MIG with or without Co2???

[reflexit]

Well, couldnt find any answer for my (stupid) question, so im gonna ask here.

Is a MIG welder with or without Co2?? or can it be both? Im getting a bit confused on the subject now, cause when i bougth my welder it said Co2 welder on the box. But on the welder it self, it says MIG and it cant take any gas??

And the reason why i ask this question is because i need some more welding wire, and i suppose it has to be for an MIG welder, not for an co2 welder like the last i bought. :S


Hope you people can understand my question.

-Emil

 

[Welderpaul]

Most mig welders can be with or without sheilding gas.
Without gas you need a flux coated/cored wire that generates the gas as the wire burns - This method produces a lot of spatter and smoke, a difficult to control arc and cetainly no good on thin sheet.
With gas, you use a plain copper-coated wire, and a disposable or refillable gas cylinder. Plain co2 mix can be used, but better results will be obtained with an argon mix which helps to 'wet' the weld.
The polarity of the leads needs to be swapped over depending on if you are using gas or gasless.
Which model of welder do you have?

 

[oddball90]

Hobby migs can be either gas or gasless, using a flux cored wire. In gasless mode the torch is negative, when using a shielding gas the torch is positive so your welder needs to have a means of swapping the torch polarity. Usually done inside wire compartment by swapping earth and torch leads. Also to use a shielding gas your welder must have some means of getting gas to the torch, so it should have a gas inlet pipe, usually about 4mm in diameter to connect to the small disposable gas cylinders.
Some migs are just gasless mig welders and use flux cored mig wire. The migs that use a gas for shielding use ordinary copper coated steel wire.
What mig welder have you got? Post a few pictures of your welder and the insides to see if it is either gasless or gas/gasless.
Don

 

[oddball90]

Paul you beat me to it again( must learn to type quicker!)

 

[reflexit]

Thanks alot for the quik answers. My welder is a noname brand, heres a picture http://bayimg.com/kaIkOaabJ and there is no option for adding gas to it.

But thanks again, then we'll see how long i can remeber that. >_<

 

[Justme]

This begs the question should "no gas" mig welders be sold as migs (Metal inert GAS)? Also did it say on the box Co2? if so take it back as its not a Co2 welder.

Justme

 

[reflexit]

This begs the question should "no gas" mig welders be sold as migs (Metal inert GAS)? Also did it say on the box Co2? if so take it back as its not a Co2 welder.

Justme

Well, the advertisement it said "Co2 welder, that welds without Co2" Yes its confusing, but you know what you were going into. And on the box it self, it said MIG welder. Soo... But what should they have called it then?