still rather new and advice needed on fine tuning the welder

[jasongtr]

I have a portamig 215, it lays down once welds and seem strong (my rollover spit hasn't fallen apart yet)

I'm doing some welding on the floorpan and putting a new tunnel in my mk2 golf for the 4wd setup, whilst welding today i wasn't getting that bacon sizzle, seemed more muted and a weird kind of sound, that said it was still welding ok and if i turned it up a click it would blow through, so i knocked it back - does this sound like a wire speed issue - its 0.6mm I'm using. I understand migs are very sensitive to wire speed, maybe mine is a touch too low - what do you think?

 

[BrokenBiker]

yes, it is most certainly a wire speed issue. Get some scrap the same thickness that you are welding. Arc up and get your travel speed sorted and then turn the feed up gently while you are welding. Note the change in sound and weld bead. When it sounds right and looms good, leave it there and crack on with the car also worth noting that if you have to knock the wire feed a lot to get it sounding right and it starts blowing through, turn the fine volts down 1.

hope this helps

 

[jasongtr]

ill give it a go tomorrow, cheers

 

[BrokenBiker]

no worries. My main problem when starting out was getting the sound right. I find i can hear the bacon sizzling sound better with ear plugs in, but now i just judge it by how the puddle is forming

 

[jasongtr]

its not a massive issue i guess, the welds are not blowing through and I'm still getting penetration, i just know the sound its quite right, so a tweak on the speed could be all it needs.

Oh and after using from 230 bar down to about 50bar on my y size bottle i guess i really should clean the torch consumables properly - I'm guessing thats not helping

 

[BrokenBiker]

yeah, take the shroud off, get some long nose pliers in there and twist it all out, blow the dust out and then i find spraying a bit of wd40 inside works as a good alternative to tip dip, as does vaseline. Get the tip nice and hot from welding then plunge into the vaseline. Stops any spatter sticking to the shroud and tip

 

[jasongtr]

I've actually got some tip dip but never use it - i do scrape all the crap out of the gas shroud from time to time but never done the bit where the wire comes out of but i guess thats not needed as often

 

[BrokenBiker]

occasionally there will be a bit of spatter gets into the tip but that usually stops the wire feeding, just change the tip when that happens. Tip dip is good stuff, i always use something on the mig, just makes life easier

 

[jasongtr]

ill change the tip and clean the shroud use tip dip and try the wire speed fine tuning - hopefully all well be ok

 

[BrokenBiker]

the odds are you will only need a tiny tweak to the wire feed, but to be honest if the welds are getting good penetration and you aren't blowing through the sound isn't really critical, I have noticed the sound being different between transformer and inverter machines anyway

 

[jasongtr]

its very difficult to explain the sound but its like a muted arcing - a deeper bassy sound rather than the crackle

 

[shenion]

I have had 0/6mm wire sound almost silent and still do a fine weld.

 

[jasongtr]

good to hear, my mate has a snap on welder and it sounds like a firework display in comparison - however I'm sure the portamig is a better welder

 

[BrokenBiker]

my father in law had a snap on that sounded really fierce compared to my sealey but both welded the same

 

[jasongtr]

yup fierce is about the right word for it

 

[jasongtr]

ended up knocking the power down one and the wire speed up a little, didn't seem to sizzle as much as i expected but the welds were good with virtually no blowing through (but good penetration could be seen from the other side whilst stitch welding my tunnel into my golf)