Changed to Argon/Co2 and now blowing holes.

[Wastedd]

I have been welding 1mm car body panels with a Clarke 135TE. I have been getting on fine with it using the disposible Co2 bottle that came with it. That ran out today and I switched to Argon/Co2 mix. (got them as i thought they were meant to be better and were the same price as co2).

Now when welding the arc has a green glow and I am getting much more heat. To the point of blowing through panels and generally making a right mess.

Any ideas. Should I switch back to Co2 or am i doing something wrong??

cheers

 

[madkayaker]

turn the welder down a bit and drop the wire feed rate the argon mix is giveing better penetration

 

[Wastedd]

turn the welder down a bit and drop the wire feed rate the argon mix is giveing better penetration

Cheers for quick reply madkayaker.

I'm on the lowest setting and have tried dropping the wire speed. Any slower and it burns back up the wire.

Looks like I am better off getting some more co2 and saving the argon mix for if i do any thicker metal in the future.

cheer again.

 

[shenion]

The current will be a bit higher on argon mixes. You will need to move faster. Takes practice.

Also easier with 0.6mm wire.

 

[madkayaker]

or try pulsing the trigger welding thin stuff is a pain there is some god advice i the tutorial section

 

[Sparkey]

or try pulsing the trigger welding thin stuff is a pain there is some god advice i the tutorial section

MK please take your time to type your posts.....it will be more understandable!

 

[madkayaker]

what did i miss

 

[Sparkey]

what did i miss

LOL nevermind...

 

[Omniata]

I think MK meant to say:

or try pulsing the trigger, welding thin stuff can be a pain, there is some good advice in the tutorial section

Apologies for retyping MK, I know your dyslexic, others don't

 

[madkayaker]

my bad

 

[Drains]

what did i miss

Punctuation. At least it was only a few words though. I've seen essays on here without a comma or a full stop.
Take no notice of Sparkles MK, she must have got out the bed the wrong side, or something.

 

[Wastedd]

Cheers for advice all.

Have tried all those accept the thinner wire. I'll give it a go tomorrow with 0.6, If not then I'll get a couple more co2 bottles. Even the thin metal technique blows through some of the crap panels I'm joining.

 

[Drains]

Wastedd, check you are getting gas through. Those co2/argon bottles have a rep for a short valve stub that doesn't open properly even if the reg is full on.

 

[Sparkey]

I think MK meant to say:




Apologies for retyping MK, I know your dyslexic, others don't

I know what he meant to say....and i know he's dyslexic!
So is our other forum member Jugs....but it doesn't show because he takes his time while typing his posts....
Sorry MK i don't mean it bad! And i sure don't want to upset you!

she must have got out the bed the wrong side, or something.

Wtf?

 

[Wastedd]

Wastedd, check you are getting gas through. Those co2/argon bottles have a rep for a short valve stub that doesn't open properly even if the reg is full on.

I did notice that I needed to turn the knob more before I got any gas. Not lack of gas though as tried with it off and made some nice bird poo just to be sure.

 

[Drains]

Wtf?

 

[W4yne]

If you don't already do so, you could also try pulling the torch towards you as this will give you a slightly lesser penetration the pushing.

 

[Uniqueusername]

Cheers for advice all.

Have tried all those accept the thinner wire. I'll give it a go tomorrow with 0.6, If not then I'll get a couple more co2 bottles. Even the thin metal technique blows through some of the crap panels I'm joining.

Silly question, but you are trying to weld STEEL and not rusty ****e aren't you ?
If it's half rusted through then the CO2 might be all that's saving you and now you're on mix gas it's showing up.
If this is the case then going back to CO2 isn't the answer !!!
The good steel can be at least a foot away from the hole.............

 

[brightspark]

QUOTE=Uniqueusername;243556]Silly question, but you are trying to weld STEEL and not rusty ****e aren't you ?
If it's half rusted through then the CO2 might be all that's saving you and now you're on mix gas it's showing up.
If this is the case then going back to CO2 isn't the answer !!!
The good steel can be at least a foot away from the hole.............[/QUOTE]you have heard the saying if u see an inch theres 6inch to weld

 

[GeorgeB]

the argon mix is giveing better penetration

Thanks for the warning. The last thing I'd want when welding thin car body panels is better penetration so I'll abandon plans which I had to give argon/CO2 a try some time.