Hi All,
I thought I'd start writing about my Mig here as it might be useful for someone else who has no real clue about mig welders and ask the questions on the end. Therefore, the beginners can read the "Noddy" things I'm doing
and the Pro's can skip to the end and help with the questions if they wish?
Well I picked up my old 2nd Hand Sealery Mighty Mig 150 today for just under £100, which I thought was reasonable.
Itching to get going and make sure it was working ok I headed off to my Local Welders Trade Shop (Middlesbrough). As I hadn't bought a new Mig I Decided to replace the Tip and Shroud as they didn't look like the shiny clean ones in the Beginners guide here on the forum. I didn't want to try and learn with "Duff" kit as it'll make things even harder.
I turned up with my "Argon Pipe and Regulator" as it was advertised on ebay to learn my first lesson. It wasn't an Argon Regulator as advertised, but a CO2 Regular. Argon Regs have a male connection and CO2 are female. So £30 later I now had the right regulator.
I decided to go for the BOC Argoshield Light – new, small 2-litre cylinder as it meant I didn't have to spend another fortune to own a bottle. This way I only had to Pay £18.85 to rent the bottle for the next year and pay £16.60 for the gas. If you do this all you need to do is turn up with photo ID (Driving Licence), Utility Bill and your bank details as the rent etc are taken by direct debit.
I then realised I needed pipe, a connector to go on the Regulator and of course a "Bottle Key". Things you forget.
I also decided to go for a new reel of wire as the Tutorials recommend you not to use old rust wire due to the problems of feeding and damage to the liner.
I decided to go for 0.6mm wire as I intend to do body work Eventually and as my Mig only has 4 settings I read that if you use 0.6 instead of 0.8 it will help lower the power so in theory I shouldn't blow holes in everything? So the Tip I bought was a 0.6, the wire and tip that was in it was a 0.8, The Tip has to match the wire.
The Welding Tutorial tells you how to put a new reel on, but not what to do if there's already one on! So I cut the old wire just before it goes into the wire feed roller. I kept hold of the wire on the reel and put some tape around the old role to stop it unraveling. Probably a good idea if you're just swapping sizes of wire.
I then made sure the cut was clean with no snags and unscrewed the tensioner all the way out so the wire was free. I then pulled out the wire from the gun end with a pair of pliers. (Remember my shroud and tip are still off).
I then took out my wire feed roller and turned it round as it was set up for 0.8 and I was putting 0.6 in. The roller was stamped on each side of the roller (my roller was held in by a plastic "Bridge" & 2 screws. I then completed the wire feed as per the tutorial and put on the new 0.6 tip and shroud.
I was shown that the Regulator was off when screwed out (Anticlockwise) and that that it should also be in that position (Shut) before turning on the gas. After connecting all the pipes up I had a quick go but it wasn't set up as I didn't have the settings from the Hobby MIG Welding Calculator in the tutorial. However, I did manage to make a hole, lots of Sparks and a big Caterpillar
Not quite Welding, but it proved it worked.
My Next Tasks are to Change the Earth clamp as it has a really Limp grip and is very rusty, check my Gas pipes/ cylinder for leaks as I could hear gas without pulling the trigger, work out the feed rate of my gun as suggested in the Tutorial and prepare some metal for practicing.
Questions:
1. Do you need a special Liquid for testing the pipe connections or will good old Soapy water do?
2. Will any old Replacement clamp do or do I need to have a specific type size type?
3. Should I replace the Earth lead too as it's looking old and is it easy to get inside the machine to where connects?
I hope this is going to be some help for the new guys like me and I hope the Pro's will add advice and correct me on anything that is wrong.
Thanks in Advance
I thought I'd start writing about my Mig here as it might be useful for someone else who has no real clue about mig welders and ask the questions on the end. Therefore, the beginners can read the "Noddy" things I'm doing
and the Pro's can skip to the end and help with the questions if they wish?
Well I picked up my old 2nd Hand Sealery Mighty Mig 150 today for just under £100, which I thought was reasonable.
Itching to get going and make sure it was working ok I headed off to my Local Welders Trade Shop (Middlesbrough). As I hadn't bought a new Mig I Decided to replace the Tip and Shroud as they didn't look like the shiny clean ones in the Beginners guide here on the forum. I didn't want to try and learn with "Duff" kit as it'll make things even harder.
I turned up with my "Argon Pipe and Regulator" as it was advertised on ebay to learn my first lesson. It wasn't an Argon Regulator as advertised, but a CO2 Regular. Argon Regs have a male connection and CO2 are female. So £30 later I now had the right regulator.
I decided to go for the BOC Argoshield Light – new, small 2-litre cylinder as it meant I didn't have to spend another fortune to own a bottle. This way I only had to Pay £18.85 to rent the bottle for the next year and pay £16.60 for the gas. If you do this all you need to do is turn up with photo ID (Driving Licence), Utility Bill and your bank details as the rent etc are taken by direct debit.
I then realised I needed pipe, a connector to go on the Regulator and of course a "Bottle Key". Things you forget.
I also decided to go for a new reel of wire as the Tutorials recommend you not to use old rust wire due to the problems of feeding and damage to the liner.
I decided to go for 0.6mm wire as I intend to do body work Eventually and as my Mig only has 4 settings I read that if you use 0.6 instead of 0.8 it will help lower the power so in theory I shouldn't blow holes in everything? So the Tip I bought was a 0.6, the wire and tip that was in it was a 0.8, The Tip has to match the wire.
The Welding Tutorial tells you how to put a new reel on, but not what to do if there's already one on! So I cut the old wire just before it goes into the wire feed roller. I kept hold of the wire on the reel and put some tape around the old role to stop it unraveling. Probably a good idea if you're just swapping sizes of wire.
I then made sure the cut was clean with no snags and unscrewed the tensioner all the way out so the wire was free. I then pulled out the wire from the gun end with a pair of pliers. (Remember my shroud and tip are still off).
I then took out my wire feed roller and turned it round as it was set up for 0.8 and I was putting 0.6 in. The roller was stamped on each side of the roller (my roller was held in by a plastic "Bridge" & 2 screws. I then completed the wire feed as per the tutorial and put on the new 0.6 tip and shroud.
I was shown that the Regulator was off when screwed out (Anticlockwise) and that that it should also be in that position (Shut) before turning on the gas. After connecting all the pipes up I had a quick go but it wasn't set up as I didn't have the settings from the Hobby MIG Welding Calculator in the tutorial. However, I did manage to make a hole, lots of Sparks and a big Caterpillar
Not quite Welding, but it proved it worked.My Next Tasks are to Change the Earth clamp as it has a really Limp grip and is very rusty, check my Gas pipes/ cylinder for leaks as I could hear gas without pulling the trigger, work out the feed rate of my gun as suggested in the Tutorial and prepare some metal for practicing.
Questions:
1. Do you need a special Liquid for testing the pipe connections or will good old Soapy water do?
2. Will any old Replacement clamp do or do I need to have a specific type size type?
3. Should I replace the Earth lead too as it's looking old and is it easy to get inside the machine to where connects?
I hope this is going to be some help for the new guys like me and I hope the Pro's will add advice and correct me on anything that is wrong.
Thanks in Advance
