offroad72762

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I'm a newby!.I have a pick-up bed I need to weld together.I have a wire feed welder, but I'm burning holes in the bed.What am I doing wrong?? Also it's trying to warp .
Reply:Originally Posted by offroad72762I'm a newby!.I have a pick-up bed I need to weld together.I have a wire feed welder, but I'm burning holes in the bed.What am I doing wrong?? Also it's trying to warp .
Reply:You didn't tell us very much.  How much help do you want?Subject lines are for a summary of your question.Are you using the GMAW or FCAW process?  IOW, solid wire with a shielding gas or flux-cored wire?  GMAW is much preferred for thin sheet metal, though FCAW with experience can be successful down to 20-ga.  Less than that, and it takes REAL skill.Best results will be obtained with .023 solid wire and a C-25 argon/CO2 mix shielding gas.  Also, make sure the metal is very clean, meaning no paint or rust or dirt or grease to contaminate the weld, ESPECIALLY with GMAW.Use small spot welds and travel around, minimizing the heat input into any given area.  Weld, beer, weld, beer, weld, beer is a popular technique, but patent pending.   We are also assuming you've read the manual for your unidentified machine and that it is set for the correct polarity and voltage and wire speed.The use of a copper (or sometimes aluminum) "spoon" or backing plate will work very well at absorbing excess heat and since the steel weld won't stick to it, it makes for a flat backside as well.
Reply:Use small spot welds and travel around, minimizing the heat input into any given area.  Weld, beer, weld, beer, weld, beer is a popular technique, but patent pending.     LOL! I'm gonna try that over the weekend.  How badly is the bed rusted? Welding to thin guage steel with corrosion is difficult, it tends to burn through and burn away from the edges a lot quicker than good metal. Keep your heat under control, little tacks are better, you can sometimes get good results by quick 1/2 second spot welds to build up the material before the heat burns it up, then making your actual tack weld. The metal has to be clean or you are going to struggle. And make sure that there are no gaps between the layers to be joined; hammer or press them flush before attemting to weld them together.    Hope this was helpful. If you post to the forum, the more info you give, the better we can help you. Post back and Good luck!!If you don't have the time to do it right, then you definitely don't have the time to do it over.
Reply:NO FLUXCORE ON BODY PANELS!!!dont trust me?wait a few months after its all painted nice and shiney..you'll be   in no time...ya you will.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Here's what kind of welder I've got.Campbell-Hausfield,flux Core 80. With 0.30 wire.My surface is cleaned; with a grinder. No rust anywhere, no paint.What do you mean by fluxcore on the body panels? (I'm new at this.)
Reply:Supposedly, flux-cored welds are much harder to clean well and residual acids will accelerate corrosion after its painted.  I don't experience it in my line of work, but I don't do autobody which is a much finer finish that my stuff.
Reply:Just out of curiosity,... Is that welder capable of running gas?  If so, I'd look around for the parts to make it happen.  If not... it'll take a little bit of "poor boy engineering" to make it work.
Reply:Originally Posted by offroad72762Here's what kind of welder I've got.Campbell-Hausfield,flux Core 80. With 0.30 wire.My surface is cleaned; with a grinder. No rust anywhere, no paint.What do you mean by fluxcore on the body panels? (I'm new at this.)
Reply:This wire don't have a acid core to it. The welder is a gas less welder.What welds I've done on it,I haven't noticed any whiter powder.I still have the metal I bobbed off the bed, so I can use it in behind the welds.
Reply:if its a gas less welder then you have a fluxcore machine and need to run fluxcore wire or your not going to weld anythingChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:What zap is saying is the acid is in the flux, which is in the core of fluxcore wire. It is an alternative wire for working on dirtier metal or outdoors where the shielding gas used with traditional solidcore would be blown away by even mild breezes. The problem with using it on auto body is that unless you are very thorough in cleaning and prepping the welded areas, there will be acid residues left behind that will slowly cause the paint to corrode. This is the white residue zap was referring to. Not really worth the risk, solid core works excellently as long as you take a little time and clean the metal with a grinder or sandpaper, even a wire brush. Not complicated at all. Hope you have a machine that will work with solidcore and shielding gas. Alternatively, I've heard that post weld sanding followed up by wiping down with acetone, then Prepsol or thinners will remove the flux residue prior to paint.. Like to hear any alternate ideas regarding this. And zap, I'm looking forward to the pics.   Good luck!!Last edited by Clanweld; 10-20-2006 at 09:03 PM.If you don't have the time to do it right, then you definitely don't have the time to do it over.
Reply:And zap, I'm looking forward to the pics. (quote)you got'emi'll be at the shop tomorrow...the object i refer to is the railroad "speeder" i modified for wog 820..the weld joints on the tubing are all showing itlook for the "hobo railroad" thread.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:I could have guessed you were bobbing a bed   based on your ID. My son and I were into offroading for a while and I bobbed a bed just to see if I could do it. Then I cut it up and hauled it to the dump. What helped me (too late for you now if the bed is already cut) was I got one of those offset air crimp tools and cut the flat areas about 3/8" wider and crimped an offset edge at those places. That way you had overlap and it was much easier to weld and align.Hobbiest hack