Gas Less MIG

[doubleboost]

Been doing some video for R Tech on flux core.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the results.
All I have ever herd is bad things about small MIG sets on flux core

 

[roblane65]

I see youv'e had a tidy up

 

[Barking Mat]

Been doing some video for R Tech on flux core.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the results.
All I have ever herd is bad things about small MIG sets on flux core

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Looks alright.

I see youv'e had a tidy up

There's a French expression which goes 'a tidy workshop, is a workshop where nothing is done.'

 

[Wozzaaah]

Nowt wrong with those welds!
Not a huge amount of spatter either.

 

[davidjohnperry]

I've been playing with these wires for quite a while. Whilst I've used them for small scale non critical stuff it does have its limitations. But they are some nice looking welds

 

[Mark 2]

I'm a big fan of gasless, for site work (especially private houses) not having to lump a bottle of argoshield up three, freshly painted, flights of stairs makes for a whole different kind of day.
On the relevance of the r tech, the ability to adjust the settings independently is invaluable with gasless.

 

[MattF]

Looks alright.

There's a French expression which goes 'a tidy workshop, is a workshop where nothing is done.'

John's most definitely a doer then.

 

[doubleboost]

link to video

 

[gaz1]

what gasless wire was you using

as i found out one roll was perfect and then the rolls where off didnt weld like the first roll that i bought

 

[Dcal]

Thanks for the video John.

My experience is, gasless is fine for 2 or 3mm up and is sort of OK for lap joints on thin stuff.
However, I've a Rtech mig and I can't get gasless to work anywhere near as well as solid wire on car body work.
If you can make it work on a butt joint on 0.8 steel I'd be very interested in the settings and any tips / tricks.

Used within it's limits it's great stuff.

 

[Farside]

The make of wire is the key.
Super6 is cheap, but the variability will have you tearing your hair out.
Good makes, like Lincoln, etc aren't really much more expensive - especially when you consider the absence of hair-tearing.

 

[Dcal]

The make of wire is the key.
Super6 is cheap, but the variability will have you tearing your hair out.
Good makes, like Lincoln, etc aren't really much more expensive - especially when you consider the absence of hair-tearing.

I've tried quite a few, including the Lincoln and still can't get one that will weld a butt joint in 0.8 steel, which is what I usually weld on cars.

 

[500e]

Looks alright.

There's a French expression which goes 'a tidy workshop, is a workshop where nothing is done.'

B****r that's me screwed

 

[Jack Ryan]

link to video

Thanks for the video - great job.

Just curious - what is flux core self shielded arc welding officially called in the UK? I call it FCAW-S but I think that comes from the AWS definition. There is, of course, also FCAW-G (gas shielded) that many seem to call dual-shield (a product name).

No idea what to call flux core TIG welding.

In the video, I didn't notice you changing the drive roller for flux core wire. Did I miss it or don't you bother?

Thanks again.

Jack

 

[Wildefalcon]

Looks alright.

There's a French expression which goes 'a tidy workshop, is a workshop where nothing is done.'

I'm the most productive person in the world, by that metric.

 

[Munkul]

There's a French expression which goes 'a tidy workshop, is a workshop where nothing is done.'

I must get nothing done at all then I can't abide clutter.

 

[hotponyshoes]

I think a lot of the bad rep of flux-core comes from people using it under heavy budget constraints..

Most of the time it's used (or at least, talked about on forum's) by people who just want to try a bit of welding without spending much money. They are using cheap welders (not very adjustable), probably using the cheapest wire they have found, don't have much/any welding experience and are probably practicing on rusty scrap they have cleaned up with an oxide flap disc.

Then post photos of terrible looking welds and ask questions on how to weld up a car for an mot and the replies are normally (rightly) just to buy some gas!

There are a whole range of fluxed wires from the top manafactures that run very nicely. A lot of them are also used with gas as well and I have seen some lovely welds done on thick mild and also stainless using them.

 

[Munkul]

^^ exactly what he said.

However, when you have fluxcore running right, it's in a spray transfer, which is useless for very thin metal anyways.

Fluxcore can never replace solid wire and gas, it's just too different. Short-circuit MIG is an inherently colder process which is why it's great for thin sheet metal.

 

[Jack Ryan]

^^ exactly what he said.

However, when you have fluxcore running right, it's in a spray transfer, which is useless for very thin metal anyways.

Fluxcore can never replace solid wire and gas, it's just too different. Short-circuit MIG is an inherently colder process which is why it's great for thin sheet metal.

Not all fluxcore welding is in spray mode, some fluxcore wire is designed for short circuit transfer (and some for globular).

Still, as you say, most of the design goals of flux cored wires don't apply to bodywork. For that matter, on new cars, solid wires aren't used so much either.

Jack

 

[Dcal]

Not all fluxcore welding is in spray mode, some fluxcore wire is designed for short circuit transfer (and some for globular).

Still, as you say, most of the design goals of flux cored wires don't apply to bodywork. For that matter, on new cars, solid wires aren't used so much either.

Jack

Have you a link to a gasless wire that can be used in short circuit?