Welding Tips and Tricks

Brand new to welding. Working with metal as a blacksmith, wanted to add welding.

I just got a chicago electric 170, does both mig and flux core.. I have it set up for flux core .030

I'm trying to practice on some steel tube, just to make bead strings but all this thing does is splatter and sputter. The docs suggest current setting MIN and 1 and feed speed of 4 for this size steel but that just gives an occasional pop. So I'm trying 2 and MAX with wire speed at like 3 and the feed seems ok and the arc is more consistent but its just splatter.. no nice bead pool.

I know this isn't much information but I can't tell if I'm doing something really wrong or if this welder is just garbage. I was able to weld a bit of steel onto something but I had to go over it several times to build up weld.

Thanks for any tips.

Well, you're welding with relatively primitive stuff, but some general rules still apply.

Too much spatter usually means the wire feed is too slow for the voltage. I'd skip the tube for now, and get some scrap steel in about the same thickness, and just try beads on the flat surface. Then you can adjust infinitely as you go, just building bead upon bead as you try various settings.

Do this systematically... It sounds like you have a "selector" switch for voltage. Pick a setting (I'd start right in the middle of the available range), and try various wire speeds from low to high, paying attention to the sound and the results. The sound is important, as once you're close to a working range, the sound will smooth out to a fairly consistent "sizzle".

Keep notes of what works, what doesn't. This will help you on your next try.

It's hell trying to make one of these machines work for you when you've not used one that's set right so you know what it sounds and looks like.

Patience...

Also, you could have some shitty wire. If you cannot find any setting that works in the exercise I described, you can suspect the wire. This is far more common than you might think, especially when you're buying this stuff on a tight hobbyist budget.

Steve S

Are you sure your polarity is right? You want electrode negative for flux core and electrode positive for solid wire. Many machines come set up for solid wire and you'll need to reverse the polarity for flux core. Generally, you just reverse two leads on the terminals near the drive rolls.

ldbtx wrote:Are you sure your polarity is right? You want electrode negative for flux core and electrode positive for solid wire. Many machines come set up for solid wire and you'll need to reverse the polarity for flux core. Generally, you just reverse two leads on the terminals near the drive rolls.

That gets most people. My GIG weldskill 150 was set up for gas not gasless when i bought it. Even though it came with a gasless spool fitted and a big "set up for gasless wire" on the front of the box.

I wonder why everyone has the idea cheap gasless machines are so hard to set up? It is just a internet fad? Because i have no problem with either of the cheap as chips chinese MIG welders I have here. Never have. I can pull better welds gasless then most of my mates and they are using gas. Its not that hard to do. I just set up my GIG to what it says on the side of the box and it welds. 3 on the voltage and 8 on the wire feed for 3mm steel and it sounds like paper tearing.

I read day after day people claiming gasless machines spatter so much, but all my pieces have no spatter at all......they look a bit off until you hit them with a wire brush on a grinder, but after that i have some pretty wicked dimes stacked. Im pretty sure most people don't realize they should slow their travel speed down with gasless wire......if i weld to fast i get spatter with gasless.

I've been at this too long, when it didn't occur to me the fellow NEW to this might not know to change polarity for flux-core...



Steve S

Thank you all, great advise. I did double check the polarity when setting it up and after reading this, was hoping I still got it wrong but when I checked it is set up correctly.

I played with the current and wirespeed a bit more and I am starting to get a better bead.. still nowhere near production level but I'm starting to see a steady buzz and flow instead of the erratic popping I was getting.

How much does wire quality affect this? I have a hunch the wire they included with the unit is crap. If I got better quality wire do you guys think that will make a significant difference?

I know that's probably a loaded question, not knowing how I am actually executing this. I'm doing like a buddy of mine showed me.. position the wire, nod the hood down, hold the torch with one hand while holding that hand steady with the other.. slow up-and-back motion going in one direction (to the right)

By up and back do you mean in line with the weld or vertical to your direction of travel?

I think vertical, or I guess I should say perpendicular to my line of travel. eg: forward and back while moving ->

not <--> while moving ->

like trying to draw tiny half-moons

joeb2 wrote:
How much does wire quality affect this? I have a hunch the wire they included with the unit is crap. If I got better quality wire do you guys think that will make a significant difference?

More than you'd expect. If you're getting half-decent with the "get you started" crap that came in the box, a good quality FRESH wire will probably surprise you.

Steve S

Joe,
Welcome to the forum.
I have had similar issues with certain brands of flux core wire.
Go get some known brand wire and give that a go.
Also try practicing on some flat steel.
Clean everything back to bare bright steel, make sure your earth lead is connected to clean bright steel.
Jody has a lot of videos on mig welding, from starting out to advanced, go watch a few of those, they will help.
Blacksmith eh, if it dont work get a bigger hammer