Miller 110 welding wire advice? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Apr 9, 2003
Threads
137
Messages
1,414
Location
Libertyville, Il.
Dumb question but I thought I would ask. I am doing some body work on my 45 wagon again and think I am using the wrong wire on the mig. I have the small Miller 110 box and after I weld in the spots, it takes me forever to grind the welds down. Guessing they are too hard of a material vs the old metal.

Could someone give me the wire info I should be using so I can try something new. I am hoping this might make the process a bit easier for this novice. Cause at this rate it will be 2010 before the wagon gets some paint!

Thanks!

Goebs
 
I've got a Miller 135 that I used .035 wire in as a multipurpose. When it died after about 6 years of abuse, the repair guy said not to use .035 as it burned up the gun. The rest of the welder is fine.

I now use .030. Which is kinda a drag because I have about 10 big rolls of .035.

For body work, you could probably drop down to .023.

The weld is gonna be harder than the surrounding metal. I use a roloc sanding disc in my right angle grinder or a flap wheel in the 4".

If you didn't have big giant booger welds, it'd be easier to clean up.:flipoff2:
 
If you didn't have big giant booger welds, it'd be easier to clean up.....

that is part of my problem.....

going to try the .023.

Thanks! And remind me to post more in "outfitting"????!!!!!!!
 
.023 may help some....also slow the wire speed down some, so you aren't shoving so much new material in there.
 
Make sure you are running a 75/25 argon/co2 mix straight argon is not as good for your situation. 023 or 030 wire should both work. Wire wheel weld areas before welding to clean off oxidation. Clip/sidecut the little ball off the wire each time you start a new weld.

Are you running continous beads? Is warping a problem too? Have you ever ran a stringer bead before? Turn your welder up a setting and pump the trigger on 2 secs off 2 secs and lay tacks back to back in a line. These will be flatter than a solid bead and will put less heat into the metal.

Kirk
 
This is all good advice. I am hoping to get over there one night this week and try again. I like the 2 second system. I am thinking I am putting way too much weld down. Just truying to fill all the holes though...

I am learning the hard way!
 
I was at the welding shop the other day and they have a new gas ??, cannot remember the name that helps get the 110 puddle just a little hotter to achieve a good 1/8 weld pass.

Or so the dude told me.

Rob
 
that would be TRI-MIX. This is a Argon/Co2/oxygen mixture. It would help in some ways on heavy material. I am not crazy about it myself. Its kinda like putting nitrous on a 4 cylinder, when you really need a v8 to do the job.

The whole concept about running a sheilding gas is to flood the weld area with inert gas. So why would one want oxygen introduced into the weld zone. Ever start to weld and forget to turn on the tank valve? This how oxygen contaminates welds.

Some gas shops dont sell this,so check around. If you are trying to weld 1/4 and up plate with a 110 welder tri mix is not the answer. the best answer would be to buy a 250 amp machine. If that is not feasible then steal or borrow a 250 amp machine. If this cant be done try this: heat up your weld joints with a torch just a bit, not red hot or even any color change. Then drop the torch and quickly weld with the 110 machine on full blast.
 
kirk said:
that would be TRI-MIX. This is a Argon/Co2/oxygen mixture. It would help in some ways on heavy material. I am not crazy about it myself. Its kinda like putting nitrous on a 4 cylinder, when you really need a v8 to do the job.

The whole concept about running a sheilding gas is to flood the weld area with inert gas. So why would one want oxygen introduced into the weld zone. Ever start to weld and forget to turn on the tank valve? This how oxygen contaminates welds.

Some gas shops dont sell this,so check around. If you are trying to weld 1/4 and up plate with a 110 welder tri mix is not the answer. the best answer would be to buy a 250 amp machine. If that is not feasible then steal or borrow a 250 amp machine. If this cant be done try this: heat up your weld joints with a torch just a bit, not red hot or even any color change. Then drop the torch and quickly weld with the 110 machine on full blast.

agreed. Trimix is a nice try to make the home 110 welder do more, and it makes for a hotter (read better penetrated) weld when using welders of too small output. But the oxygen can't do a weld much good - it'd likely be porous and brittle.

Goubber, it sounds like you're not using enough heat, or don't have enough available. When you end up with large rounded weld piles that are much higher than the surfaces of the joint it's because you aren't penetrating the material with your first pass and are laying weld on top of weld. Most wire is harder than mild steel so you're struggling to remove excess wire that is just lying on top of your joint and not helping the actual weld much if at all.

There's lots of this that people do, especially with mig welders. Big piles of metal that looks like welding but really isn't the making of a good fused joint.
 
honk said:
But the oxygen can't do a weld much good - it'd likely be porous and brittle.

.


you'd think, but that's not the case.
the O2 content is pretty low. it's there to help control the arc, though i don't know how it does that.
we use a couple of mixed bottles that contain O2.
 
Anybody have any pictures? I've been welding using a a little 110 wirefeed and I'm been pretty happy with .35 flux core, I would like to fill in a ton of little holes in the body of the FJ40 though and some pictures of any work you've done would be nice...
 
Get a thick copper plate and put it behind the sheetmetal.
The weld won't stick to the copper. Fill away..

My little 110V kicks butt with .035 flux core. I firmly believe that if you need penetration you have to use flux core and thicker wire. Gas does nothing but make the puddle cooler.
 
On a 110 machine, smallest wire you can get and slow down the wire speed and turn up the voltage. It'll fry like bacon and get good penetration (MIG) and use a CO2/Ar mix. So what if you have to do more than one pass. That is what a grinder is for to clean it up, smooth it down or bevel the edges to get better pentration. Flux core does nothing but make a freaking mess to clean up everytime. Ask me how I know.

:cool:
 
1. You should not have to grind down your welds.
2. The smaller wire will actually get less penetration...
3. Use the Antispatter before you weld with flux core. The little bb's fall off then..
 
Mace said:
1. You should not have to grind down your welds.
2. The smaller wire will actually get less penetration...
3. Use the Antispatter before you weld with flux core. The little bb's fall off then..

1. Many times in fabrication, specifications call out "butt joints" (no such thing as a "butt weld") to be ground down flush. I see it every day. Never said you have to grind down all welds, just makes multiple passes "purty". :D
2. Your opinion to which you are entitled. :) On a 110 machine, a smaller wire w/ the same voltage per cross sectional area will get hotter than a larger wire with a larger cross sectional area and the same voltage...thus the smaller wire will get the base metal hotter, thus penetrating more. Hotter is better. :grinpimp:
3. Flux core still makes a mess compared to MIG.

I'll agree to disagree.

:beer: :popcorn:

:cool:
 
how can melted metal get "hotter"???

:D

And yeah, as far as cleanup goes flux sucks ass compared to mig. But it does penetrate better.. :D
 
Mace said:
how can melted metal get "hotter"???

:D

And yeah, as far as cleanup goes flux sucks ass compared to mig. But it does penetrate better.. :D

Lick your finger and touch it and you'll see. :D

Molten metal is hotter than non-molten metal...that is why it is molten.

On a limited welder, yes, flux core wire penetrates better w/ the same applied voltage. On the big dog welders, flux core is just messy :grinpimp: and extra unnecessary work for clean-up.

Back to "actually" welding instead of chatting about it...

:cool:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom