Beginner

[John1234]

Hi there, I am John, I am trying to restore a Mini and welding is required. I thought it would be sensible to learn how to weld before starting so I went on a 3 day introduction to welding course, it was brill. I have now purchased a Wolf Mig 140 which is big enough for what I need.

I have had endless problems with jerky wire feed, I have now sorted it, was surprised how tight I had to do the tensioner up.

My problem now is I blow holes in my work, I have it on the lowest setting but have to have the wire feed quite high otherwise its no good at all. It always happens on a join (two metal edges together). Should I be overlapping the weld rather than trying to weld it flush or could it be my settings? I have the gas on 10L/permin.

Thanks in advance, John

 

[John1234]

Also should have said it's 0.9mm steel, and using 0.6mm wire.

 

[norlander]

was surprised how tight I had to do the tensioner up. Think that is not right John-I consider myself a novice mig welder so I would wait until an experienced chap comes along to comment.

My problem now is I blow holes in my work, I have it on the lowest setting but have to have the wire feed quite high- there is a relation between wire speed and juice-higher wire speed put in more juice (As I understand it-needs comment by more experienced member on here) you may need to "pulse" the weld- that is to say weld a couple of millimetres, release trigger for a second or two then go again-sort of joined up spot welds in way.
Badly prepped steel and/ or bad earth can get you turning the wire speed up.
I think the Wolf kit is not well thought of on here so unfortunately that may be a factor-but I have no knowledge or experience of Wolf welding kit.

 

[BrokenBiker]

wire tensioner should only be tight enough to just push the wire through consistently. Sounds to me like you have liner issues, possibly a kink in the torch liner.

with regards to blowing through, you should have power switch on lowest setting, and i would assume wire feed about halfway.

if you are struggling to get a run going, look at the mig tutorials, there is a section on stitch welding which is how i weld all bodywork

 

[John1234]

Thanks for your replies

 

[mike 109444]

Might be worth checking the wire spool holder as it should have a clutch/anti-run on device that needs to be loose enough for the wire feed motor to PULL the wire through but not so loose that the spool OVER-RUNS.

 

[Wallace]

Even without wirefeed issues the 30 Amp minimum stated on a Wolf Mig 140 is not going to help with 0.9 sheet as you can't hang about. A copper backing plate might help but it's not always easy to get one in place. What gas are you using?

 

[Richard.]

You say you have the wf speed quite high. This is most of your issue with burn through as hi wire feed = hi amps = deeper penetration. If your machine dose not allow you to decrease the wire feed then it will pay you to add a volt or two to give the weld some spread. With welding on cars it pays to do it in small tacks one slightly overlapping the other making sure you allow the tack to go silver solid before applying the next. Also where ever you can try to use a lap joint . Arc on the top and allow it to run and wet the edge on the bottom.