Gas Shielded Fluxcore

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Hello all,I have spent the last four summers working for a mechanical contractor and have a god amount of MIG, TIG, and stick torch time in between working there and Jeep projects. I am competent at laying down a decent bead, but it has always been on large machines that never ran anything smaller than .035. I just bought my own Lincoln 3200HD for more Jeep projects so I need to start learning about how to select the right wire for what I want to do with my welder.At work, we use .045 Frontiarc flux-cored wire that also requires a shielding gas in one of our machines and I love the way it welds. I am limited to .035, and the above mentioned wire only comes in .045. I was hoping to get something comparable for welding crucial joints like 1/4" brackets to axle tubes to really burn them in. Does anyone have any suggestions? Or is there possibly a way to cheat and get .045 through my little welder?Thanks!
Reply:Your machine is too small to burn .045 fluxcore wire.   Use .030 or .035 self shield and you will weld those things just fine.  I prefer McKay Speedshield GS .035 self shield fluxcore wire for general light gauge outdoor wire welding.  This is an E71T-GS general purpose wire and runs fine in all my portable migs, even on 110v power.  I also use .035 and .045 Hobart Fabshield 21B and Lincoln NR211MP, which are both E71T-11 general purpose self shield fluxcore wires.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:So finding a gas shielded flux cored wire is not worth it in other words? I tried out the .035 flux core it came with on some 1/4" scrap and sectioned it and wasn't terribly pleased with the penetration I got. I did some research and found that a lower guage extension cord on a 20amp outlet is crucial to getting full power and I'm not sure I was using either one at the time.
Reply:i run NR211 lincoln in my little 100HD in.030 and really like the stuff for general welding. no gas backing, just wire. with you 3200 you could run .035 no prob and lay down good beads. when they say good from 20g to 1\8 in lets say, thats just what the machine will do in one pass. just like with stick and tig, you can run multible passes with no problem either. with my hd100, i've welded thick stuff with it running multibles and have no dought what so ever it would pass a bend and xray. as long as you know what your doing your good to go. not saying there is'nt limitations with these machines, just that you could weld on a 1\4in bracket no prob.
Reply:esab makes 7100 ultra in 15 lb spools. I used it quite a bit in my 175 lincoln. worked well, the hood doesn't close very well with the 15 lb spool. Also 15 pound spools are very expensive. but they weld nice similar to fountain arc wire.thermal arc mst400, va4000 feeder, lincoln 175 min, victor torches, miller s32p feeder, air arc k4000 for work.
Reply:I also like the ESAB 7100 and 9100 (?).  That stuff is as good as free beer.I also agree the self shield or good solid wire will work for your jeep projects, I could see justifying dual shield would be if you are rock climbing or doing some other competitive stuff or high abuse stuff. Hopefully your jeep project doesn't require a lot of gap filling or some of the other good features of dual shield. As Adam said it is not cheap to use but there are definetely times where a guy could use it.I reserve the high price dual shield for projects where I know it is going to be abused or transportation type work.  Then I charge accordingly.
Reply:I have been using a lot of ESAB 7100 Ultra dual shield wire that is .035and really like it.  It's E71-T1/9.  At 27 volts and 250 ipm using 82/18 it spray transfers beautifully.6 Miller Big Blue 600 Air Paks2 Miller 400D6 Lincoln LN-25's4 Miller Xtreme 12VS2 Miller Dimension 812 4 Climax BW-3000Z bore welders Hypertherm 65 and 85Bug-O Track BugPair of Welpers
Reply:Originally Posted by xjh3So finding a gas shielded flux cored wire is not worth it in other words? I tried out the .035 flux core it came with on some 1/4" scrap and sectioned it and wasn't terribly pleased with the penetration I got. I did some research and found that a lower guage extension cord on a 20amp outlet is crucial to getting full power and I'm not sure I was using either one at the time.
Reply:Maybe not a cheat but you should still be able to do alot of welding with 0.30 but pay careful attention to fitup and proper preparation of your root joints and fitup for mig welding.As you do not have the benifit of deeper penetration you have been use to consider your fillet dimensions.Hope this helps;info here:http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...elg+dimensions
Reply:I do not know if you can increase the wire size depends on guide tubes, drive rolls and liner. I would recommend using the right gauge wire--but using fabshield21b is your best bet for all around. I  repair damaged railcars with 045 fabshield 21b and it dose the job
Reply:All great info, appreciate it a lot. I was afraid that dual shielded wire was not going to work with my little welder. My Jeep is turning into pretty much an exclusive offroad rig, so it will see some abuse. I'll get a proper extension cord and pay close attention to the fit up of my parts and I think I'll be ok.