Welding Tips and Tricks

Any recommendations on filler rod and amperage for 18 gauge steel sheet metal thank you

the base material thickness is just one aspect, joint configuration geometry also plays a part. But without knowing anything else, I'd say 0.035", with a maximum of 0.045" filler wire diameter. Amperage anywhere from 20-50A again depending on joint configuratio/geometry/part size/mass.

Oscar, I understand joint configuration, mass and all the other factors. Wouldn't the use of pulse also play a factor in the amperage? And the use of a machine (multi voltage) plugged into 120V also make a difference in the process?

BillE.Dee wrote:Oscar, I understand joint configuration, mass and all the other factors. Wouldn't the use of pulse also play a factor in the amperage? And the use of a machine (multi voltage) plugged into 120V also make a difference in the process?

Sure in a hypothetical thread-jack, it all does make a difference. The OP has not mentioned anything of the like, so I just answered assuming the bare minimum of assumptions.

BillE.Dee wrote:Oscar, I understand joint configuration, mass and all the other factors. Wouldn't the use of pulse also play a factor in the amperage? And the use of a machine (multi voltage) plugged into 120V also make a difference in the process?

Can’t speak from experience, but I’ve been told the multi voltage machines preform better on 240. Even on the low amp welds.

I'm not familiar with the multi voltage machines at all...does the lower voltage have an affect over the entire adjustment factors, over the amperage only and are the adjustments affected by percentage...is the sensitivity of the adjustments affected? Perhaps there is someone in here who has used one of these machines that can chime in and provide their experience.

BillE.Dee wrote:I'm not familiar with the multi voltage machines at all...does the lower voltage have an affect over the entire adjustment factors, over the amperage only and are the adjustments affected by percentage...is the sensitivity of the adjustments affected? Perhaps there is someone in here who has used one of these machines that can chime in and provide their experience.

I have a DV tig, but we dont even know if that is what the OP has. At this point we don't know if they even have a tig, lol.

BillE.Dee wrote:I'm not familiar with the multi voltage machines at all...does the lower voltage have an affect over the entire adjustment factors, over the amperage only and are the adjustments affected by percentage...is the sensitivity of the adjustments affected? Perhaps there is someone in here who has used one of these machines that can chime in and provide their experience.

I've heard that but never tested the idea. I could throw the multi matic on the bench scope and see if there are differences in 120 vs 240. I would not expect any difference ither than amp and duty cycle changes.

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On my HTP Invertig 221 DV, the only difference (aside from max amperage output), is that on stick welding mode, both the OCV and working voltage is lower on 120V. On 240VAC, I usually see 67V OCV, and on 120VAC input I see 47V OCV. Thus on 120V operation, I cannot use E6010 electrodes, but on 240VAC input I can.

My goal is to use tig welding And get away from MiG as mush as possible For custom wall panels on vintage car restoration and custom cars To minimize the finish work and leave the panels metal finished

The inverters (I guess all the DV machines are inverters) are a kind of switched-mode power supply, and I agree that the differences due to 120 vs. 240 line voltage *should* only be max amps (and therefore amp knob scaling) and duty cycle. I have a DV machine and have used it on both mains voltages and those are the only differences I've seen. I have read about some machines that behaved differently, especially in terms of stress and reliability at higher amperages. I can see how that might happen, especially if the welder design is not especially good. For the low amps used with sheet metal, though, I wouldn't expect to see a difference.