mig and flux core advice

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What is the best wire speed and amps to run mig and flux core had to do a pad and my beads were not coming out flat did a weave pattern for flux core and a circular pattern for mig any advice and tips will be great thank you all
Reply:Go to your local welding supply and pick up one of these.
Reply:Thanks
Reply:The same miller calculator is available on their website as a phone app.
Reply:Originally Posted by smc1118What is the best wire speed and amps to run mig and flux core had to do a pad and my beads were not coming out flat did a weave pattern for flux core and a circular pattern for mig any advice and tips will be great thank you all
Reply:^thank you
Reply:I didn't see it mentioned, but make sure when running gasless flux core the machine is set up for + "ground" and - electrode.I have found that nearly all mig machines, even the little cheap ones come hooked up for - ground and + electrode, which is wrong if you are running flux core.Until you have the polarity hooked up correctly, power level, feed speed and technique wont matter at all, everything will look like poo no matter what you do.Last edited by mad welder 4; 09-11-2013 at 08:37 PM.
Reply:The calculators may be useful, but for thicker materials, the sticker on the inside of the machine is, IMHO, pretty accurate. I'm currently welding 3/16" thicknesses on nearly the max settings for my Lincoln (G-3) and it's running very hot. Beads sink right down almost flat into the base metal with a lot of undercut until you "get used to it", but once you get the motions down, the welds are pretty nice giving a fat intense rainbow of coloration on the back side surrounding an outline of the bead. So I guess penetration is good. I plan to post results of a pen test here one of these days (everybody's gotta see for themselves what a 120V machine really does and I'm no exception).  For thinner material using fluxcore, the "recommended" settings inside the welder have always seemed kind of "hot" (for me).XMT304 (school)SP125+ (home)HF 4x6 BandsawGood judgement comes from experience and much of that comes from bad judgement.