Welding Zinc Coated Nuts

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From the reading I have done welding them shouldnt be a problem, As long as I have a fan going. My question is ill be using mig...Should I use mild steel wire or stainless? I wish I had a little tig machine and just go that route but I dont.25 years of age.Been welding since Feb 23rd 2009.LU1007 Millwright (A1)
Reply:I've never had any issues welding standard nuts for small projects (friction stops, levelers etc)  with solid mig wire. You get a bit of contamination from the zinc but usually not enough to matter on noncritical projects. FC wire handles the comtaminants a bit better. Heavy galy nuts are different however. They are a pain because of the heavy zinc coating and grinding them is usually not practical.The zinc on even the standard nuts would play havoc with tig. For critical stuff or tig I'd look for plain steel nuts instead.What exactly are you trying to do?.No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Oh its nothing critical. Just making a few small things for around the house....Using them as small tieoffs. Ill go with the solid mig wire as I have a bunch of that already. Or just look for the plain steel nuts.Thanks for the quick reply.25 years of age.Been welding since Feb 23rd 2009.LU1007 Millwright (A1)
Reply:Galvanized stuff I do with fluxcore wire and don't grind it.  That thin electroplate zinc on hardware store bolts and nuts is no worries for solid wire mig.  Any kind of galvi is a mess for tig.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:We have gone to using square nuts. The heavy galv nuts were just a huge pain in the a$$ to prep for hard wire.