MIG welding HELP

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So I'm going to. Post a few pics here of the mig welds I've done. Keep in mind prior to these i have ZERO experience with MIG. I initially learned welding via the stick route approx 17 years ago.This is a picture of 3 flat welds I did. The weld on the far left is where my 12yr old daughter wanted to try welding. The middle 2 I pulled from back to front and the forth(far right) was pushed from front to back.Its done on 1/4" Plate and my initial thought is that it isn't hot enough because based on what I've read it is sitting to narrow and high. Am I correct in this evalutlation, and would simply turning up the heat fix this?
Reply:Knowing the machine and settings,wire size etc would help a lot. Knowing the machine will help greatly. 1/4" is way too thick for small machines. even a 180-200 230v machine would need to be cranked way up to do acceptable welds on 1/4" plate.You are correct that the two center ones are a bit tall, probably due to being dragged or pulled rather than "pushed". The lower portion of the far right bead looks better, but may be a bit on the wide sided, it's hard to tell with no other reference in the pict.Keep in mind beads on flat plate will always look a bit tall, simply because there is nowhere for the bead material to go. Going to a higher voltage will usually help lay down the bead more, so will reducing your wire size or wire feed rate. Lots of this goes hand in hand with each other. You can't usually increase voltage without also increasing wire speed some what unless you also change wire size...In general these don't look too bad. Usually with gas mig you want to push rather than drag a weld as you get a flatter bead. The welds look quite good for someone just learning. Much better than I usually see from students their 1st night of class..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:The Machine is a Lincoln 180 Dual. .025 wire and as far as the wire speed was 6 and voltage was set to G.5 if that helps. I am using the machine on the 230 setup.
Reply:Here is a picture of some vertical welds I did on the same piece of 1/4" plate. I think anybody who knows welds will know which ones are vertical up and vertical down. Any info on how to improve the vertical up bead would be greatly appreciated. My goal was/is mostly to practice the beads and learn how the machine and MIG process work in general.I don't forsee ever welding anything thicker than 14ga. Mid week I will be visiting the local scrap yard and getting some pieces to try some different joints.
Reply:I hate that Lincoln doesn't give settings in their manuals. How does your settings compare to whats under the door on the machine?1/4" is pushing that machine to it's practical max, so I'd want the voltage set as high as possible, maybe one or two taps down from max , but no more than that..023 wire is really too small for 1/4" material. .030 or .035 would be a better choice really.One thing I forgot to mention before is stick out. The closer you hold the gun tip to the material, the "hotter" the weld will be vs if you hold the gun farther away. It's fairly typical of most newer welders to use a fairly long stickout. 3/8" to 1/2" max is good. To see the puddle, you need to "look down the barrel" vs holding the gun farther away..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:Verticals you will need to use a "u' shaped motion.  Hold it a bit longer on the sides & travel across the bottom of the "u" quickly.As DSW said, add some heat & get some .030-.035 wire.  You will be surprised at the difference.MarkI haven't always been a nurse........Craftsman 12"x36" LatheEnco G-30B MillHobart Handler 175Lincoln WeldandPower 225 AC/DC G-7 CV/CCAdd a Foot Pedal to a Harbor Freight Chicago Electric 165A DC TIG PapaLion's Gate Build
Reply:The settings reference card under the door show a max of 10ga using the DC+ MIG setup. I chose a setup just between 10-12ga because I was wanting to learn the bead process for MIG and get a feel for the machine without burning through the metal. Again with Zero MIG experience i just dont know what to expect or look for so every bit of feedback helps. I am finding it difficult to see the puddle while pushing and having learned with SMAW it just feels right to pull the MIG gun, can you explain the "look down the barrel" technique you mentioned when pushing it?
Reply:Look at my posts in this thread, and the posts I made in the attached threads I posted links to. The thread is on vertical stick, but mig is exactly the same, but easier since you don't have the slag to hid your puddle.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=208531Honestly you need to go thru the basics before you try and run vertical. We run our mig students thru the following steps using 1/8" material. Flat: beads on flat plate, over lapping beads on flat plate by 50%, lap joints, T joints, outside corners, but joints.When they get those all signed off, they do the same sequence in Horizontal. You don't move on to the next joint configuration until you can repeatably do decent welds in the previous one. Horizontal will be followed by Vertical up, and then finally overhead. 3/8" beveled buts in each position is usually last when everything else is finished, but some times they are done at the end of each group if material is available.Horizontal: beads on flat plate, over lapping beads on flat plate by 50%, lap joints, T joints, outside corners, but joints.Vertical up: beads on flat plate, over lapping beads on flat plate by 50%, lap joints, T joints, outside corners, but joints.Overhead: beads on flat plate, over lapping beads on flat plate by 50%, lap joints, T joints, outside corners, but joints.You will not succeed at vertical up until you can see and read the puddle. You will need the hood time to learn this that you get doing flat and horizontal..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:10-12 gauge is 1/8" material, hence why the beads probably look a bit cold and humped.As far as looking down the barrel, I like to lean out to the side of the weld, and run the gun sort of towards me as I weld. Usually I end up welding at a slight angle vs running straight left to right. I'm at maybe a 30 deg angle coming in towards myself.If you are running FC wire, it's the same as doing stick, you drag. With solid wire, you usually weld "backwards". IE if you are right handed, you stick weld left to right.  With solid wire mig, you go right to left. It is possible to "pull" with solid wire, but it tends to give a more"humped weld profile and puts a bit more heat into the material, a bad thing if you are working with thin materials.Last edited by DSW; 12-30-2012 at 11:32 PM..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:my 180c I like .030 or .035 wire, and the machine seems to like .030 wire better, it also might be the brand because i have different brands of wire at the moment..  I think .030 wire is just the sweet spot for the 180c.. 1/4" I would start with .035 wire (because thats whats in the machine right now) around 3 wirespeed and around I on the voltage, then I would adjust accordingly..  You probably need to get some .030 or .035 wire, all I would use .024 wire for is sheetmetal, also run 75/25 mix at 20cfhLast edited by brucer; 12-31-2012 at 01:26 AM.tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Originally Posted by brucermy 180c I like .030 or .035 wire, and the machine seems to like .030 wire better, it also might be the brand because i have different brands of wire at the moment..  I think .030 wire is just the sweet spot for the 180c.. 1/4" I would start with .035 wire (because thats whats in the machine right now) around 3 wirespeed and around I on the voltage, then I would adjust accordingly.   You probably need to get some .030 or .035 wire, all I would use .024 wire for is sheetmetal.
Reply:Originally Posted by shovelonI put my money on your 12 year old daughter.
Reply:Originally Posted by bruceryou'll lose that bet, I dont have a daughter