MillerMatic 210 MIG Question

[waxer]

I own a MM210 in which I run .030 Hobart wire along with C25 for shielding. I was working with some 1/4" flat stock, welding it to some 3/16" wall rectangular tubing and was experiencing a lot of popping and splatter while it was on a tack 4 setting and at 62% wire speed (which is what 1/4" is recommended at with .030 and C25)

When I'd put it down to the recommended setting for 3/16" which is tack 3, and 50% wire speed, it would sizzle nicely w/o any pops or splatter.

Why would 1 setting higher make it pop so badly like that? Is that a sign of too much voltage/amperage for the .030 to handle? I tried speeding up the wire to 65% while on tack 4, but it still popped away.

BTW, running the C25 at 20cfh to start out, increased it to 25cfh with minimal improvement.

I couldn't seem to get it to weld nicely while on the recommended 1/4" setting of tack 4 and 62% wire feed. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

p.s. I did have the work freshly ground and even tried wiping it down with some brake cleaner spray which made no difference.

[cope]

Each welder runs different settings. one thing I would do is try .035 wire. You are running thicker material than .030 is recommended for.

[Roger]

You see that more with CO2. Too much voltage for wire speed causes molten metal to explode before it contacts puddle. Lower voltage or up wire speed. Too fast wire speed and wire hits bottom of puddle and gun recoils. Someplace in between is correct setting depending on bead profile and thickness of metal. If you upped volts more and wire speed more then it would be in spray transfer with right gas mix.

[Arc Burn]

LOL,just wait for Dan to answer,he's probably found a way to run the taps "halfway" and he'll give you some NASA print out for you wire speed,62.648257 but you better believe that weld will look like a million dollars

Just pickin on ya Dan

[waxer]

This is the absolute best I could get the .030 to weld on a tack 4 setting at 62% wire speed.





I get the splatter and popping. Like what was suggested, I'm going to pick up some .035 and see how goes.

[Dan]

Originally posted by Arc Burn
LOL,just wait for Dan to answer,he's probably found a way to run the taps "halfway" and he'll give you some NASA print out for you wire speed,62.648257 but you better believe that weld will look like a million dollars

Just pickin on ya Dan

Arc Burn

This is so darn funny how can I not laugh at it. You definately got me pegged . When it comes to welding Im definately a perfectionist.

So, you know I don t mind it one bit when you guys joke around with me. I think it is quite hilarious.

[Scott V]

Ok Dan,you asked for it.Do you know what happened to NASA last project?

[Dan]

Originally posted by waxer
This is the absolute best I could get the .030 to weld on a tack 4 setting at 62% wire speed.





I get the splatter and popping. Like what was suggested, I'm going to pick up some .035 and see how goes.

Waxer

An .035 wire will produce a more stable short circuit transfer then an .030 wire on 3/16" or 1/4" steel. However, I haven t experienced the metal transfer problems that you are with an .030 wire at the 4 and 60 range. On my MM 210 the suggested setting for 1/4" steel with C25 is 4 and 60. Im attaching a picture of a weld that I ran at these settings with an .030 wire on 1/4" steel . My weld came out pretty much spatter free and it was even ran over millscale. The metal transfer was actually quite stable. Now, I just used a side to side weave to run my bead were as it looks like you used a circular weave.I also, pushed my weld and it looks like you pulled yours. At the same settings pushing the weld will produce more spatter then pulling. So, this should have made my weld contain more spatter then yours. So, after my experiment my best quess is either your holding to long of a stickout or the circular motion is creating your metal transfer problem with the .030 wire.

[Hobart Expert Mike]

Waxer,

The Millermatic 210 is a tapped style transformer. If your voltage supply to the welder is higher than the rated 230v the output will also be higher. If your input voltage to the machine is 5% higher than 230v the output will be 5% higher, this could explain why you need to turn your tapped voltage down one step. The parameters on the inside of the door are just a starting point that will get you close to the actual welding parameters.

Have fun ... Mike