Worlds most useless welder

[12jslater]

just wondering where the hell i am going wrong, i try to tac weld with my mig welder and i blow a hole in the steel on even the lowest setting. I have tried for a few hours now and can't get beyond this step, I'm a fairly practical person, i deal with classic cars but never got into the welding side of things before, now i need to put repair panels in under the rear wings and i seems completely unable to learn a thing.

hope to hear your advice

 

[DSR]

Welcome.

Type of welder ? Gas/Gasless, type of gas, flow rate ? indoors/outdoors.

Lots of variables !!!

Give more information, show somel pictures as well.

 

[My Old Landy]

Hi and welcome. What machine do you have? Gas or gasless? Can you post a picture of the welder and the settings used? Pictures of the test pieces are also worth posting

Edit: I was a bit slow!

 

[lincoln2013]

Maybe your welders lowest setting is too high for the thickness steel you have.
Try clamping some copper bar behind your work to act as a heat sink.

 

[Barking Mat]

If your on minimum settings and still blowing holes doing tack welds...

A) it's too powerful.

B) the amp knob ain't working.

 

[Barking Mat]

Photos of machine, and a data plate, usually on the back.

Should tell us what we need to know, to help you.

And welcome to the best forum.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Last time I lost my temper was when I started to learn to MIG. So don't feel too bad.

More details, more photos, put yourself under less pressure, and you will get there.

 

[Shedendman]

just wondering where the hell i am going wrong, i try to tac weld with my mig welder and i blow a hole in the steel on even the lowest setting. I have tried for a few hours now and can't get beyond this step, I'm a fairly practical person, i deal with classic cars but never got into the welding side of things before, now i need to put repair panels in under the rear wings and i seems completely unable to learn a thing.

hope to hear your advice

How long have you been dealing with classic cars?

 

[tom2207]

polarity the wrong way round maybe ...
as we used to sat
RTFM
welding takes practice and patience ,,,, but if you enjoy it , its not a chore , its almost a zen like experience.

 

[a111r]

I'm thinking that the issue here may be pointing towards all the many £80 gasless things bought on-line.
Too high a minimum output, as around 55 Amps is common, which is too high for body panels.

 

[Wildefalcon]

True, but is good enough to learn how to weld on 6mm plate, and these skills can transfer to a lower power machine.

Photos please?

 

[Mr Fixer]

Welcome along! If you’re trying to weld to steel that’s not clean, ie still a bit rusty and thin you will just keep chasing a hole. Cut back a bit further to better material if possible. Plus all the above points.

 

[Dcal]

Need to know the setup, but my recient expierence of gasless wire -

I was welding a patch last weekend and ran out of gas.
I had a roll of 0.8 gasless wire that I bought, for just this eventuality, the last time I ran out.
I couldn't get Lincoln or EWM or any other "named" make locally so bought a roll of "no name" E71T-GS.
It was £45 for a 5kg roll and from a proper welding suppliers so I thought it would be ok.
It was well packaged and the roll was vacuum foil packed inside the box so looked promising.

I have the knurled rollers, which worked well with very little pressure.
I changed the polarity and tried the recommended settings.
On 3mm thick it welded fine first go and I could get a sound weld, not the prettiest but a reasonable weld.
However on bodywork, I could not get it to work on a butt weld at all, on an overlap it welded but was just horrible.
The lowest settings on my welder (Rtec MTS255S) are 15.5v and 30 amp so maybe the voltage was a bit high.
I tried every variation I could think of but it was always pants,

I waited till Monday to get gas and fixed the total mess as best I could.
Has anybody ever had good results with gasless wire on thin steel?
Gasless would be a good option for welding a car outside (if it worked)
And God help anyone trying to learn with it.

 

[daf45]

I wonder if you are trying on the actual rusty holed pieces of metal that need repair already? To be clear most people need to learn, and much practice on a bench with sound metal before moving on to patching rusty car bodywork upside down! Do provide more information and or pics so that we are better able to offer advice. Oh and welcome to the forum.

 

[DSR]

I wonder if you are trying on the actual rusty holed pieces of metal that need repair already? To be clear most people need to learn, and much practice on a bench with sound metal before moving on to patching rusty car bodywork upside down! Do provide more information and or pics so that we are better able to offer advice. Oh and welcome to the forum.

The old maxim still rings true - you can weld to rusty metal - you can't weld to rust.

Problem is, has 12jslater come back to read any of this ?

Enquiring minds want to know

 

[daf45]

Not if you struggle to weld even a couple of tacks you can't....

Yes shame if people ask like this, and what, 10 or 12 people offer to try and help - and OP is never to be seen again?! Shrugs

 

[Myles1970]

Not if you struggle to weld even a couple of tacks you can't....

Yes shame if people ask like this, and what, 10 or 12 people offer to try and help - and OP is never to be seen again?! Shrugs

He (she/they ) hasn't been seen here since 8:31pm Friday....hope he's ok and the six offers of help/suggestions didn't send him over the edge