Hobby MIG Welding Calculator

This calculator is intended as a guide to initial power and wire feed settings for people new to welding. The settings in the calculator suit me (a DIY welder).

Take it as a starting point but use other pages on this tutorial (such as the page about setting wire speed and the one about finding the right voltage setting) and play around on some scrap to find settings that suit your own welding speed and technique.

Enter information about your welder

Minimum output current:

amps

Maximum output current:

amps

Number of power settings:

Choose Units:


 

How to use the calculator

These figures can be found from manufacturer or retailers' specs.

For example a Sip Migmate 130 has a minimum output current of 25 amps, maximum of 130 amps, and has 6 power settings.

Use the links below to fill in the form with data for the following welders:

Clarke 90EN

SIP Migmate 130

Clarke 160TE

Portamig 181

The estimates will appear in a table (above) after you have filled in the form.

Wire speed Reference

The 0.6mm wire size figures have been tested to 2mm and the figures are extrapolated. The 0.8mm figures have been extrapolated from the 0.6mm results so will be less reliable, but they are at least a starting point. Where the figures are against a grey background the wire size isn't really suitable for the material thickness.

The markings on welder wire feed controls do not represent speed in metres per minute. Measure the speed using a stopwatch and tape measure. It might be useful to mark positions around the wire feed knob for future use.

Steel Thickness (mm)

Wire Speed (metres per minute)

 

0.6mm wire

0.8mm wire

0.8

2.5

1.6

1.0

3

1.9

1.2

3.6

2.2

1.5

4.3

2.6

2.0

5.6

3.5

3.0

7.9

4.9

4.0

9.8

6.1

5.0

12.5

7.7

How it was done

The estimates are based on experimental results from a Clarke 90EN, a Clarke 155T, and a Portamig 181, and gaps have been filled in by extrapolation. The method is un-scientific, but the results seem quite accurate for my own welding technique and at the very least should be good for a starting point.

The settings are only intended as a starting point. The wire speed and power settings pages should help fine tune the settings for your welder and welding technique.

Feedback

Do post on the forum with any feedback or problems you may have with the calculator or my suggested settings.

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