gas, allthough 90/10 is better.

At least all this is MY understanding of it. Just googleing, one can read for Hours on the differences between short-circuit, pulse, spray and pulsed spray; and all the advantages and disadvantages of them.

And if you have never pulse welded, it sounds just like welding aluminum with a spool gun. The sound cant be mistaken for anything else

 

[Shield Arc]

Yup, you can read until the cows come home. :laughing:
Miller - New Inverter-Based Pulsed MIG and TIG Welding Technology Reduces Sheet Metal Welding Costs, Increases Productivity


I use pulse with my Dynasty 300 when welding aluminum, I like a real narrow arc, so I use 200 pulse per second, 85% background, 80% peak time.

 

[Jarred Hitt]

It is actually recomended for materials over 1/8" thick.

The short-circuit is the only thing recomended for thin stuff.

Pulse is actually very similar to spray. But spray is 1/4"+. By having a pulse machine, allows the same characteristics of a spray, but down as thin as 1/8", as well as being easier to set-up and weld with vs spray. Spray, you need everything set JUST right. Pulse isnt as finikey.

Advantages of pulse are: more penetration, less spatter, more uniform weld.

BUT, it is not good for out-of-position welding, filling any kind of gaps/poor fitment, or really thin stuff.

And you can pulse with 75/25 gas, allthough 90/10 is better.

At least all this is MY understanding of it. Just googleing, one can read for Hours on the differences between short-circuit, pulse, spray and pulsed spray; and all the advantages and disadvantages of them.

And if you have never pulse welded, it sounds just like welding aluminum with a spool gun. The sound cant be mistaken for anything else

I haven't pulse migged but I do alot of mig and really, I think that bead sizes should rely on the thickness of the parent metal but I have also migged aluminum....... And hated it even in the flat position but the sound is EXTREMELY recognizable I'm agreeing with you on that but I might have to give pulse mig a try one day.

 

[yomax4]

AC pulse for Tig is much different almost opposite than Pulsed Mig. Pulsed Mig is Hot, Fast and Spatter Free with higer Argon gas. 90/10 or 95/5 Argon Co2. Stainles likes 98/2 and or a few % of helium. Soon all mig process will have a pulsed option. Once you get used to pulsed mig, You will really be impressed with Twin Pulse. It puts down that stack of dimes or chevrons or what ever you want to call them all by it self. You can also go up down sideways with no problem and all of the welds look like there put down with Tig but you can do it at Mig speeds. The USA is sooo far behind the rest of the welding world in welding process that it should be a crime. Thanks lincoln and miller for that. they have done a great job of keeping the next level of technology out of America. If you want to be enlightened, google Thermal Arc Sp series or Fronius, OTC or Kempi. All offer high speed mig welds on all materials with Tig appearance. I have a 400 amp SP unit that has regular Mig, Smart Mig, Pulse and Twin Pulse. All Synergic. All you do is pick the material thickness, Wire type, size and gas..The machine does everything else. Anyone can pick up the gun and lay a Perfect Aluminum bead even if you have never welded before. Welcome to "Digital High Definition Welding". Like I said. look up Thermal Arc SP series welders and you will see info you have never seen before. Is it expensive? Oh yeah...Miller 350P is ok at best and too is 6-7K. You can get a wayy better machine for that. The SP will Stick and Tig too. Check it out.

 

[yomax4]

One more thing. I can weld 1/16' aluminum with 3/64 wire. Looks like it was painted on. The HD machines out now can be adjusted kind of like the ac/dc tig units out there. You can adjust Pulse Frequency, Current Change, Relationship etc plus when you let go of the trigger the machine sharpens the wire for you so you have no " POP" when you start the arc again. Cool stuff but I am now spoiled.