Newbe needing help with welder

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First off new here and semi new to welding. Growing up I played with daddy’s buzz box and recently bought a lincoln mig 140. I have yet to hook it up to gas and am running flux trough it right now. My question, I have been welding exhaust pipe so far with little to no problem (not the nicest welds but they will do) but yesterday I welded a support bracket to the frame of my car and had a very hard time. The arc was sputtering very bad and gave off a brighter arc than what I am used to seeing. The weld while it seems very strong it is very crude and ugly, I used the heat and speed settings on the welder. My thoughts was maybe a bad grounding point or was wondering if adding gas and going with mig wire instead of flux would fix my issues. Any advice is welcome. Here is a picture of what the said bracket and awful looking weld.
Reply:Welcome to the Forum.  You will like GMAW better than flux core, its cleaner.  But that weld looks like it needs more heat maybe.. Make sure what you are welding is clean, and you have a good ground. Make sure your settings are at the manufacturers suggested settings and then fine tune from there (should be a chart somewhere on your welder if the wire feed and voltage are letters instead of actual voltages and speeds).  And practice.  I would lay some practice beads and post pics up here and people will tell you where your issues are... I'm no expert, but I've found that reading manuals and doing research for particular processes for settings and techniques are very helpful to get started.Lincoln Weldanpower AC/DCLincoln LN-25Miller WC-115a Miller Spoolmatic 30aCheck out my youtube TV Channel
Reply:Check polarity first. I dont really see spatter associated with reversed fcaw.If polarity is good crank up the heat and sweep a little wider.
Reply:Yes there is a chart on the welder and said to set it to "D" heat (which is all shes got) and wire speed of 3.5 (which I played with a little). I do think it is time to try gas, also I check polarity and it is set up per manufactors specs. for flux wire. I had my ground hooked to a exhaust pipe under the car while welding this and was wondering if my my ground was not good enough. I could never get a steady arc when this happened, it was a constant sputter, I felt like I never had control of it.EDIT: Also it was a hard spot to get you gun to and could never get a good angle on it, I found it a diff. angle for a newb.Last edited by 92LX-5.8; 01-29-2014 at 02:48 PM.
Reply:Your exhaust is typically rubber isolated from the frame, that would mean the ground was running thru the ground strap on your motor to your frame, try grounding to the frame as close to the weld as you can.Hobart 210 MVPOxy/Propane Smith Torch SetupLincoln Wel-Pak 100HD"Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyways" ~ John Wayne
Reply:Originally Posted by 92LX-5.8but yesterday I welded a support bracket to the frame of my car
Reply:The bigger the glob the better the job ! Bad ground, that's a perfect way to destroy something electrical.Miller xmt304,  Miller S22 p12, Miier Maxstar SD, Miller 252 w 30A, Miller super32p12, Lincoln Ranger 9, Thermal Arc 181I with spoolgun, Hypertherm 10000 ,Smith torches. Esab 161lts miniarc.
Reply:For the Future!Please try to GROUND as close as practical on any thing that has electronic sensors or is computer controlled!Better to disconnect all sensors and computers but this is not always practical!Saw the damage done ($37,000) on a Standby Genset when a "quick" weld was done on the exhaust bracket.The guy ground clamped to the base, then dragged his lead inside to do the repair.In your case, grounding at the exhaust pipe is a bad ground causing the cold welds.You maybe lucky in that no damage was done to the engine computer.
Reply:With "mig" the farther you have the gun from the work, the colder the weld for the given settings. You should probably have the gun 1/4" to 3/8" from the material. I typically see welds like this from new guys who are holding the gun 3/4" + from the work. It wouldn't surprise me if this isn't a part of your issue, though a bad ground would also be high  on my list of suspects..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:Why is the exhaust inlet to the turbo dirt dobbed to the core support?
Reply:Grind all that off and start over - by using a bolt in the hole provided.Practice first - dial in all settings and technique on scrap.  Even if it takes an hour it's still better than screwing up a project.Do not preheat nor weld on the frame of your vehicle - you don't even know what you are doing yet.Agree with the others, your ground clamp placement was terrible.  Mig's don't know if the ground is good or bad, they just keep spitting wire as long as you hold the trigger.Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Thanks for all the feedback guys, I will try to change a few things up. As for the electrical the car is controlled by a megasquirt and which has been removed from the car right now.