I may have a problem with my welder.

[gholian]

Hi,

I have an Oxford 200-1 welder that I bought in early February (20A to 200A). I have been welding car body with it. The steel is mostly 1mm and the odd time 1.5mm. Anyone that has one will know it has 12 power settings( course switch 1 and 2, Fine switch 1 to 6). I have used the mig calculator and according to this I should be using settings 1 or 2 (set to 1 on course switch and 1 or 2 on fine switch). I have it set on 7 most of the time (Set to 2 on course switch and 1 on fine switch). I have a good earth lead and am using the correct tip on the torch. I am using 0.6mm wire. Would that make any difference. Is there any difference between 0.8mm and 0.8mm in terms of the power setting for welding. I am not sure if there is something wrong with welder or what to check for.

Thanks.

 

[Roadrally]

Yes, in a word.
0.8 wire will create a higher amperage through resistance than 0.6, I wouldn't bother with the calculator, it's a matter of feel.
If you go from 0.8 to 0.6 you will have to increase your wire feed speed if you stay on the same power setting because you won't be getting enough wire to fill the weld pool.
You could reduce the power to maybe course 1 and fine 6 with the same feed speed.
Trial and error is the best way to learn on scrap metal.

 

[normspanners]

You havnt really told us what your problem is, you say that you have had the welder for some time what is different?
Although the measurement difference is only .2mm on the dia, .8 is nearly twice the amount of metal being transferred to the work,than .6 so obviously require a lot different settings I agree totally with ^^^^ also are you using a 1.5mm, long extension rolled up? that can alter the weldability of your machine massively, because of volt drop.

 

[Jan]

Assuming that the minimum is really only 20 amps then 1-1.5mm steel should be well within your machine's capabilities to weld without blowing through. Personally I'd go with 0.6mm wire on that gauge of steel as it would be easier to control the amount of heat put into it, but with more practice you may find the extra filler from 0.8mm faster to use. Having practiced lately on 'open air' welds on 1.5mm sheet I can weld at 40 amps (minimum on my SIP 130) with 0.6mm wire with just a bit of blow through on bare edges, which I can then backfill.

The three secrets to MIG are: Practice, practice, practice!

 

[normspanners]

Doesnt it make you feel warm inside, to think that when you try to assist someone,-------- that they REALLY appreciate it-----------------

 

[Jan]

Perhaps he works very long hours. When I worked for myself my hours were:

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: 8:00am to midnight.
Wednesday: 8:00am to 5:30pm
Friday and Saturday: 8:00am to 4:00am the following 'morning'.
Sunday: 10:00am to 6:00pm.
It was often simpler just to kip down on the floor in my restaurant rather than drive home to sleep in bed with my wife. No wonder that my health suffered and I now have a serious cardiac condition!

 

[normspanners]

It was often simpler just to kip down on the floor in my restaurant rather than drive home to sleep in bed with my wife. No wonder that my health suffered and I now have a serious cardiac condition!

X2 just change restaurant to garage, but I still had time to be respectful. To people that helped.

 

[gholian]

Sorry guys for not replying. My laptop gave up last Monday and had to send off for warranty repair. I work weekends so am only seeing this now at work.

Thanks for that.

 

[normspanners]

Sorry guys for not replying. My laptop gave up last Monday and had to send off for warranty repair. I work weekends so am only seeing this now at work

.
ok, excuses excuses, ----------- so what did you find????

 

[gholian]

Hi,

I have been welding car body sine I got the welder at the end of January. The metal is 1mm. That went okay I taught. I had to do welding on the back axle which is a lot thicker metal. I found that the weld wasn't really going through the thicker metal. The thickness of the metal was 4 or 5mm. I had the welder setting up to the second highest setting and the wire feed up high. It did it okay then. I was wondering was there something wrong with the welder since it is a 200A machine. I know these Oxfords us the semi-synergic control on the wire feed so thought there may be something wrong with that. I wasn't sure if using the thicker 0.8 wire would make a difference. Thanks for the information above. I think the next thing to do is get some 0.8mm wire and see what happens. I have only ever use the 0.6 wire as that was what was recommended for car body stuff. Time for more practice I think!

Again guys sorry the late reply, I do appreciate this.

 

[Jan]

Horses for courses. Thin wire for thin metal and thick wire (plus heat) for thick metal. Simples - in theory. Nothing beats practice.