I just bought a new welder , its a gassless one but i'v also bought everything i need to make it work on gas, i shall be welding repair panels on to my vw camper and was wondering what the difference is between using gas or not??
Main difference is gasless wire has a flux that bubbles up over the weld to keep oxygen out. Downsides of that are you can't weld onto the flux once it has set, so thin metal techniques are out, you hget more spatter with gasless, and more smoke.
The only real advantages of gasless are you can use it outside (it's OK in the wind) and lower cost for smaller jobs.
It's much easier to weld using a shielding gas, and welds should be neater. The polarity of the welder would need to be reversed (torch positive for gas).
Personally the advantage of gasless for me outweigh the hassles of gas. I plan to move house this year, after which I should be able to weld in a garage so I'll be back on gas.
The only real advantage of gasless is if you happen to live in a wind tunnel like I do, and you weld outside.
The other point worth noting is gasless is worth persevering with. I know everyone on here hates it, but I have been forced into using it over the last year or so because the wind here is so bad. To be honest if I could have switched to gas back when I started using gas less I would have done, HOWEVER I'm really glad that I did stick it out, because now I am really comfortable with both. With practice (and some anti-spatter) you can overcome the difficulties of it and produce very clean welds.
I find if I weld quicker at a slightly higher setting than I would with gas I can get a nice 'sizzle' without the splutter, the spatter is minimized and the welds are really clean.
Nice one , thanks for the reply, to be honest im welding outside and im hidden between 2 van and a house so well covered, i think i will set the welder to run with gas as that is what im just getting used to so dont want to rock the boat