Welding Tips and Tricks

I realize this board is really an advanced board. However, it's the one I signed up for, so I'll ask my questions here and hope I don't expose my ignorance too awful much.
Yes, I bought a relatively cheap synergic mig welder. I don't weld professionally and I am not and cannot afford $2000+ for a couple of times a year use.
It seems there is no DEFINITIVE chart/parameters that cover ALL/MOST setup.
I realize it may seem easy to the experienced welder, but that I am not. I have welded a little in all basic formats; MMA, MIG, and Tig, but knowledgeable I am not.
One chart tells me to use Volts per thickness of material.
Another says to use amps per thickness of material.
Then of course there are factors for different materials and wire speed.
Here's where it gets confusing; My synergy settings don't show amps in the selection.
My welder doesn't account for different thickness.
If I select, let's say, .08 wire-Gas Mix it gives me one synergy setting I think its 17.5 volts/5.0 m/min wire9(197 in/min) and can only adjust + or - so much.
It pretty close and usable for 1/8" with the minor adjustment.
It seems the synergy setting use is pretty narrow. Can't really dial it down enough for 16 gauge.

Then, with a cheap MB15AK mig torch the recess is over 1/4"
I've been reading up on some stuff and ran across a couple of articles on stick out and recess depth. Almost all of them suggest 1/4" to 3/8" SO and a flush tip(for gas use), maybe recessed just a little for short arc <200 amps, which I am certainly limited to.
Problem, I've searched and searched for different length of nozzles and contact tips for the MB series of torches/guns to no end and have found 0 options.
Wound up grinding a couple of nozzles down to almost flush. Seems to have made things a bit better.
I read an old post about "mig settings" and the post(Spragz), I believe, by Oscar helped with basic knowledge about finding "the sweet spot"(turning voltage up/down going between globular and undercut to bumping and steep toes. That bit of info at least relays the extremes, well approaching the extremes.
BTW, I think I achieved some "spray" the other day. My machine goes to 26 volts(that's what the led said) and I had 3.3 m wire feed. I got sshwwwwwwss and a wide bead of weld. Did that a couple of times. Didn't pursue too much, don't really have need for that.....now. Seems it's almost outta control; to me. Plus I didn't want to stress the machine too much.
If anybody's got a better way to correlate volts, amps, wirespeed for a beginner it'd sure be nice.
I'm leaning towards leaving the synergy alone and just learn the relationship of parameters.
Oh, and all the wire speed charts say "inches/minute" and mine says m/min. I have finally resorted/learned that there is approximately 40" per meter so I can do a quick calc.
And there is this:well, I was going to post a picture of a flame shooting out of a mig torch I saw online but can't find it now.

sounds like you have a euro machine. you will need to do some converting or get one of the euro charts.
most machines don't mention amps. usually its just volt and wire speed setting.
if it won't set to thinner material, check if you can set a thinner wire size. you may have to go down to a thinner wire for 16 gauge.

have you got a pic of your machine?

spray, you need to right gas to start with. then its a matter of the right settings and wire size. you can get into spray with small machines if you use a small wire.

I was using .030 wire and regular 75/25 mix and it spray transferred, but I know you need different gases and didn't pursue it any more than satisfying my curiosity.

https://www.amazon.com/ARCCAPTAIN-Alumi ... 4bcb5&th=1

I'm gonna get some .023 and play with it in near future.

You aren’t getting to “spray mode” with 75/25 gas, pure and simple. At best you’re in globular transfer mode.

You’re right about it being tricky to know exactly where to set your machine for material thickness, wire size, etc. Most machine settings are at best a “guide” and you adjust from there based upon experience.

I have a MP machine that in my estimation runs at least .8v too cold per the menu recommendations. And I also lower the WFS by about 12-15% for my best results.

Welcome to the jungle-

hpdrifter wrote: ↑Sat Sep 24, 2022 2:56 pmThat bit of info at least relays the extremes, well approaching the extremes.

The window isn't that wide, so knowing those extremes will automatically get you right in the ballpark for a given WFS.

For WFS, Jody already laid it out for you. It's on the weldingtipsandtricks.com website: MIG Welding Basics Part 3

As a summary,

• there exists a general rule of thumb of needing approximately 1A : 0.001" of steel material thickness, so we can easily make the connection with regards to how much amperage speed is needed so long as we know what the material thickness is, in thousandth's of an inch. The question then becomes, how do we set amps, when the fundamental physical attribute of a wire-feed machine is wire-speed in inches-per-minute?
• the required WFS can be found relatively easily by looking at this modified chart that I made using Jody's chart (I'll explain the "modified" part ).
• this chart is due to a well-known valid linear approximation that correlates amperage output (by way of material thickness) to a given (needed) WFS based on wire electrode diameter.

The Chart:

• Left-most column is material thickness
• The top row indicates the solid wire diameter for which this chart is valid.
• The "factor" is there for informational purposes, as it has already been factored into the calculations that populate the cells
• For a given column, the cells between the blacked out boxes and the ones in the red border (in pink/green/aqua/yellow) are where the valid approximation lies.
• The modification
  • The blacked out boxes I blacked them out simply because most machines won't go below ~60 IPM anyways.
  • The cells within the red border, for each respective column, are what I call the "twilight zone", where things start to get weird.
  
  
  
  
  So why are the cells that I call the "twilight zone" there in the first place? Well I didn't make the original chart, Jody did, and I suspect it was just simply his way of getting some basic information out there, back when there really wasn't unless you were eyeballs deep into AWS books/trainings/articles/etc.
  
  So why are the cells in the so-called "twilight zone" in the so-called "twilight zone"? It is because at those wirefeed speeds, the linear approximation that says "you get this many amps, for this much wirefeed" is no longer valid; the correlation is not a straight line, so results start to deviate (and I'll elaborate some more after this following chart).
  
  Look at this chart from Lincoln for their SuperArc L-56, which is their very good ER70S-6 MIG wire:
  
  
  
  
  Do you see how the amperage column for 0.025" wire in short-circuit "stops" at 80A? Weird huh? Do you see how the amperage column for 0.030" wire in short-circuit "stops" at 130A? Weird huh? Do you see how the amperage column for 0.035" wire in short-circuit "stops" at 175A and then picks back up in spray transfer at 195A? Weird huh? Do you see how the amperage column for 0.045" wire in short-circuit "stops" at 200A and then picks up in spray transfer at 285A? Weird huh? In my opinion, that's no coincidence.
  
  Look at this chart from an AWS source. It depicts the amperage vs WFS:
  
  
  
  The stops and breaks in the Lincoln chart are due to the breakdown of the once valid linear approximations that are no longer. The wire ends up being saturated with amperage and cannot hold all that much more even if you are able keep cranking out the WFS. So what does that all mean and why am I making a big deal about it? In my terms, it means that you should stay away from the cells within the red border (within a given column for a wire diameter), because the transfer method starts to deviate from short-circuit into a sort of globular transfer, the kind that you typically end up seeing when your volts are wayy to high. But the difference here is that you can't really correct it by dropping the voltage down to make it go into short circuit --it won't go into pure short circuit, and it won't go into pure spray transfer either! A lot of synergic machines (mine included) have this huge jump in voltage once you cross that threshold in order to try to make things work decently, and it does ok but you really have to fine tune it with trial-and-error, and risk a lot of under-cut on the toes of the weld, and and spatter may be a problem (especially without inductance control), but in my opinion it's better to go up to a larger wire diameter that you can run in the region where it runs nicely in short circuit.
  
  My advice is to use 0.035" wire as a good all-around choice. It will be less finicky and you should have no problem welding 16ga up to 3/16" so long as you dial the voltage in properly. ¼" can still be done with 035 wire @ 200A, but I find I get more spatter with it compared to 045. If you plan to weld long runs of ¼" for a big project, 040 or 045 wire would likely behave nicer than 035 near the 200A marker.

cj737 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:55 pm You aren’t getting to “spray mode” with 75/25 gas, pure and simple. At best you’re in globular transfer mode.

You’re right about it being tricky to know exactly where to set your machine for material thickness, wire size, etc. Most machine settings are at best a “guide” and you adjust from there based upon experience.

I have a MP machine that in my estimation runs at least .8v too cold per the menu recommendations. And I also lower the WFS by about 12-15% for my best results.

Welcome to the jungle-

not gonna argue about it, but.... it hissed and there was NO spatter when I did it. No bacon frying and no buzz, just a shhhhhhh. It sounded and looked just like this youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkbgXQ7Wl-Y

if it wasn't spray, ok.

thanks Oscar, I know that took some time to assemble.
Appreciate it!

Oh and ditch the 15AK and get a 24KD MIG gun. Worlds better, and you can get proper consumables. Contact Tip recess is less than ⅛".

Oscar wrote: ↑Sat Sep 24, 2022 11:34 pm Oh and ditch the 15AK and get a 24KD MIG gun. Worlds better, and you can get proper consumables. Contact Tip recess is less than ⅛".

I might do that in the future. I've spent a good portion of my play money and I have ground a couple of nozzles down to almost flush. I do like the idea that the swan neck or tip holder section is all metallic with no rubber coating or parts. So, when/if I need more parts(stocked up on quite a few...for a beginner) I will get a 24. Or if I "smoke" the coatings.
One question on the Lincoln L56 chart you highlighted: I notice those were for 100% CO2. Will there be much difference with 75/25 mix???
I looked up Lincoln's site and download that chart for reference.

For C25 you typically need less volts than straight 100% CO₂. How much less can vary by machine and also inductance settings play a part. Also I will add that my modified chart is very conservative, and plenty of machines have recommended settings that go into the WFS ranges where I outlined in red boxes. You just have to be ready to fine-tune and tweak the voltage and hold the right contact-tip-to-work distance to have things go right.

Oscar wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:55 pm For C25 you typically need less volts than straight 100% CO₂. How much less can vary by machine and also inductance settings play a part. Also I will add that my modified chart is very conservative, and plenty of machines have recommended settings that go into the WFS ranges where I outlined in red boxes. You just have to be ready to fine-tune and tweak the voltage and hold the right contact-tip-to-work distance to have things go right.

thanks for sharing your knowledge!