Welding Exhaust (Steel)

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I am a beginner so please dont laugh but...I am welding a flange to a muffler pipe and am curious if anyone has a baseline setting for me to start with (amp/speed) as I have never done any exhaust welding. I am using a millermatic 180 230v. Also I have .030 wire loaded is that acceptable or should I be using .025. The pipes are about 1/16 thick!Thanks is advance!
Reply:look on the inside of the door you lift to load wire in the welder, that is where my miller has all the baseline settings listed.
Reply:.030 wire should be fine, C/25 gas works best.  Keep the heat on the flange.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Thanks guys. I do realize that the settings are on the inside door but find them to be off usually. Want to have a baseline to start with and go from there. Dont have alot of room for error with this exhaust thats the main reason for starting at a good setting! I will keep the heat on the flange and see what I can do tonight!
Reply:Buy more pipe & practice.
Reply:Buy more pipe & practice.
Reply:I just did some exhaust work for a friend using his MM180. I didn't do any flanges but just pipe to mufflers and to hangers. I don't know exactly what the actual settings were b/c I'm used to my Lincoln 255c but I put the heat on the lowest tap and the wire speed on the second to lowest number (whatever that is) and it worked great for pipe-to-pipe. I could have went a little hotter and still been good and I would definately go up a bit for the flange. Like said before, come off the flange and onto the pipe. Good luck.Always looking for another old VW, especially in the southeast.
Reply:Use a push angle, too.  It will help from burning through the thin exhaust tubing.
Reply:Doing exhaust is what made me dislike MIG welding in the first place (didnt know any better and got a whole days worth of galvanized gasses).  Get a respirator!ThermalArc 185MillerMatic 180 w/ AutosetVictor Cutskill Oxy/AcetyleneThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 38and spite!
Reply:Galvanized on exhaust tubing?  I know the bulk of it has the aluminized paint sprayed on that should be ground off, but didn't know they had galvanized.
Reply:1/16" = .0625" which is close to 16 GA (give or take). I've been running my MM175 at about 3 & 45 for 16 GA. I would start there. The last exhaust I did & the next one I need to do are both aluminized carbon steel. I ground off the surface aluminized coating, welded, and repainted it with 1200* paint (which lasted about 9 months). I dug out my respirator for the next time - just in case...
Reply:.030 wire is a little large for 1/16 metal and I'm pretty use you are probably working with magnetic stainless tubing.  But , I would set up at around 18 volts and adjust my wire speed until it sounds, feels ,and looks good.  75/25 gass might cause it to burn a little hotter than you like.  CO2 runs a little colder on the thin stuff.DonM > ASME High Pressure Vessel