![]() ![]() I’ll mention aluminum or other materials whenever they’re relevant. Less oil or paint to catch fire means less to think aboutįor simplicity’s sake, I’m going to stick with settings for mild steel for the most part because it’s by far the most-welded metal on the planet.Settings for dirty metal don’t apply to clean metal.Three things to remember about joint prep: Settings don’t create good welds they just make good welds possible. To get great welding results that are repeatable your metal needs to ready to work on. You’ll still need to load the right wire and gas, but some of the tricky settings are handled for you.Ĭheck out our MIG Welders Guide for information about some of these machines. Onboard digital menus and input variables like material type and thickness, will set the MIG welder up automatically. Some MIG welders automate most of the settings process which makes it easier to set up. Make sure your bottle of shielding gas is full, and the hookups are clean and tight. For instance, to weld aluminum with a MIG welder, installing a spool gun for trouble-free wire feeding is better. Quality welding equipment makes things easier. This gives you some choice about what works best for your welder and your technique. Notice that these sizes overlap through each current range. Here are the most-used wire sizes in MIG welding. You choose your wire size by the amperage setting, which in turn depends on material thickness. Aluminum – ER4043 wire and 100% Argon shielding.Stainless – ER308L wire and 98 percent Argon with 2 percent CO2.Mild/carbon steel – ER70s wire and 75/25 percent ratio of Argon to CO2.Some wire and gas combinations commonly seen with MIG welding are: These choices are heavily influenced by material composition and thickness. Shielding Gas and Electrode Wireįor good results, it’s necessary to use the right shielding gas and electrode. This way, less current can make the same weld in one pass. They bevel the edges of the joint to get the thickness down. Second, manufacturers indulge in a little bit of magic to get these numbers to advertise performance. How is that possible?įirst, these numbers are estimates. So, how many amps does it take to weld 3/8 steel?įor 1/8-inch mild steel, which is 0.125-inch thick, 125 amps would be a good place to start.ģ/8-inch thickness is 0.375 (3 x 0.125), so do you really need 375 amps for this? Some welding machines claim to weld 3/8-inch steel with only 170-200 amps. Stainless needs 10-15 percent less current, and aluminum needs around 25 percent more. Therefore, you have to know how thick your metal is.Ī general rule of thumb is you need 1 amp of power for every 0.001 inches of steel. You set the amperage according to the thickness of the metal. You can make plans for how you approach your project concerning clamping, angle of approach, cooling, dealing with your welder’s duty cycle, and other practical solutions. Know the thickness of the metal so you know if your welder has the power to get the job done, you can choose the right electrode wire and the proper shielding gas. Related: MIG Welding Stainless Steel Explained How Thick is the Metal? They are the main metal found around the home and in cars. Mild steel, aluminum, and stainless or nickel alloys are the most used metals with the MIG process. The wire you choose, the shielding gas, and the machine settings all depend on the material. The characteristics of mild steel are very different from those of aluminum.Īluminum doesn’t melt at the same temperature as mild steel nor conducts electricity or holds heat to the same degree as stainless steel or titanium.īefore you can even start, you have to choose the right process and take care of the mechanical and technical setup. It matters a great deal what material you’re welding. What’s Your Material?ĭifferent materials have different characteristics related to heat and electricity. Welding is a custom craft, and it depends on a lot of variables. There’s no generic assortment of settings that always applies. Your MIG settings, like those of any welding process, depend heavily on the job you’re approaching. There’s more to this than grabbing your MIG machine and twisting the dials. Now let’s get that machine set up properly… Before Setting Your MIG Controls You are probably here for this reason, so I’ll explain the main MIG settings and how they should be adjusted. One of those details is setting the right parameters on your new MIG welder for the job at hand. That means some people don’t get a few of the fine details welders learn about in school. There are a lot of people out there with welding machines who don’t have formal training. I think that’s great, but there is one drawback… The growing DIY movement means a lot more people are welding now. ![]()
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