Amount of metal in a wire

[Jackson]

"I use .030 wire in my 135 mig which is solid, I was wondering compared to flux core which is hollow filled with flux, what size of solid wire would a .035 flux core compare to. (amount of Metal laid down) "

Will I be putting down as much metal using .035 flux core wire as .030 solid wire?

 

[Justme]

Wont you just rune the wire feed at slower or faster settings to compensate?

Just like when using dif wire sizes normally?

 

[Jackson]

This is one of my "Hmmmmmm" thoughts. I was just thinking about it and wondered how the two wires compared in joining two metals in the amount of metal laid down. If the wire speed was the same for both then could you say that the .030 solid and the .035 flux core wire contained the same amount of metal.

 

[TechnicAl]

The fill amounts to about 15% by weight, however, some of this is Manganese and Silicon. A metal cored is filled with Mn/Si and Iron Powder so its 100%.
Most FCW will give you 1kg of weld for every 1.15 to 1.20 Kg of wire.

MCW will give 1Kg of weld for every 1.05 - 1.1 Kg of wire

0.035" is about 20% increase on 0,030" (using cross sectional area)

So they should be about the same. The advantage is that the FCW could withstand a lot more current than the solid so the actual deposition rate (Kg/hour) could be double. Providing you have the equipment and the joint to take advantage.

The advantage is that the current passes down the tube with less resistance so you can use higher currents (wire feed speed) without overheating.

 

[Jackson]

Thanks for the feed back. I guess I will play around so more with my wires.

 

[TechnicAl]

They cant touch you for it