Welding Tips and Tricks

Howdy,
Any advice on the initial MIG set-up?

Does the DVD show the Mig Setup? if so, which one?

Newbie here with an inherited MIG.
My Friend had to move and left me his Eastwood 175 (220V) - It is still in the boxes.

I learned to weld in high school ( decades ago), but we used an old Lincoln buzz box stick.
I need to learn about MIG use.

Once I get a good beginning setup, I can experiment with other settings to adjust for the materials.

thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Perry

I am not familiar with the welder, but a lot of manufacturers have the parameter on the inside of the machine where you load the wire. Me personally, if I'm not familiar with a power source. I set the voltage and the strick and arc and wile it is struck adjust the WFS until it starts sounding pretty good, and then fine tune it from there.

Perry, you did not say what size or type wire you'll be using, or what gas, but I'll try to give you a starting point.

For .035 solid wire, like E70-S6, with 75/25 gas, for practice on 1/4" material, I'd set it at 20V and 325 ipm wire speed. For that same wire on 1/8" material, start with 18V and 250 ipm.

It helps to have someone with you, who can adjust the wire speed up or down while you weld on scrap, until it sounds and feels right. This may not make much sense, now, but when it's right, it "sounds" and "feels" right.

Be aware, a MIG machine requires a very good ground connection, or you'll have "stuttering" starts, so clean/grind where you put your ground clamp.

Give it a go, and report back.

Steve S