bit confused. thin welds

[gtimad73]

hi hope im posting this in the right area. what difference does 6mm wire make compared to 8mm wire. whats the point of have two wire sizes. and does it make life harder not using gas. ive been welding with a no gas clarke 160en on bottom setting on 0.8mm metal. and the welds are really thin (width). am i doing something wrong. or is this just low power/thin metal?

 

[Gasman]

The smaller the gauge you are welding the smaller the wire diameter required. IE for gauges less than 1mm to say 3mm, 0.6 wire should be fine. For heavier gauge welding you would do better with 0.8 and so on.

You would benefit from using gas specially for thin bodywork. If your welds tend to be tall, try turning up the power on a scrap piece to experiment & allow better penetration.

 

[mishka]

The difference is to do with area: 0.8mm wire has approximately twice the area of 0.6mm wire, so for a given wire speed you would feed in twice as much metal as you would for 0.6mm wire. And that affects current, penetration, deposition rates, etc.

 

[gtimad73]

thanks for the help. i'll give 6mm wire a go then, and get some gas.

 

[gtimad73]

The difference is to do with area: 0.8mm wire has approximately twice the area of 0.6mm wire, so for a given wire speed you would feed in twice as much metal as you would for 0.6mm wire. And that affects current, penetration, deposition rates, etc.

thats probably why i cant seam to get a good weld going with out blowing hole all over.

 

[gtimad73]

does gas have any cooling effect, or is it just there to keep the atmospher out of the weld?

 

[shenion]

Argon has a cooling effect.

CO2 or O2 is added to reduce the colling effect. It can actually increase the heat as it burns the surface of the metal.

 

[malcolm]

Post some photos of your welds. That would make it easier to diagnose unusual thinness problems.

0.6mm wire tends to make the welds even thinner on 0.8mm sheet. Though so long as you get the penetration the thin welds are an advantage - easier to grind off.

 

[gtimad73]

one last thing if i change wire size do i need a new tip???

 

[Wozzaaah]

one last thing if i change wire size do i need a new tip???

Ideally you should always use the correct tip size for the wire you're using but running 0.6mm wire through a 0.8mm tip is ok and sometimes helps prevent the wire sticking to the tip. Obviously you won't get 0.8mm wire through a 0.6mm tip .

 

[gtimad73]

thanks everyone you all been a great help