Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey Guys,

I've been pretty much a dedicated TIG welder since I started welding, I do aluminum, stainless, steel, copper, brass and so on. Pretty much anything, I repair, I build, whatever.

Now I got a project where I need to put flooring down in walk in refrigerators, I'm putting down 3/16" aluminum 3003 diamond plate AND welding all the center seams so it's pretty watertight and no fasteners to break off (wooo)

SO! I used to do the seamwork in TIG, all 20 feet of it, took forever and the flooring got so hot it started warping, so I'm trying to speed it up. I specced a Millermatic 211 with the spoolmate 150 gun and I think that'll do it.

Hook it up to the 220 option and burn away, but I haven't done a whole lot of MIG, I've done some but not a lot and it seems this machine is automatically setting itself up, which is cool but I don't know how that's going to work for me.

What tips do you guys have for me? It's all brand new equipment so it should work just fine, just not sure how to go about adjusting it, stickout of the wire, distance from the weld, weaving or no weaving and so forth.

Thank you.

I just sold my Millermatic 211 inverter. You didn't mention if you got the newest one or the older transformer one, so I'll just assume the new one. Mine had a slight drive motor shaft/drive roll wobble that sometimes made it problematic to get a consistent wire feed on my 15ft MIG gun. Make sure yours feeds consistently with no more than about 2.5 on the tension knob. If it does, then great. You'll love the arc on it. I found it to be very smooth and easy to work with.

Now for the spoolmate 150. Make sure you read both manuals. They will tell you how to set it up because you do have to do an initial calibration. This will create a precise synergic relationship between the spoolgun and the machine to provide consistent results.

Other than that, for general advice on spoolgun aluminum welding, start watching videos.

Push angle with aluminum MIG. Other than that, I have found on my MutliMatic that the Autoset tends to be on the cold side for MIG and Ally MIG. I tend to run about .5-1.0v hotter than the setting, and I also tend to slow the IPM by about 10%.

I run stickout just like I do with hardwire, and my CWD is very much like hardwire. I dunno, works for me but maybe I’m doing it wrong?

Cool, thanks for the advice.

I have no clue about setting up mig properly, I know TIG and what to do there but I'm not there on MIG yet.

I'll read both manuals and figure out how to set it up, then run some test beads and get it dialed in. Shouldn't be too difficult.

Does the gun get super hot like the torch on TIG?

No, the SpoolMate stays nice and cool.

Yea, Spoolmate 150 should stay decently cool so long as you're not running it WOT the entire time. The regular mig gun M100, well that one leaves a lot to be desired, lol. For that gun you're better off with a 10ft M250 gun. Rated at 250A, which is perfect since the 211 can put out a max of ~230A.

Okay awesome, How many feet of welding can you guys do in 10 minutes?

Just curious.

Olivero wrote:Okay awesome, How many feet of welding can you guys do in 10 minutes?

Just curious.

very little. about 12". hobbyist here with no rush, lol.

Olivero wrote:Okay awesome, How many feet of welding can you guys do in 10 minutes?

Just curious.

Depends entirely upon material thickness and what process. Ally MIG on thin, not a lot unless the sheet is large enough for you to skip around a LOT. Worst thing you can do is power through it. It will warp like a taco and the fit-up will suck apart due to the heat. I’d encourage you to stitch tack it in many spots, then weld about 2-6” depending upon thickness. Then wait.

Makes sense,

I've done the same project with TIG and that warps like a taco, lol.

I guess we'll see how it goes. Bit of time till it'll happen but I want to be ready.