14 replies to this topic

[andymini12]

i got a welder about 2-3 months ago off ebay and now it is starting to get a bit warmer and have money to buy gas and other things i need to learn to weld. so i am wondering what gas to get and what is best i see alot a people use CO2 and argon mix right ? or is other gas better for welding pannels on the mini i need to do a patch on the wheel arch and a couple of patches on the boot floor and the rear boot hinge pannel. also what wire is best for that ? it would be helpfull if someone could give me some tips to learn to weld and what settings to use.
Many thanks Andy

[Carlos W]

http://www.adamsgas....ies.aspx?id=132
I was going to use the 5% argon CO2 mix

These people seem cheaper than BOC and as you're in Kent delivery charges are reasonable.

There was a thread the other day about getting some welding classes running in Kent,

http://www.theminifo...x...79806&st=15

Edit to add link

Edited by Carlos W, 05 February 2011 - 02:48 PM.

[andymini12]

i was thinking of getting gas from some place in ramsgate but they look good as well.
welding class would be great i would be instrested , well me and my dad.
Cheers Andy

[OllieTheWelder]

Join the Welding forum, there really helpful. http://www.mig-weldi...earchid=1280743

Ollie.

[Carlos W]

Adams are in Margate, but for the £5 they charge to deliver within Kent I don't think it's worth driving the 100 mile round trip to go and collect it!

[sonikk4]

Hi get the Argon/CO2 mix this will be the best for your needs. With regards to the welder, what make is it? as this will give us an idea as to what power settings/wire speed you may need.

They all differ you just need to find a setting that works well for you. Generally you will only need a low power setting for mini panels as they are so thin, how ever on the thicker stuff like the rear heelboard will need a slightly higher setting for correct weld penetration.

Wire wise .6mm is fine for what you need to do although for heavier welding then .8mm would be better. Stick with the .6mm as this is what i have been using for Project Erm and it has been more than good enough.

The rest is down to practise, get yourself some old panels of the same thickness .9mm make sure the area you are going to weld is totally clean, no paint/primer etc. Where you attach the earth needs to be immaculately clean as this will determine how good the welds will be. Bad earth means bad or no welds its as simple as that.

To start try tack welding the panels together, use a spacing of 1" between welds. Once you are happy the tacks are strong, good penetration (turn the piece other you should see a high point of metal with heat rings.)
The next step you can do pulse welding which is multiple tack welds contacting each other to basically form a continuous weld. If this works well then you can start to do seam welding. Still keep a spacing of an inch tack welds, seam weld in between each tack to keep the distortion down so weld an inch miss an inch and so on.

This is just a general rule of thumb. There is a mig welding forum which will give you all the info you could possibly need.

[andymini12]

thanks for that, it is really helpfull.
and yes i have just been looking through that forum at the tips and learning to weld and have found out abit.
oh and yh i knew i forgot something i have a Clarke MIG255TEC which is this welder http://www.machinema...ial-mig-welders
Cheers Andy

Edited by andymini12, 05 February 2011 - 03:20 PM.

[andymini12]

Adams are in Margate, but for the £5 they charge to deliver within Kent I don't think it's worth driving the 100 mile round trip to go and collect it!

i think i will get gas from there then. that is something i will do next week. so i need to get a CO2 and argon mix but what percent of the mix ?
Cheers Andy

[sonikk4]

Fair play that is a powerful welder, mine is the Clarke 135TE much smaller power range with only one rotary switch for the wire feed and two rocker switches for power settings.

Start on your lowest power setting and wire feed speed at two, this is only a guess as your wire speed range will be greater than mine. Go from there really. Gas pressure depends whether you are welding inside or outside. The gas regulator does it have two gauges, one for bottle pressure the other for nozzle pressure? for me as i weld inside i tend not to use the gauge reading but just have mine set to a gentle hiss which is fine for me. If i'm outside then i try to shiled the welding area and also increase the gas pressure to prevent loss of shielding gas.

[andymini12]

yh it is a powerfull one lol, but i was going to get the 160te new ( i think it was that one) but then this one was not much more second hand on ebay so i thought might as well get that as it will be more usefull if i have to weld a lot thicker stuff not for the mini.
and i will try those power settings and wire feed when i get gas and have ago at welding. and im not sure if i have 2 gauges i carnt remember i will have a look later. i just need to know what mix to get now 5% or 20%.
Cheers Andy

[sonikk4]

Argoshield Light is approximately 93% Argon, 5% CO2 and 2% oxygen. So the 5% ratio would be fine.

[andymini12]

ok great looks like i will be buying argo sheild light.
thanks for all the help.
Andy

[andymini12]

ok great looks like i will be buying argo sheild light.
thanks for all the help.
Andy

[ibrooks]

"•Operates from 30Amp, 230V power supply"

You do of course have one of those don't you?

I use straight CO2 with the mig welder on car bodywork and have never seen a difference between it and either CO2/Argon mix or pure Argon on mild steel. The only place I use anything different is with the TIG but then I don't use that for bodywork.

Iain

[andymini12]

yes my dads a sparky so fitted a 30 amp socket when we got it
i think im going to go for the argon mix, appently it helps it not splat as much.
Andy