Rate my mig welds. And questions

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Well a bored friday night and no 100% argon for tig welding so I decided to do some mig welds. Haven't done any in awhile so some help/tips are appreciated. This was all on 1/4" L/angle stock, whatever it's called.Hobart handler 140. I was playing with heat settings between 3 and 4. Also wire speed between 40 - 60.Tried doing cursive lower case e, circles and some back/forth motions.So I had the ihome on, and this heater plugged in and popped a 20amp circuit on a 5" or so bead. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...1#.UJSFosWClK0This welder seems to pull a lot of current so I wonder if it will pop the breaker when nothing is turned on. I can't find online how much it actually draws.So anywho, after a lot of beads, I started to get to the end  of the roll of wire and when I dropped below like 300-400psi in the c25 tank the welds got horrible looking and porosity and holes all over. I cranked up flow to 30cfh and it was working fine after that, but penetration didn't seem as good. Going to throw on a new spool and new tank and try again.Also the first pic compared to the rest. How do I set up my welder to get little/no/less splatter than I got in the other pics?Last edited by Gamble; 11-02-2012 at 10:53 PM.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Beads look ok as far as they go, but they are way too cold. You will not be able to get satisfactory welds on 1/4" with that little machine. 1/8" is max at best.As far as spatter, if you had a more powerful machine, you could change gasses to get a bit less spatter, You simply don't have the output power for that option however. Using a short stick out will lessen the amount of spatter, but spatter is a fact of life with mig. Cleaner material will also help some what. Judging just by what I see, I'd vote that you had the gun in close for #1 and then backed off on the others. If you changed any of the settings however, then that scenario is out the window..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 DSWBeads look ok as far as they go, but they are way too cold. You will not be able to get satisfactory welds on 1/4" with that little machine. 1/8" is max at best.As far as spatter, if you had a more powerful machine, you could change gasses to get a bit less spatter, You simply don't have the output power for that option however. Using a short stick out will lessen the amount of spatter, but spatter is a fact of life with mig. Cleaner material will also help some what. Judging just by what I see, I'd vote that you had the gun in close for #1 and then backed off on the others. If you changed any of the settings however, then that scenario is out the window.
Reply:Wire wheels do not remove rust and scale. They only polish it. You need to use either a sanding disk/flap wheel, or a grinding wheel..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:Turning your wire feed speed down a bit should help with the spatter and help you keep your bead looking a little less convex.
Reply:Due to the upper end arc of the 140 being a rapid crisp style arc, it is nearly impossible to make this unit produce a near spatter free weld. The spatter level can definitely be lower then I am seeing in your pictures. You didn't state the wire diameter you were using. A few possiblities though that could be causing your spatter issue could be to low of a wire speed setting, quality of the wire ,  or you're getting ahead of the leading edge of the weld puddle.In my experimenting, the best top end performances (lightest spatter and best puddle wet out)  I am seeing from a Handler 140  in the 4 tap or 5 tap (new unit) version is coming having the unit set up withan .030 Lincoln L-56.ESAB Migmaster 250 Hobart Ironman 230Multimatic 215TWECO Fabricator 181i & 211iHH125EZ - nice little fluxcore only unitMaxstar 150 STH - very nice
Reply:Forgot that, yes it was .030 er70s-6 wire from Home Depot. Still haven't researched enough to know when to use a .030 and when to use something thinner.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:With a 140 amp class mig you can weld just about anything within the practical range of those machines with either .023 or .030 solid wire. You'll be slightly handicapped at the extreme ends of the range, but you can still make do. .023 won't be the optimal wire for example to do say 1/8" material, but .030 wire would make things a bit more difficult if you were trying to weld say 22 or 24 ga. In between it's more a matter of whats loaded in the machine and personal preference.I wouldn't bother to get a large spool of wire in each size for that machine. Decide what thickness end you'll be working with most, and just stick with that. If you need to do a lot of auto body work, then go with .023. If you will be doing a lot of projects at the thicker end of it's range, opt for .030 instead..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:This was on 1/8", how does it look?Those pin holes at the top, not sure how that happened, it was a start and stop.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Agree if 18ga and thinner go with .023.    16ga and thicker go with .030.030 works for 16 ga but I have found it to be pretty slow going.  16ga does fine with .030 or .035.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:It's a bit hard to tell how tall these are. On average they aren't all that bad. Some areas could use some work however. Your travel looks to be a bit erratic. Attached ImagesLast edited by DSW; 11-05-2012 at 10:14 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:^That helps. I'm going to do some more practice and get back again.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Which tap was the outside corner joint, on the 1/8", produced with? It looks like you were running a little hotter then needed. Try dropping down a tap lower next time, and see what happens. A lower power level should give you better control over the weld puddle.ESAB Migmaster 250 Hobart Ironman 230Multimatic 215TWECO Fabricator 181i & 211iHH125EZ - nice little fluxcore only unitMaxstar 150 STH - very nice
Reply:Think those were on 3 out of 4.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer