what sort of welder do you use! do you prefer gas or gasless! i have a Mig i bought off here for $350ish. its only 130 amp and is gasless. it works fantastic but can sometimes blow holes in panel steel on more modern cars. am i doing something wrong!
intrade,
Apr 24, 10:51am
maybe you got a crap welder or you use gasless wire. I got absolut no problem with a roll of mig wire from supersheep auto and argon gas with a panter 132 welder.you should use a co2 fire-extinguisher converted bottle and normal 0.8 mill wire . i can even weld without gas but the welds implode and are not as strong with no gas.
jezz43,
Apr 24, 10:55am
the welder does a good job on most metals. i welded up a blade on a tractor that had a grader on it. had it on maximum setting and it went fine. also works great on older vehicles that were made of different metal unlike todays cars. its just modern stuff it doesnt like. i use 0.8 gasless as its a gasless welder, not sure if i can use gas with it.
intrade,
Apr 24, 11:02am
well i have gotten rid ofa telwin mig welder i once had with gasless wire, you could not weld any thin penal with the crap without blowing holes. also it would not feed the wire right. personally there is no way in hell i will ever use gasless wire again nor a crap cheap welder. Now to your problem. you blow holes simply for 1 reason the welder is set to high . and possibile you cant use it for thin stuff as the flux crap myght need the higher setting. the telwin welder i had has made birdcrap bloobs or poked holes . these where the 2 outcomes i got from it.
jezz43,
Apr 24, 11:05am
i get the same thing, and thats on the minimum setting. when i weld bedfords etc (steel panels) its perfect, does a brilliant job, so you think il need a gas welder to do thinner panels! also i only got the welder cheap as it was demo model. the RRP on them was $699 (not sure if that still qualifies as crap!)
intrade,
Apr 24, 11:10am
go to supercheap its 25% off today and get normal wire not gasless. you should be able to weld with that but the welds will look like a vulcano crater in middle.for a test if its possibile to useyour welder on thin stuff. also has yours got a gas attachment white hose to usefor gas! my telwin has had the gas hose you had to change the earth and positive over to use on gas wire.
saki,
Apr 24, 11:10am
I have 2 migs i esab 100w i lincoln 180w always use gas usually argon mix and .6mm for panel work
intrade,
Apr 24, 11:12am
lol esab is the rollsroice of welders.
jezz43,
Apr 24, 11:13am
i never saw the hose when i bought it, but its got writing on it about switching the polarity over for something. theres also a small hole in the back for a hose, my guess is it could be for that.
intrade,
Apr 24, 11:19am
well check it if you can use gas then you can do my test and if the welds work then you needgas to make the welds look nicer. I sometimes dont even notice when i forget to turn on the gas just sparks a bit mutch and then the welds dont look so good but hold ok even without gas.
jezz43,
Apr 24, 11:23am
i think my welder is an ebon or something, they guy who sold it to me doesnt sell migs now, he sells plasma cutters and tigs. il have a look shortly and see if it can accept gas
jezz43,
Apr 24, 12:25pm
ok, so it would appear its strictly gasless, would i need a gas welder for said jobs intrade!
biddy6,
Apr 24, 12:39pm
Thin panel welding requires argon shield gas and .6mm bare wire , personally gassless mig is not for that sort of work.I have been welding with migs since 1974.
bellus_sybarite,
Apr 24, 12:43pm
Welds without gas look like sh@t !
intrade,
Apr 24, 12:47pm
yes you want to sell the welder if you got no space and get a good gas welder. the panther only cost 700$ new but is a top welder. I dont actuarly own the welder its permanently borrowd of my mate who just brings in his welding jobs to be done for free with the welder i got from him for me to use. abd am no you dont need argon to weld but argon makes the better shield then co2 but it wont be worth for you to have a argon bottle unless you do loads of welding. I weld loads of cars for wof etc You dont need 0.6mill wire to do a good job as i always use 0.8 and 1mm plating to repair rust works. the thinnest cars i welded so far where honda they are like paper and i welded 1mm plate with 0.8mm wire no problem on to that also.
the panther 132! it looks very similar to mine, except i cant do gas and mines 130 amp.
intrade,
Apr 24, 1:16pm
well i told you what i got the one i got is over 7 year old by now however. its got a cooling fan built inn
h.e,
Apr 24, 1:48pm
what he said but use argoshield not argon
electro2000,
Apr 24, 2:15pm
Fark heard it allunshielded wire with out gas -you may as well use a soldering iron .
gassless wire is not the greatest for panel workyou really want like said above .6 wire with argon shieldyou can use C02 but your welds will splatter a bit more and not be as flatand require grinding . I have not done a lot of panel work , before being a telco engineer i worked as a welder mostly arc I only brought a mig a couple of years ago since sold the arc weldernever looked back I run a 200 amp sip welderwith Co2 as i do not do any panel work just welding repairsas a sideline.
saki,
Apr 24, 3:20pm
#8 my esab certainly isnt the rolls royce I bought it in 1983 while I was in UK and it was marketed by the LMC co
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 24, 6:08pm
Aside from sorting a gas welder, if you have a supagas centre in your town its well worth grabbing a secondhand but freshly tested very large argoshield bottle from them. The big one costs about the same a s a little one to fill because the gas is cheaper in larger volumes. The result is you can have your cake and eat it too, the big bottles cost the same as the small to buy and they sell them freshly tested cheaper than you can buy them on trademe. No need to muck around with old fire extinguishers and trying to do good panel welds with just CO2 when you can have the proper thing for very little money (well in the longer term anyway).
40wav,
Apr 24, 6:18pm
Any idea how much these bottles cost Jazz! I have a converted Co2 ext thats 3.5kg and the bloody thing will always run out on a sunday or in the evening. Was thinking of getting a second one, but if the ones you mention arent too bad I might go for that.
sfw4,
Apr 24, 6:49pm
Argon a pain in Rrse to lease subscribe off BOC& Liquide Air. ex 3.5kg Fire Extinguisher with $68 valve on top full with CO2 is $7 a litre and will last a while for hobby shed jobs. I use a WELDWELL twin160 which does a great job, has stitch, heat settings and wire speed. Can dial into any steel cross section. Save up some more $$ and buy the best for an extra $500. Can always onsell and get 500 back
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 24, 6:54pm
From memory, my bottle all filled up and ready to go with a fresh 10 year cert was about $600. There's enough gas in there to last me a VERY long time!
Can't remember how much of that was for the gas but I think it was a bit over $100. could be wrong though. When you consider the better welds and spread the cost over time its a very economical proposition.
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