Stainless trimix - 65% Ar 33% He 2% CO2 ?

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I just MIG'd my first stainless project - an exhaust system for a friend.  I went down to my LWS and got a roll of 308L and asked to have my spare 40CF bottle filled with "trimix for MIGing stainless" (that's as specific as I got).  Looking at the invoice, I see that I got 65% Ar, 33% He, 2% CO2.Well, the project turned out OK but I sure got a heck of a lot of splatter (little drops that welded themselves very well to the surrounding area).  I looked around a bit and found no mention of this specific gas blend - it seems that 'normal' SS trimix is quite different.  My machine is a small 120V, 130A unit, and I was butt welding ~16GA on setting 3 (out of 4 - sorry I can't tell you the actual current).  Not sure what the actual steel alloy was.  Turning the power down one notch led to poor wetting and not much less spatter.Can anybody shed any light on this?
Reply:Welcome to the forum cweagle.Typical/recommended 'tri-gas' to MIG stainless steel in short circuit that I'm familiar with is 90% Helium/8% Argon/2% CO2.For spray arc transfer a 98% Argon/2% O2 is recommended but you'd need more machine for that.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Originally Posted by duaneb55Welcome to the forum cweagle.Typical/recommended 'tri-gas' to MIG stainless steel in short circuit that I'm familiar with is 90% Helium/8% Argon/2% CO2.For spray arc transfer a 98% Argon/2% O2 is recommended but you'd need more machine for that.
Reply:Definately check with them to see what they'll do.  Do you do alot of business with them?  If so they're more likely do take care of it for you.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Every time I have mig welded stainless, no matter what the mix (and I have used the heavy on the helium tri-mix as well) there is ALWAYS a ton of spatter, and it sticks real good.I think that is just one of the normal conditions of mig welding stainless.If you dont want spatter, tig weld it.