Welding Tips and Tricks

went to the weldshop to fill my tank of argon for my mig welder and they gave me a tank of 75/25 mix.....

i own my tank.....my question is can i use this 75/25 mix for tig welding too?

thanks joe

Hi there,

That's a No, unfortunately. The active carbon dioxide just causes the tungsten to burn to a nub.

Mick

And on the flip side, you can't use pure argon for mig welding either. You need two bottles.

sedanman wrote:And on the flip side, you can't use pure argon for mig welding either. You need two bottles.

Unless you're doing stainless or aluminum, but you are right. Two bottles are necessary.

Stainless mig still needs some form of active gas to achieve the arc force.

tungstendipper wrote:

sedanman wrote:And on the flip side, you can't use pure argon for mig welding either. You need two bottles.

Unless you're doing stainless or aluminum, but you are right. Two bottles are necessary.

Aluminum MIG 100% Argon
Stainless MIG 75/25, TriMix, or C100. No 100% Argon.

cj737 wrote:

tungstendipper wrote:

sedanman wrote:And on the flip side, you can't use pure argon for mig welding either. You need two bottles.

Unless you're doing stainless or aluminum, but you are right. Two bottles are necessary.

Aluminum MIG 100% Argon
Stainless MIG 75/25, TriMix, or C100. No 100% Argon.

Ralax folks. If the op was asking this particular question i feel my answer was appropriate in that i doubt he's mig welding anything other than mild steel.

sedanman wrote: Ralax folks. If the op was asking this particular question i feel my answer was appropriate in that i doubt he's mig welding anything other than mild steel.

I am relaxed, and was only clarifying for the OP what gas is required for which metal. Never intended any insult towards you.

so 100% argon is ok for mild steel?
thanks so far for the help

joetig wrote:so 100% argon is ok for mild steel?
thanks so far for the help

Yes, for TIG. TIG is always 100% Argon (steel, stainless, Ti or Al) unless you add Helium for pentetration

cj737 wrote:

joetig wrote:so 100% argon is ok for mild steel?
thanks so far for the help

Yes, for TIG. TIG is always 100% Argon (steel, stainless, Ti or Al) unless you add Helium for pentetration

im sorry let me rephrase this.....

100% argon for mild steel mig welding?

joetig wrote: im sorry let me rephrase this.....

100% argon for mild steel mig welding?

Not recommended. It doesn't work very well so you generally wouldn't like it.

Bob Moffatt at Weld.com did a video. MIG needs a component of reactive gas. O2 is very reactive. a tiny component does it, or CO2 is more predictable, but needs a heavier dose.

Joe,

Same effect. You get a shielded weld, but no punch. Imagine migging and someone turning the wire speed way down,

Mick

.....thanks guys i appreciate the input.....


i used argon only when i first got the welder in 1994 and i forgot how it welded compared to now with the 75/25 mx which i only used once welding on a tab so far.....i hadnt welded since like 1995

i guess 2 bottles will be in order.....one for my little tig machine and the other for the millermatic 90

I just looked up the blends available in Australia under the Stainshield label. Light is argon with oxygen and stainshield heavy is argon, oxygen and a small percentage of co2. (need to watch the amount of carbon dioxide with stainless, as that is the enemy of stainless.