gasless Wire for the MIG welder

[ryf]

whats been the experience for you guys about which gasless flux wires work better for mild steel up to 1/8" thick, no smaller than 1/16" or 16 gauge'ish... I know how to size my arc welder, but the Mig is new to me, so looking for suggestions, I weld outside, no wind break, hence the switch to no gas (never could get a good shield on the windy days), ARC was never that finicky, but it requires 220v, which I can't get out to the welding area either right now.

 

[rookieshooter]

.030 looks like sh-t at first ,but then wire brush it off and if you like grind the splatter off and its not so bad. Thats why I went with flux core because of the wind.

 

[ryf]

I was more looking for the wire code... diameter is a good start, but like which brand and wire code are you happy with or using? like just Lincoln Electric NR211 ? I'm thinking about trying this as its at Home Depot (easy to get) but if someone has a better suggestion (tried and true) I'd pay to order it in or pay extra to get it elsewhere locally. The stuff I've got is unshielded, not working at all.

 

[rookieshooter]

ryf, I can tell you one thing I do not like this brand, When I went down to my local welder dealer he was out of my favorite. I need to go there tommorrow and I'll get back with you on what has worked great for me. Other people may find the above wire OK but i did not like it. I really never paid no attention to what brand because I trusted him and just went home and loaded the wire. I am no expert welder and have never made claims to be. So if it worked for me, maybe you also. Hey just noticed, look where its made. Shame on me, I did not see that untill I enlarged pic. You can best believe that won't happen again.

 

[ryf]

I know my brother in law was gasless for a long time, he was using a copper colored wire, it worked great for him, but he switched to gas last year and cant remember where he got it.

 

[jrgaylor]

I have had good results with this

 

[ryf]

what is the -GS stand for? my father in law has some -11, whats the difference, anyone know? or anyone know where theres a table so I can compare the definitions.. thanks for participating!

 

[james t]

The stuff I've got is unshielded, not working at all.

Not working? There really isnt alot of difference between the stuff unless you just get a bad spool. Was your rig on the bottle before? If so, did you remember to reverse polarity when you went to flux wire? Did you make sure to use the same size tip as the wire you're using?

I just use the .030 flux junk from tractor supply. I think its "weld-it" brand. Works fine. This is a crossmember i just finished up yesterday- .250 wall 2" tube. Little Hobart 140 on flux did just fine. All you have to do to make flux welds look pretty is wire brush them.

Im no expert welder, so dont make fun of my flux too hard.

 

[BeauJ]

I've got a 5 lb. reel of .030 Flux on my Miller. Like someone said, it looks like you have porosity in your welds, but sand them a little and it's fine. With the insulator I have, it will go up to .045 wire.

 

[ryf]

so I looked around, I came up with this, (now that I had 2 unique ID's it was alot easier)
-11 is designed for gasless semi-structural welding http://www.weldingmaterialsales.com/Product_pages/e71t11_productpage.htm

-GS was designed for gasless sheet metal work... the tensile strength seems very similar, so it may just be less likely to burn through thinner sheet.
http://www.weldingmaterialsales.com/Product_pages/e71tgs_productpage.htm

are there any other flux core gasless wire codes?

 

[james t]

Like someone said, it looks like you have porosity in your welds, but sand them a little and it's fine.

Huh? Who?

 

[ryf]

about that problem, it was setup for gas when I got it, but welding outside isn't working with that, so unshielded meant no gas/flux core. I did read the book, and reversed the polarity according to the manual, currently shopping for correct wire!

btw, thats a good looking weld.

 

[BeauJ]

No, I meant someone said they didn't look good when you weld on some metals with Flux.

I'm a certified welder, and make parts for Honda. Been welding for 3 years now, and there are only a few parts at the shop that you HAVE to use Flux on (stainless steel parts)

The flux I've got when I was welding my rollpan on would sometimes look like it was bubbling/knotting with porosity under it. But you sand it and no pinholes.

 

[james t]

Oh yea, its gotta be clean. I grind everythign down to white just to be sure. Most of what im working on now is either structural (crossmember, spring hangers, etc) or very structural (cage). I would hate for a weld to fail and ruin either a nice trip or my life just because i was too lazy to use the grinder for 15 seconds.

ryf- make sure youve got the same size tip in there for the wire you're using. I ran a .035 tip on .030 wire before by accident... determination made it work but its alot easier knowing you've got the right stuff to begin with. As for size/brand, size is gonna make the biggest difference. Id say stick with .030 and the Lincoln brand since its convenient for you to get. Practice with it and remember it takes less heat than whatever you ran on the bottle. If your welder did fine on gas with heat set at 3 with .023 then you'll probably run it on 2 with .030 flux. Getting the heat and wire speed dialed in minimizes spatter. Too hot and too much wire speed makes extra spatter with flux.

 

[BeauJ]

Too hot and too much wire speed makes extra spatter with flux.

Yes, and **** burns SOO much worse than regular wire. I've got the scars on my arms to prove it

 

[ryf]

tons of good data here, Thanks a bunch... I am going to try the -11 which is whats at home depot in .030, I've been concerned about it, since my ARC/STICK is all about the rod, the right rod = a easier time of it. I'll be making a sheet metal break with it (I can always do it right with ARC in the basement if need be, but the wife SOOO hates the smoke inside!!)

I've had experience with mig, just not with this mig, I think welders are alot like cars, they all have their own quirks, and you just have to get used to them.

***edit went down here***

My experience with mig has been on other peoples equipment, mostly I'd trim the speed/voltage and go about the welding, never really worried about the "details"

 

[ryf]

ok, bought BOTH E71T-GS and E71T-11 it makes a huge difference, believe it or not, the GS worked acceptable, but harder to get good weld quality (on my 1/8" angle iron butt weld, my typical work thickness) tried the -11 and its a WORLD of difference, granted, it is what its designed for, but IMHO it could make a difference if your not happy with your weld characteristics, the two examples here were of GS, which may mean your working harder than you have to, with the right wire, it was like a glove, it just fit. thanks again for all your help, gave it the NC hammer test, appeared both welds passed, -11 was just ALOT easier.