What flux core wires to keep on hand?

[A-one]

I have a Lincoln Pro Mig 180. I'm thinking that since I'm only running flux core for now, I need to keep .030 for thinner material and .045 for thicker (since I did go ahead and get the .045 kit). Don't really see the need to fool with any .035. I'm messing around with 10-16 gauge most of the time. People bring me lawn furniture and other items that are thinner than the 16 gauge from time to time. I get the occasional 1/4" pieces here and there. If im looking at this wrong, somebody let me know.

 

[CA_Bgrwldr]

.045 will likely increase the chance of warping the surrounding material, with that machine, .035 should weld up to 3/8's.

With edge beveling, you likely wont need anything more than .030 for any 1/4" repairs with lawn furniture.

 

[A-one]

The only difference that I notice between them is how much filler gets laid down. Since I usually have a really slow travel speed, the. 045 makes a bigger weld than I really need. I usually run a little higher wire feed than what the door chart recommends.

 

[CA_Bgrwldr]

Do you get the same puddle size issue with stitch welds, or just continuous? If both, might try a lower speed than the door chart recommends.

 

[A-one]

Stitch welds? If you're referring to a tack here, move, another tack, move, and repeat until all tacks meet, I very seldom even try it. The last time I did that, someone brought me a lawn mower with a busted muffler. After a few stitches, I said screw it and ran a quick small bead.

As far as the bigger puddle, for some reason, the door chart has a recommended setting for a certain thickness of metal. When I try that setting, it never welds consistently. Turning the feed speed up will make it burn consistently, but from reading, I know it's a little hotter weld. The added feed increases the amperage. I just go with it. The recommended setting will usually do a lot of stuttering. Arc,stop, arc ,stop. Never tried lowering the voltage, and leaving the feed speed. I'll check into that tomorrow though.

But I really do believe keeping .030 and .045 will be ok for what I do until I decide to get a mixed gas bottle to do the thinner material with. I'm disabled, and the flux core allows me to do what I need to do at a lower cost. All I have to do is keep wire around.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think the info on the doors of the machines are just an estimate to get you in the ball park, just like other info from books that tell you a certain amperage to run an electrode on. Take them with a grain of salt and then adjust your machine to run smoothly by moving the dials up or down as required to meet the welding parameters. With MIG you want that sizzling sound but not so much that you are burning thru. By contrast, you dont want the bead to just lay on the metal like a dead caterpillar either. Amperage adjustment might not get you all that you need and a change in wire size may also be needed.

 

[2Strokin]

Every wire manufacturer puts out a spec sheet, usually in PDF format, that lists the proper voltage and WFS combinations to use with that wire. Reference these when setting your welder, NOT the door chart. I learned this lesson the hard way and my FCAW welds are as smooth as butter now.

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[A-one]

I just use the door chart as a starting point, then get a piece of scrap to try the weld out on. Usually around 25-50 more IPM will give me the frying bacon. I've gotten used to giving a little more feed speed, so I just go a little higher and work my way down.

I've read the spec sheet for the wires I have used. There's so much overlap between .030 and .035, and that's the reason I was thinking about not bothering with the .035. Im going to try it out though. I believe keeping a spool of .030 and some. 045 will be a good fit for me.

 

[CA_Bgrwldr]

Stitch welds? If you're referring to a tack here, move, another tack, move, and repeat until all tacks meet, I very seldom even try it. The last time I did that, someone brought me a lawn mower with a busted muffler. After a few stitches, I said screw it and ran a quick small bead.

By stitch weld I mean just a short weld, 1" or so, over a continuous weld. You stated you have a slow hand speed, I was thinking that if the puddle build-up was just with continuous welds, your hand speed may be the issue. Does your beads kind of look like this?


How are you welding, dragging or pushing the puddle, and how are you moving the torch? For flux, you should be dragging the puddle with a side to side torch motion,

Lincoln has a few flux welding videos on youtube that may help.

lincolnelectrictv

We are a global manufacturer and market leader of the highest quality, most innovative and cost effective arc welding and metal cutting solutions.

www.youtube.com

 

[A-one]

That's basically what I end up with. I let the puddle tell me how fast to move. I get a bigger bead size with .045 because I move so slow. The bead will be oversized with .035 too, but not as bad as with .045.

I always drag, unless I have to get into an odd spot where it would be hard to pull back. I've watched the Lincoln and Miller videos, read literature, Googled any question that ran through my mind, and asked questions of people that know how to weld.

 

[CA_Bgrwldr]

That's basically what I end up with. I let the puddle tell me how fast to move. I get a bigger bead size with .045 because I move so slow. The bead will be oversized with .035 too, but not as bad as with .045.
.

Might try increasing the voltage and dialing back the wire speed, and see if you can find a fit for your hand speed.

 

[A-one]

Might try increasing the voltage and dialing back the wire speed, and see if you can find a fit for your hand speed.

As slow as I move, increasing the voltage almost guarantees me a burn through. For whatever reason, with just about every recommended setting, the wire feed is a little slow for the voltage. It just won't feed consistently until I turn the feed speed up a little.

The exception is tap E. I haven't gotten that one under control. That's what convinced me to get the kit to run .045 wire. I assumed from looking at the spec sheet for the wires that I was putting too much voltage through them. I believe the .035 innershield was something like 150 amps at it's high end. I haven't really practiced a whole lot with that last voltage tap. I definitely can't get it to ruin vertical, up or down. The weld just falls out.

I do like the way that .045 NR 212 runs though, so I decided I definitely want to keep some of that around. Im just going with that and a .030 E71T-11 wire. I believe .030 NR211MP goes up to 130 amps. Everything else will get the .045 NR212.

Just trying to keep it as simple as possible, because at some point I'm going to get a bottle of either 75/25 or 100% CO2. When that happens, I'll just run the solid wire for all of my small, thin steel projects that I keep inside, and run the flux core on projects that I can't get into the garage.

 

[2Strokin]

Which brand and diameter of wire are you running when you burn through?

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[Gary Fowler]

Hey Guys, Yomax sent me some Welcote .030 flux core wire and it is the best I have used. Low spatter and good penetration. If you can find some, give it a try. I think it is better than the Lincoln NR211. It also produced a really smooth weld bead

 

[A-one]

Which brand and diameter of wire are you running when you burn through?

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I've never bought anything but the Lincoln wire. Depending on what I'm welding, I can blow through with any diameter. CA_Bgrwldr was saying I should try increasing my voltage, and decreasing my feed speed to try to find a good fit for my slow travel speed. I think that would cause a burn through. Basically a wider arc, and the welder tends to work a little better when I go a little higher on feed speed than the settings suggest. That going to give me too much penetration.

I believe I just need to speed up. I tend to let my bead build a little more than is necessary. Something about watching molten steel just captivates me. ???

 

[2Strokin]

Use this chart. Ignore your door chart. On thin stuff stay in the lower range. On thick stuff stay near the top. The door charts don't take into consideration your brand of wire. This chart is for NR-211.

 

[A-one]

Use this chart. Ignore your door chart. On thin stuff stay in the lower range. On thick stuff stay near the top. The door charts don't take into consideration your brand of wire. This chart is for NR-211.

I've looked at those too. Yet another reason I don't feel I need .035 wire. The .030 and .035 have a lot of overlap. Between .030 and .045, the range of my machine is covered. NR 211 MP in .030 and NR 212 in .045.

I'll get some practice in sometime soon. A friend of mine had some scrap laying around at his job that they were about to get rid of. A few pieces of 1/4" angle and flat. Even a hopper about 4 feet tall or so. Once I get a few other things taken care of, I'll start playing in that pile.

 

[CA_Bgrwldr]

While burn through is usually caused by excessive heat, thicker wire than needed, poor quality steel, and slow hand speed will also cause burn through.

With your hand speed being fixed, I was thinking a little higher voltage setting would keep your puddle hotter a little longer allowing you to feed it a little slower matching your hand speed.
Stitch welding over seem welding will also help reduce burn through and may be a better fit for your hand speed.

Do you get the same build up issue with .030? Have you tried welding 1/4" with .030 on a higher setting?

 

[Gary Fowler]

Decreasing the wire feed speed will have the same effect as lowering the amperage when stick welding. If you are burning thru, drop the feed speed down 30-50 IPM and lower the voltage 1 volt. If you can play with the dials while you weld, you can get it tuned in quickly.

My Titanium also has a dial for impedance which I havent figured that out yet so I just put it on 5 (1-10 is the setting) and it seems to do ok.
You also can just point your wire back into the puddle and fill most any burn thru if you arent running extremely hot. I can run a pretty good root pass downhill with my machine and it fills gaps really well going down hill while pointing the wire back into the puddle. I am still a bit fuzzy on the definitions of Push and Pull that I hear folks talking about but I weld MIG just like I do stick with the electrode pointing toward the puddle and pulling the torch back down the groove.

 

[A-one]

I believe it was a combination of different things giving me fits. I figured out the .030 is the way to go for me. I bought a roll of Hobart E71T-11 in .030, and tried it out today. I have more control over how hot I want to run it. I can slow the feed down, and still get it to weld consistently.

The problem with anything bigger is the wire will stub using the settings on the door chart. I consistently get arc, stop, arc, stop. When I got the welder, I thought I was having feed problems. That happens until I go higher on the feed. Once I turn the feed up, it will arc until I let off the trigger. My welder is supposed to be rated for 50-500 IPM. With 1-10 on the feed speed dial, I assume that every number is 50 IPM. I usually have to go up about 50 IPM to get a consistent arc.

With all that being said, it's either I like the Hobart wire better, or .030 gives a little more room for adjustment. Since the Hobart wire comes in 5 pound spools at Tractor Supply, I think I'll stick to it. I can run it like I want, and the price wasn't bad. About $46 for 5 pounds comes to $8.20/ pound. I'll just keep the .045 for when im messing around with 3/16 and thicker. The NR 212 in .045 does great on thicker material.