Can any one explain the settings on my new Static Arc 140 Mig welder, the Volts dial has numbers from 1 to 10 and are straight forward as there is a digital display telling you what the Volts are but the wire speed dial also has numbers going from 1 to 10 and virtually all the Mig welders I have looked at have A to G for the Volts and numbers like 237 or something like that for the wire speed, I keep hearing that most Mig welders come with a chart inside the wire install door but just my luck I purchased a Mig with no such chart and on contacting the sellers of my Mig they just said you have to play with the settings until you get it right which in my book does not help a complete novice who just wants to get started. So if anyone can enlighten me what my 1 to 10 wire speed relates to in real terms I would be eternally grateful.
- Thread starter Pete2713
- Start date
Hello, and welcome to the Forum !
Large professional machines have well-calibrated controls, and often digital meters too, which control and indicate Volts, Amps, and Wire Speed in metres or feet per minute. The feed motor may even be measured and controlled by a tachogenerator. All this allows precise and repeatable setting of the welding parameters. which may be defined in a Welding Procedure Specification ( WPS ) for each task.
However, with hobby-type machines it is all a bit hit-or-miss. This is especially true with imported machines, where the machine specifications on-paper or on the data plate may be wildly inaccurate ( known as "Chinese Amps" ), and instruction manuals tend to be unintelligible. The power adjustment may affect a digital meter calibrated in volts or amps, but it may not indicate anything meaningful until welding is in process. Typically wire speed will not be indicated anywhere. As you have found, both these potentiometer controls will simply be scaled from 1 to 10.
For welding current, a rough guide is 30 to 40 Amps per millimetre thickness, or 1 Amp per thousandth of an inch.
You could roughly calibrate the wire speed dial by feeding wire for 10 seconds and measuring the length, but this is normally not necessary. Start with laying a straight bead on some clean 3mm thick steel, with both controls about one-third to one-half of the way up. Increase the wire speed until you can feel the MIG torch being pushed away from the workpiece, then back the speed off slightly.
The MIG Tutorial on this Forum has helpful hints, including a settings calculator:
I am afraid they are more or less correct.
Large professional machines have well-calibrated controls, and often digital meters too, which control and indicate Volts, Amps, and Wire Speed in metres or feet per minute. The feed motor may even be measured and controlled by a tachogenerator. All this allows precise and repeatable setting of the welding parameters. which may be defined in a Welding Procedure Specification ( WPS ) for each task.
However, with hobby-type machines it is all a bit hit-or-miss. This is especially true with imported machines, where the machine specifications on-paper or on the data plate may be wildly inaccurate ( known as "Chinese Amps" ), and instruction manuals tend to be unintelligible. The power adjustment may affect a digital meter calibrated in volts or amps, but it may not indicate anything meaningful until welding is in process. Typically wire speed will not be indicated anywhere. As you have found, both these potentiometer controls will simply be scaled from 1 to 10.
For welding current, a rough guide is 30 to 40 Amps per millimetre thickness, or 1 Amp per thousandth of an inch.
You could roughly calibrate the wire speed dial by feeding wire for 10 seconds and measuring the length, but this is normally not necessary. Start with laying a straight bead on some clean 3mm thick steel, with both controls about one-third to one-half of the way up. Increase the wire speed until you can feel the MIG torch being pushed away from the workpiece, then back the speed off slightly.
The MIG Tutorial on this Forum has helpful hints, including a settings calculator:
MIG Settings Calculator
Estimates the range of mild steel thicknesses you can weld with each setting on your MIG welder.
www.mig-welding.co.uk
Bravheart
"Tomorrow will be a good day"captain Tom1920-2021
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Make your own chart if it helps. Gas tank off and press trigger for 20 seconds and measure, multiply by 3 to give a wire speed/minute. Do the same for as many dial settings you want if you think it will help. Regular use with one wire thickness that works for your metal thickness range will be the best experience. Mark the dial gauge if you want.
And welcome.
And welcome.
addjunkie
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It also depends if its a manual machine, or a semisynegetic on
With a manual one you need to set the wire speed. On a semi sygenetic one the wire speed knob is to fine control the speed as its roughly adjusted when you change voltage.
With a manual one you need to set the wire speed. On a semi sygenetic one the wire speed knob is to fine control the speed as its roughly adjusted when you change voltage.
Hello eddie49, thank you for your reply and what you suggest sounds a reasonable idea, I have not tried it yet but will give your idea a try.
