Hello : Some advice needed.

[kristiaan_d]

Hi Guys,
New to the forum so i figured i would say hi and ask for some advice as well

i own a mig welder think its one of those models that everyone brands as there own and sells on. (ferm 150/1 mig gas welder). apparently this was sold at screwfix.co.uk for a while.

so i figured i would give it a shot and see what i could do with it as a friend of mine is hoping i can get good enough to-do some welding for him.

it was a bit of a mixed beginning, i started off without the gas on, and could not work out what was going on and wrong, eventually worked out the gas was'nt on and got that sorted, sometimes i weld really well, and then others are really raised off the piece or really "bubbly" (see the top of the last pic for an example), also the wire tip on my welder always has a ball left on it, is this normal?

there are 4 settings on the welder for power and i am using number 3 (seemed to weld the easiest after experimenting with the switches during welds) which seems to weld 5 / 6 mm steel (i cannot break apart any of the pieces i had welded so far).

heres some pics for you all to have a look at and pick apart, as its proberbly the only way i will work out if its good or bad welding and what i can do to improve.

im using 0.8mm wire and tip, with an argon / co2 mix gas. wire speed is set to 4 on a scale of 1 - 10 and the gas was turned fully open (did not realise and now have no gas left )

 

[Welderpaul]

Not bad. Your problems with the 'bubbles' in the welds is porosity - the steel is not clean enough. Give it a better clean before welding next time. Possibly your gas is being blown away if welding outside.

 

[kristiaan_d]

Not bad. Your problems with the 'bubbles' in the welds is porosity - the steel is not clean enough. Give it a better clean before welding next time. Possibly your gas is being blown away if welding outside.

hi Paul thanks for the comments on my first attempts to be fair i did not realise until a few minutes ago from reading on here the disposable gas bottles are more or less usless for outside welding and do not last long at all... might have to look at a very cheap supply of these bottles or a conversion if possible to use a larger bottle?

 

[tincan-chris]

the 1 thing ive learnt is spend more time cleaning the old rusty metal to get good clean welds. a conversion to a bigger bottle is easy and will save you £££ in the long run. happy welding

 

[kristiaan_d]

the 1 thing ive learnt is spend more time cleaning the old rusty metal to get good clean welds. a conversion to a bigger bottle is easy and will save you £££ in the long run. happy welding

cheers chris i could notice straight away when welding the difference between a nice clean bit and a rusty bit so its time to take more time in the prep work.

as for the gas bottle im thinking about the best way to-do this at the moment as i will only need to-do a little bit of welding to begin with so cannot really justify spending on a rental bottle

at the end of the day its my mates decision on that, hopefully he will rent a bottle for me rather than spend on those little disposable cylinders.

 

[Steve333]

You might like to consider this:

http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Gas-Cylinder-Refillable-Carbon-Dioxide-1000grm-Sealey-CO2-1KG

I haven't got room (or the need) for a full size bottle, and couldn't find any rent-free options locally. My local welding supplier will exchange this for a full one for (from memory, so approx) £11+VAT. It fits the standard regulator that came with my SIP130 (no laughing at the back - I was lead astray by a certain car magazine)


Also, I found my welding was much improved by changing the standard earth clamp for a stronger one.

 

[Alfaman]

Welcome to the forum Kristiaan! You're getting the hang of it, your welding in the last pic looks very good indeed for a beginner.

I guess I'm just echoing what the others have said, but disposable bottles are just a ridiculous expense! A bigger bottle lets you concentrate on your technique without worrying about running out or using too much gas.

 

[Faaluke]

Practice, practice, practice works for me.

cheers chris i could notice straight away when welding the difference between a nice clean bit and a rusty bit so its time to take more time in the prep work.

I think I would spend about 4 times as long prepping a bit of metal than welding it. Sure, prep isn't the fun part, but its the foundation of any weld, so without prep you are just wasting your time.

Good luck, it's a lot of fun!

 

[walshy2]

Hi I am new here to, there is nothing I can add that has not already been said, but not bad for your first go.

 

[Wozzaaah]

You might like to consider this:

http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Gas-Cylinder-Refillable-Carbon-Dioxide-1000grm-Sealey-CO2-1KG

I haven't got room (or the need) for a full size bottle, and couldn't find any rent-free options locally. My local welding supplier will exchange this for a full one for (from memory, so approx) £11+VAT. It fits the standard regulator that came with my SIP130 (no laughing at the back - I was lead astray by a certain car magazine)


Also, I found my welding was much improved by changing the standard earth clamp for a stronger one.

Fill Weight: 1000g
Welding Duration*: 3.3hrs
*Welding duration is approximate and depends on machine settings

Waste of time imho! You're better off with a pub type cylinder, they're not that big. Many more hours worth of gas and it'll cost you about the same to refill it as that tiddler.

 

[mike os]

last time I enquired small hi pressure bottles for CO2 were that kind of money from an AP supplier ( about 14" high & 4" diameter, guess at a boc E), refill was pennies, I may even get one myself once this bottle of argoshield is finished

edit... not AP, Keygas

 

[kristiaan_d]

Waste of time imho! You're better off with a pub type cylinder, they're not that big. Many more hours worth of gas and it'll cost you about the same to refill it as that tiddler.

ive heard mixed things about the pub gas cylinders like some places refusing to refil them etc, where would be the best place to get one ? and any good suggestions on a place local to cardiff that would refil it?

last time I enquired small hi pressure bottles for CO2 were that kind of money from an AP supplier ( about 14" high & 4" diameter, guess at a boc E), refill was pennies, I may even get one myself once this bottle of argoshield is finished

edit... not AP, Keygas

struggling to find anyone by me that is willing to "sell" the small bottles rent free and for the amount of welding i want to-do its too expensive to rent for a day or two that sealey bottle seems ideal but again cannot find anyone local who will refil it