Welding stainless with mig.Help

[wheels 2]

Hi i wanted to weld stainless wit my HH 140 mig welder.
I have no idea what in need to weld SS but except for SS wire and shielding gas.
I have some SS wire but i dont know anything about it.
It's made by Harris Welco.It says ALLOY-ER308L Size-.030(0.8mm).
I am not sure what welding gas i will need but i have ARGON/CARBON DIOXIDE.
I was told that this type of gas is called c25.
And i have been reading around here and they say its ok to weld with this type of gas on SS so what all do i need besides the stuff that i have.THANKS

[wheels 2]

someone help please.

[Chuck U&R]

Go to the front page - there's a whole forum on SS.

Other sights like Miller, Lincoln and Esab are also good sources of information.

You might want to do a little 'homework' before asking questions.

[greywynd]

You might want to do a little 'homework' before asking questions.

I'd say he's already done basic homework, now he's looking for conformation that what he has done is correct, and any other tips info to go from there. Besides, there are lots of posts on here about stuff that people have obviously never done basic homework, and people answer those all the time.....(can I make a plasma cutter out of an arc/mig/tig welder, can I use a 110V mig to weld my 3" steel plate I found , etc, etc....)

Unfortunately, Mig is something I've never used for SS, so have absolutely zero knowledge or experience with it. Hopefully someone else comes along and can help you out. In the meantime, if you have some scrap, why not go ahead and try a bit and see what happens?

[walker d.]

wheels yes c25 argon 75 will do. get some piece's to practice on stainless tends to wet out a little more than steel. oh and i do believe that's why people come to this board is to ask question's to get answer's pertaining to welding from EXPEREANCED WELDER'S if it were not for QUESTION'S on here we would not have this board now would we???? oh and wheels ask away my friend and make yourself at home and do your home work come here and ask question's you're not sure of i think that's what this boards for here for to help each other

[taylorkh]

It looks like you have what you need to weld stainless excepting perhaps some stainless material and some mig welding experience. If you can MIG weld carbon steel you can MIG weld stainless. If you need practice, use carbon steel. It is a LOT cheaper. That said...

C25 gas can be used for stainless, at least for the for the "short circuiting transfer" welding mode which the HH140 will do. There are also a lot of tri-mix gases available composed of mixtures of Argon, Helium, CO2 and O2 which are marketed for stainless steel welding. I have used C25 with my HH180 and it worked OK for the little stainless I welded.

The only downside of using C25 is that you will get some carbon in the weld. This will cause the weld to rust a little if exposed to humidity. Probably more of a cosmetic concern than structural - unless you are welding a nuclear reactor or something like that - and then you probably would not be using the HH140

Ken

[CF1975]

I use C-25 for all of my stainless work with my Ironman 210. It doesn't pay for me to set up "properly" for the few little jobs I do here and there....mostly on friends and neighbors boats. I seem to have to run a faster speed, but I get it done. DEFINITELY practice with some SS scrap before you touch your project, though. Best of luck, let us know how it turns out.

[Chuck U&R]

My reply wasn't intended to be harsh.

As I'm sure yours wasn't either.

wheels 2 says he has 308 wire and c25 gas.

Why didn't he load it up burn some wire and see what happens as you stated ?

Maybe because it's easier to get a quick answer here than actually doing the homework ???

I don't want to pick on wheels in particular but it seems a lot of people, especially younger folks, want the short cut from someone else's experience
rather than developing their own.

Wheels - Check your door chart - it states for SS 16g at 3/90 and
4/90 for 11g(1/8inch) I looked it up.

Burn some wire and see what happens.

If you're forgetful like me you may even want to take notes and pics of
your experience.

Good luck

[walker d.]

i'm sure you did'nt mean to be harsh. looking for the shortest way to type a sentence some times makes reply's seem harsh i guess. heck it took me over thirty min.s just to type that reply one finger typing is slow lol well anyway everybody have a good day

[Lost_Arkitekt]

Give me a break

My reply wasn't intended to be harsh.

Why didn't he load it up burn some wire and see what happens as you stated?

Maybe because it's easier to get a quick answer here than actually doing the homework ???

I don't want to pick on wheels in particular but it seems a lot of people, especially younger folks, want the short cut from someone else's experience
rather than developing their own.

Chuck, I must admit that when I started, I asked many people for help on this website, and most of the time, they came through for me. I didn't learn everything I know by trial and error...books, pamphlets, suggestions, tips, they are all part of the learning process. I love sharing what I've learned to those interested. Why should someone do something ridiculous just to prove that it was the wrong method? Learning by trial and error is fine. In fact, I think that is a wonderful method of learning with an established background.

Don't be so quick to jab. Some of us really appreciate the advice.

Paul

[B_C]

I just went through this myself (I don't use the mig that much) I ended up with 308LS I think it was and Tri mix gas Argon Helium and CO-2 I think you will be disappointed with the results with that welder.. ( I was) but then I'm VERY weird when it comes to COSMETIC results...I'm going to get a bottle of 99/2 and try that before I give up on Mig Stainless....Ha Ha Ha

BC

[Hotfoot]

Wheels 2: I've welded a number of SS308 pipe with C25 and plain ol' Er70S6 wire (which will rust, but for these projects I didn't care). It welded very nicely! It will be of great help iof you say what material thickness and type (tube...bar...sheet??) is....Let me guess...it an air intake or turbo part, right?

[mccutter]

It works for me.

I'm in the middle of a utility trailer railing fab project and am using a MM140 (non AS) loaded with Anchor .030" 308L. It is set at about 9.5/70 and running Tri-mix at 20cfh. I'm welding 1"x1"x1/8" 304L angle cut with an AF250ci. I'm using the material and filler mainly because they were surplus (ie: free! ). The gas is pricey but it has been working pretty good. Admittedly, both machines are just about at the top of their ranges but I've not had any problems with either with SS. Note that the plasma cuts are "un-cleaned" and the welds are among the first and before I had it dialed in and are sloppier than the welds that followed.

[aametalmaster]

I use 75/25 gas also with my mig. For all i do and the type of repairs it isn't worth buying a bottle of tri mix. Now if i had some real production parts to run i would use the correct gas...Bob

[Chuck U&R]

I use 75/25 gas also with my mig. For all i do and the type of repairs it isn't worth buying a bottle of tri mix. Now if i had some real production parts to run i would use the correct gas...Bob

Did you use 308 wire and get a lot of splatter ?