Powermig 255 spray limits

[Planet X]

I am posting a couple of pictures of some fillet welds I did tonight to find out how far a powermig 255 could be pushed.
The rub: ER70S-3 .045 wire
Airgas "steel" mix ( argon 18-20% co2)
Lincoln Powermig 255 w/300 amp Zap plasma gun.

The mix mentioned above is a good "all around" gas that will short circuit & spray , and as far as spray goes it is a "high" energy mix that needs more juice to establish an arc vs. say a 'low' energy mix-say an argon/oxy mix. So the 'High' engergy mix + 'large' .045 wire would make it real easy to see how much I could get out've this particular machine.

The results- I was able to get into the spray transfer mode, but only on the lower end with max wire speed 360-370 with voltage pegged at 28.5 volts (real voltage lower ). I believe the real voltage was lower because if I was pushing a true 28 volts I'm pretty sure I should have been able to spray with a wire speed of 420 or so, but that was not the case Any wire speed setting above 370 ish would just send the wire crashing into the puddle resulting crappy weld and splatter a plenty.
Ok now follows the pics of welds on 3/8 steel only prep was to remove mill scale no bevelling at joint.

[cope]

You are at the limits of the machine with .045 wire. Ckick on the link.

http://www.weldreality.com/spray_transfer_above100.htm

[Planet X]

Originally posted by cope
You are at the limits of the machine with .045 wire. Ckick on the link.

http://www.weldreality.com/spray_transfer_above100.htm

Hi Cope,
Found this at the link " spray transition ...045 approximately 230-250 amps" .
With the parameters I stated in my 'test' the powermig was pumping out 240-270 real world amps close but not the "30-300 amp output " advertised.
Ed Craigs materials/website is probably not too popular with weld sales men from the weld-counter to the marketing people at the factory, once enuff weldors get his message than we will start getting equipment that is both practical & powerful .
thanks.

[cope]

PlanetX, this is what I saw at the same link:

"Minimum Spray Transfer Weld Current
With Argon > 10% CO2 Mixes.

When welding carbon steels with the 0.035 (1 mm) wire, and a 15 to 20 CO2 mix, to achieve spray transfer, a minimum weld current of,
[15 to 20 CO2 - 0.035 1mm wire >180 amps is desired.

For the 0.045 (1.2mm) wire and the 15 to 20 CO2 mix. To achieve spray current of approximately >250 amps is preferred. "

I agree, Ed isn't too popular with a lot of industry people, as well as end users who don't want to try his advice.

[Scott V]

Cope,with my setups .045 wire is awsome for spray,and it really sucks for short arc.Just like he said.He likes .040 wire for that,and nobody makes it.

[Planet X]

Cope- since .040 is not available he pretty much says .035 is next best choice for short circuit , and .045 tops for manual spray. He also adds that if a weld shop is welding on parts that require both spray & short circuit - use the .035. The .045 wire shines because of current capacity + reduced wire feed issues because to get = amps out've an .035 wire you have to increase WS to the point where feeder problems may arise.
Scott V can what are your spray setups- in particular your weld gas of choice?
Be aware fellas- Ed is not a fan of inverters or " bells & whistles" but he does point out starting parameters for things like Pulse welding and legitimate uses for pulse- from his point of view very short list of pros.

[Scott V]

Really to me it doesn't what Ed thinks about inverters,because he didn't have to pay for it.When using pulse it's really nice for thin aluminum,which he says.I like transformer machines for mig,and the new units like the powermig 300,and the Esab 260 using a little of each styles of power.If you ask Mike Sherman here what he like best,he will say his 304 Miller inverter.Thats out of the twenty machines he owns.So I say get what you want because they both work fine,but you can move one without a forklift.

I use 90/10 mostly for something that can do both spray and short-arc,but I might change that to something else when I get another bottle.My spray machines are 305g engine drive,powermig 300,MK2000a.

[Dan]

Originally posted by Scott V
Really to me it doesn't what Ed thinks about inverters,because he didn't have to pay for it.When using pulse it's really nice for thin aluminum,which he says.I like transformer machines for mig,and the new units like the powermig 300,and the Esab 260 using a little of each styles of power.If you ask Mike Sherman here what he like best,he will say his 304 Miller inverter.Thats out of the twenty machines he owns.So I say get what you want because they both work fine,but you can move one without a forklift.

I use 90/10 mostly for something that can do both spray and short-arc,but I might change that to something else when I get another bottle.My spray machines are 305g engine drive,powermig 300,MK2000a.

Scott

With the voltage output that your machines are capable of I think I d stay with the 90/10 or maybe drop down and try a 85/15. The higher CO2 content is going to improve your weld bead penetration profile over the 98/2 that I use with my MM 210 because of its lower output voltage. At work I use the 98/2 with the MM 250 so that I have one gas mix that I can spray steel or stainless steel with. Also, if I remember right you weld quite a bit of lighter gauge material too the 90/10 or 85/15 should do better than a 75/25 on thinner material. Have you ever used the C25 mix on thinner material so you could give a good comparison between the to. Right now I m kicking myself for not trying the 90/10 on some sheetmetal when I had the bottle for trying spray on my MM 210. I would think that beings it would be a lower energy short arc gas that the pentration would be shallower which would make it a much better gas then C25 for automobile sheetmetal.

[Planet X]

Made some upgrades on the powermig ; replaced output wire to gun from 4gauge to 1 gauge and replaced 10' 2gauge ground with 15'1/0 + replaced clamp with tweeko 'junior' .
Total cost about $50.
With just cable replacement above no other changes I was able to get into .045spray with a Wire Speed of 420-450 volts 25-27. close to 300 amps now.
Seemed to like a machine setting of ws 420 w/ 26volts.
Now the question that arises to my cynical mind is beyond smaller gauge wires being cheaper I wonder if some marketing/engineering 'team' actually 'planned' some end user trying to use the machines high end parameters and being disguntled with the weld results would make them open to 'suggestions' from weld salesman to try the latest super duper dream wire or perhaps some exotic tri-gas combo.
Sure one can say that a bottle of say stargon costs the same as a regular duplex gas, but does it? how long between refills between the two hmmm?