improving my MIG welds

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I noticed a lot of people here when they mig weld have very small welds.I am using the drag method on 1/8" steel using .035" wire.I will make some beads and post pictures.My first question is if the .035" wire is to much wire for 1/8". I know it is okay for the thickness but it seems like my welds are very "thick"
Reply:With 1/8th either will be fine. Kind of in a zone of either/or there. If you're gauging by a certain amperage then you could slow down the .035 as compared to the .030."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:We really need to see picts to tell what "thick" is. Without seeing it theres no real way to make suggestions on how to get them to improve.When I help out with night classes at the tech school, the kids are stunned to see me move so slow doing welds, even on 1/8" ( all the machines run .035 solid wire). Their welds are all humped up and cold with no penetration. Mine at the same settings burn in nice with no issues. At a blind guess from experience, I'd say you were moving too fast if you've got the settings correct..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:First question is why are you "pulling" the weld?Push techinque will tend to flatten the bead profile.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:0.035 solid?  With what shielding gas?  And what machine?Are you running short circuit transfer, or globular, or spray, or pulse spray?Or are you running some 0.035 FCAW?  FCAW-S or FCAW-G?See, if you give some more details, then someone can usually give you some better answers.  If there's slag, then drag.  SMAW and FCAW usually drag.Solid wire you usually want to push the filler and not drag it.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Taking DSW advice I went a lot slower with my welds.
Reply:Sorry for the large pictures.It seems like I need to work on when I pick up my welding up. I am leaving a messy puddle.Althought, another thing my welds are REALLY inconsistent. As seen below picture.
Reply:Pyro, do us a favor and post up you machine and settings, FC or solid, gas used etc. The more info we have the easier it is to make suggestions.The 1st two picts the welds look decent ( well tied in at the toes and even) if a bit wide, with the exception of the vert being burned away. I might back the wire and heat down a bit, but I don't know your machine or settings to make suggestions. Did slowing down look like it improved your welds from what they were before? Inconsistancy could be you, or the machine or both.  Also define what you call "inconsistant", Are you laying a good bead and then the next is cr@p? Or does the weld quality change as you go along in the same weld? I'm still trying to guess at what you meant by "thick" at first. Too wide, too tall, what? We need more info..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:mig welding is notorious for cold welds... your weld could look fine on top, but has not penetrated deep enough. best to do a series of test welds using similar thickness of metals to be joined.  flip over test strips after welding ... you should see a distinct burn line underneath if full penetration has occurred.   Originally Posted by pyroracing85I noticed a lot of people here when they mig weld have very small welds.I am using the drag method on 1/8" steel using .035" wire.I will make some beads and post pictures.My first question is if the .035" wire is to much wire for 1/8". I know it is okay for the thickness but it seems like my welds are very "thick"
Reply:I have a dvi 2 machine. Heat setting is on "3" and wire is on "50".When I say inconsistent I mean sometimes it has a different feel. Like the electric will not have a consistent burn or the wire will feel different coming out.Also, when I turn down the heat and wire unless I am just an unexperienced welder the weld looks even more terrible.
Reply:Looking at millers manual on the DVI-2 on pg 24 and 25 it looks like you have your heat correct at 3, but your wire speed looks a bit high compared to the 32-35 that I see recomended.http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o232386c_mil.pdfThe inconsistancy you feel might come from several sources. Because your wire speed is so fast, you may be stubbing the wire out in the puddle.Your liner may be dirty and the wire is sticking a bit, especially if the liner is coiled because you are working near the machine.You could have a small kink in the liner itself. This can happen if something gets jamed up against where the gun goes into the machine. I had a lot of issues with this where I used to work as the other shop guys would jam my mig in a corner as tight as possible to get more room for them to work on other things. You have to pull the liner to check it. If it's kinked, you'll usually see it clearly if you stretch the liner out straight on a table.Your drive rolls may be slipping slightly, probably in conjunction with the wire binding in the whip.The liner may be too short if the liner was incorrectly replaced in the past.I'd back the wire down to about 30-35 and weld at the same pace you did the other day and see how it goes. I set the wire feed by sound, feel, and looks, not numbers, but thats not really an option by keyboard. I use the number as a starting point and then go from there if I have that info available. I did have one machine at the tech school that consistanly you had to set the wire feed about 10 points higher that the other identical feeders in the line. Drove kids nuts who hadn't ran that feeder before, so every machine is a bit different..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:Originally Posted by DSWLooking at millers manual on the DVI-2 on pg 24 and 25 it looks like you have your heat correct at 3, but your wire speed looks a bit high compared to the 32-35 that I see recomended.http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o232386c_mil.pdfThe inconsistancy you feel might come from several sources. Because your wire speed is so fast, you may be stubbing the wire out in the puddle.Your liner may be dirty and the wire is sticking a bit, especially if the liner is coiled because you are working near the machine.You could have a small kink in the liner itself. This can happen if something gets jamed up against where the gun goes into the machine. I had a lot of issues with this where I used to work as the other shop guys would jam my mig in a corner as tight as possible to get more room for them to work on other things. You have to pull the liner to check it. If it's kinked, you'll usually see it clearly if you stretch the liner out straight on a table.Your drive rolls may be slipping slightly, probably in conjunction with the wire binding in the whip.The liner may be too short if the liner was incorrectly replaced in the past.I'd back the wire down to about 30-35 and weld at the same pace you did the other day and see how it goes. I set the wire feed by sound, feel, and looks, not numbers, but thats not really an option by keyboard. I use the number as a starting point and then go from there if I have that info available. I did have one machine at the tech school that consistanly you had to set the wire feed about 10 points higher that the other identical feeders in the line. Drove kids nuts who hadn't ran that feeder before, so every machine is a bit different.
Reply:If the wire's not coming out correctly, I'd do a quick once over on the gun. Pull the wire out and remove the tip and unhook the gun from the machine. Blow some air thru the liner to see if you can clear any dust etc that may have built up. Install a new clean tip and reassemble and see if it helps. At the same time I'd check the feed tension on the rollers. If you have used the pi$$ out of this, having run several rolls of FC wire thru the machine, you might considder a trying a new liner if problems persist. FC wire is often very dirty and you could have built up a lot of crud inside the liner, thou this is not all that common. If the machine gets stored in tight places frequently you might also pull the liner and look at it to see if it may have been kinked. I found that it doesn't take a very big kink to cause erratic feeding. The 1st 2 or 3 times I had the shop guys kink the liner on my machine it drove me nuts trying to figure out why it wouldn't feed right all the time. It'd feed beautiful, then in the middle of the weld seem like someone reset the wire feed. Then it would go back to normal a minute later and be fine. As I mover the gun, the change in the lead and the kink cause the wire to jam and slow down. Now as soon as I start to get erratic feed issues, I don't even think twice before I pull the liner and check to see if somethings gotten pushed into the gun in storage and keep a spare liner on hand just in case.Good luck..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWIf the wire's not coming out correctly, I'd do a quick once over on the gun. Pull the wire out and remove the tip and unhook the gun from the machine. Blow some air thru the liner to see if you can clear any dust etc that may have built up. Install a new clean tip and reassemble and see if it helps. At the same time I'd check the feed tension on the rollers. If you have used the pi$$ out of this, having run several rolls of FC wire thru the machine, you might considder a trying a new liner if problems persist. FC wire is often very dirty and you could have built up a lot of crud inside the liner, thou this is not all that common. If the machine gets stored in tight places frequently you might also pull the liner and look at it to see if it may have been kinked. I found that it doesn't take a very big kink to cause erratic feeding. The 1st 2 or 3 times I had the shop guys kink the liner on my machine it drove me nuts trying to figure out why it wouldn't feed right all the time. It'd feed beautiful, then in the middle of the weld seem like someone reset the wire feed. Then it would go back to normal a minute later and be fine. As I mover the gun, the change in the lead and the kink cause the wire to jam and slow down. Now as soon as I start to get erratic feed issues, I don't even think twice before I pull the liner and check to see if somethings gotten pushed into the gun in storage and keep a spare liner on hand just in case.Good luck.
Reply:I just ran the wire speed at 35 and it felt funny. My welds came out alright looking because I managed but I am starting to believe my liner is kinked up like you said.
Reply:Not trying to pick on you, but those beads look pretty bad for someone who's been welding (or trying to) for more than 3 days.No consistency at all.Try changing your wire to .030 for that machine.PUSH the bead.  It will really help "flatten" it.Are you really "seeing the bead" as it's going in?I'd also recommend going back to the basics and practice your starts and stops in the flat position.  Will make things much easier when you then move to the filet weld.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:Pyro,After reading your questions here and in another thread (kinked liner), I went back and read many of your posts from where you signed on back in 2007.It would appear that your sole source for GMAW information (and other things) is the internet.  Granted, there are many posters who are willing to "help you out" or "steer you in the right direction" on this board, but you also need to realize that learning to weld is going to require a little effort on your part also.Frankly, for a guy who's owned his machine (Miller DVI) for over 2 1/2 years, you're not making very good progress.  I suspect it goes back to never having learned the basics before you moved on to more challenging welds (filet).I'd suggest you go to Miller's site (millerwelds.com) and click on the resources tab.  If you look thru it, you will see an offer for their "student pack".  It cost's $25 (shipping incl) and includes an excellent GMAW Handbook, as well as a great GTAW Handbook, a GMAW-P handbook, and a lot of other useful information.  In fact, if you study this material, you'll find that about 200 of your questions from the last few years are already answered.Of course, if you choose to not read this material (as it appears that you have not read the owners manual for the DVI), then the material is not going to do you any good.Sometimes all one needs to do is look in the mirror to find where the real problem lies.PS:  Before all the "politically correct" posters start bashing me, you need to go back and read Pyro's posts (300 or so), starting at the beginning.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:I like the comments. Good or bad.I am trying to learn here and there. I only went through 1 gas cyclinder since I owned the machine.So I guess where do I start learing.Also, to answer your question sundown I have read the basics on miller website. I am using the drag method because I read it created more penetration and a small bead on the surface.The drag method meaning I have the top of the gun tilted toward the direction of the weld.
Reply:My other question is are we working on appearance now? I mean when I grind the weld away I never see any pin holes or anything.I am guessing structually the weld is fine. Or am I missing things?
Reply:Originally Posted by pyroracing85So I guess where do I start learing.
Reply:Originally Posted by pyroracing85The drag method meaning I have the top of the gun tilted toward the direction of the weld.
Reply:One Quick Tip I can offer you, that will GREATLY improve the feel of the welder, is to weld on CLEAN METAL.... GMAW absolutely HATES surface rust and contamination... FCAW is more forgiving, but you aren't using that, so you must prepare the metal for the process that you are using.If you were to remove the surface rust with a wire wheel, or grinding wheel, down to clean, and shiny metal, I am sure that the "Feel" you are experiencing would be much more consistant... Less of the Arc Energy will be lost trying to burn up, or burn THROUGH to contaminants, and you will have a much more consistant bead appearance.You must as well thoroughly clean the point of contact where your work lead (Ground clamp) is attached as well, to prevent more Parasitic Voltage Drops.Basic Welding 101.I agree with the others that more education is required.Later,Jason