Adjusting wire speed and volts

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As some of you know, I'm as green as they get with welding. One question that I have is do you set your wfs (amps) to match your voltage or do you adjust your voltage to match your wfs? I'm trying to teach myself based on yalls help. I looked up the burn rate on the wire I'm using and the corresponding amperage based on the thickness of weld. I'm using .035" bare wire, my practice coupons are .125" hot rolled. According to the chart I set my machine for 200 ipm ( 125/1000ths x 1.6"/amp burn off rate = 200ipm). The problem I'm having is getting a starting point with the voltage setting. My machine only displays volts when welding. When I get the "bacon sizzle" my welds look like ****, frankly. I turn the machine up until it makes more of a zzzzzzzzzz and it smothes out much better. When welding a given thickness, is it better to set feed and adjust volts or the other way around? I've got the Miller student pack on the way, by the way.Powcon 400SM2-PD60 wire feedersMiller XR controlAlumapro push/pull gunSpeedglas 9100xBFH
Reply:Just a starting point, but Miller has a "weld calculator", one for solid wire: http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...calculator.phpand one for flux cored : http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...calculator.php
Reply:I've had a 300 SMT since new-1990There's a 3 way toggle switch on front forstick, short arc and spray....it makes a difference(and it's very easy to inadvertently knock that switch intoa different setting than needed, when moving machine around)Additionally there's a low and high range switch,then rheostats for puddle control and weld powerMy 300 has a switch to read out either amps or volts during welding.You don't mention what gas you're using.Is the ground clamp--spiffy?, all cable/torch connections-decent?clean material?Blackbird
Reply:Addendum to previous postingGround cable should be attached to the negative machine connection for GMAW...this too, makes a big difference.Blackbird
Reply:Originally Posted by dave powelsonI've had a 300 SMT since new-1990There's a 3 way toggle switch on front forstick, short arc and spray....it makes a difference(and it's very easy to inadvertently knock that switch intoa different setting than needed, when moving machine around)Additionally there's a low and high range switch,then rheostats for puddle control and weld powerMy 300 has a switch to read out either amps or volts during welding.You don't mention what gas you're using.Is the ground clamp--spiffy?, all cable/torch connections-decent?clean material?
Reply:Originally Posted by Bryan27I have the machine set up DCEP, ground negative and all the cables are in good condition with no corrosion on them. I double checked and made sure all the connections were tight and clean. It has a heavy duty ground clamp. I'm using 75% Ar 25% Co2 gas at around 25-30 cfh. Set for short arc.One of the issues I'm having, if you'd call it that, is that when I do get the settings where I'm getting a good weld I don't know what my volts are. I can reproduce it by turning all the knobs the same, but not knowing what the voltage actually is makes it tough for me to benchmark where I'm at.  Short of having someone watch the volt meter while I'm welding, is there any way to determine what voltage I'm set at with this machine when not welding? I know that the first time I post a picture of my welds for critique, someone's going to ask volts/wfs/gas/etc.. I can only say something along the lines of 50% at low range or whatever I have it set at, but 50% of what is the question? I can set my wfs to an exact number looking at the digital readout, but voltage is just a wild azz guess.I still havn't figured out what exactly the puddle control does. I don't notice any difference in the weld when puddle control is adjusted from one extreme to the other, but that could be I don't know what I'm looking at. "Weld Power" increases/decreases the voltage, what does puddle control do.
Reply:We did a story on getting that "sizzle" that includes photos and video that might be of help, at the link below. Keep in mind that everything said earlier about a good ground and other machine/work conditions have to be right before anything else will work as expected.http://www.newmetalworker.com/Howto/migwirespd.htmlTom Hintz, publisherwww.newmetalworker.comLincoln Pro Mig 180Lincoln AC 255Determination
Reply:Originally Posted by TomhintzWe did a story on getting that "sizzle" that includes photos and video that might be of help, at the link below. Keep in mind that everything said earlier about a good ground and other machine/work conditions have to be right before anything else will work as expected.http://www.newmetalworker.com/Howto/migwirespd.html