Converted to gas now having problems...?

[robkav]

Hi all
been welding for a couple of months using my trusty Clarke 105en and have been getting on ok with gasless welding, but i wanted to my welds to look a bit better so i got my hands on a pub c02 bottle and twin gauge regulator changed the wire and started to weld only to find that i have lost all power and getting a poping sound with very little penitration, i have swoped the + and - round but still no good.
Any ideas guys?

 

[shenion]

You will have less penetration on gas.

Sounds like you need to up the wire speed.

 

[robkav]

Well had another go tonight. I cleaned out the shroud and held the torch very close to the joint and it seems to be much better.

 

[grandads_shed]

i have used CO2 .
on thin metal i could not wsork with very low amps and a slow wire speed. upgraded to argon light and noticed a difference straight away.
co2 was fine on thicker metal

 

[subarc]

Hi
Pub gas isn't the best gas to weld with because by its very nature it is a cooling gas hence the issue you are having ,realistically you have two options get yourself either a disposable cylinder with argon mix or buy yourself a Co2 heater the last option will heat the gas (strangely enough) and give you a similar condition to that you experienced with your gasless.I realise the cost involved with purchasing gas from the bigger suppliers but there are many independent gas suppliers springing up who do not charge rent etc may be worth looking into. Always check the argon content though dependent on your material thickness 5% mix ( Argon) is generally enough for DIY.

 

[shenion]

CO2 adds heat to the weld via disassociatio/recombination of CO and O, also some of the oxygen does not recombine and burns to create more heat.. It has the slightly less thermal mass as argon so the "cooling" effect is actually less.

CO2 plasma is less electrically conductive, so the arc current will be less. So you will usually need a higher voltage.

The net result is when you get the voltage/wire speed right, CO2 will have a wider penetration than argon mixes. Maked the weld pool easier to drop out. High argon mixes will have a higher arc current increasing the chance the arc melts back the edge of the metal if there is any gap in the metal.

5% CO2 will be too cold unless it is a trimix (most "5%" mixes are tri-mix.) Here, 5% IS 5% and is only used in spray transfer or possibly pulse MIG.

Heaters are not used anymore on CO2 unless you have a large undustrail setup. Used to be needed to prevent water trapped in the gas from freezing but now the gas is not likely to contain water.

As the arc is several thousand degrees, heating the gas up a few degrees will not have much an effect on the weld.

 

[jwt873]

Did you change the welder's polarity when you changed the wire and switched over to gas? If not, that might have something to do with it.