Burn through

[Devin]

I am new to MIG welding I just purchased a Handler 135 and I am having apoblem with burning through when I am trying to fill in I am using exuast pipe and the .030 flux core wire that came with the welder and have varied the heat and feed rate. When the two pipes are butted together I have good results but when I came to a gap it started melting away

[Pat]

Devin,

First of all welcome to the forum. I think the burn through problem you are encountering is a common problem when welding thinner material with poor fit up. You might try reducing the amps and increasing the wire speed. You can also move the mig gun a little faster over these kind of areas, and do a kind of manual stitch weld where you weld a very short distance then stop, and after a few seconds back up a little then continue forward again repeating this process. You can also try a side to side motion welding on both sides of the gap until the gap narrows from weld build up on the sides eventually allowing you to close the weld. There are others on this forum who are far more knowledgeable than me, and they will set you straight if I have led you astray.

[cutter]

Hi Devin,

I had to chuckle reading your post - I had the same result
on the first thing I tried to weld. But I had better luck
welding thicker material like 1/8th inch steel. I think maybe
we rookies need to start there and develop a little touch.
Dunno what the pros are gonna tell you but I also suspect
we'll do a little better with thinner wire for thinner stock.

Meanwhile, at least you know you're not the only one.

[Sberry]

This is one of those things that is extremely difficult to explain on the puter. When filling gaps I almost never weave. I stop when I have to and back up a little, restart and get it to "float" or arc on top of the puddle instead of the root and let the puddle fill out to the edges. If you go too fast it will arc in the root without filling and burn thru. Maybe someone else can give a shot at expressing this.

[Pat]

Devin,

After reading the responses by Cutter and Sberry27 I realized I missed the boat in answering your question. A smaller diameter wire as cutter suggests would certainly help, and Sberry27's comment about weaving on thinner metal is on the money. Forget what I mentioned about going from side to side until the gap closes, it works but not all that great on thin exhaust pipe. Sberry27 was also correct about this being one of those topics that is hard explain to someone over the computer. There are members on here that are a lot more articulate than myself that can get you squared away in 2 sentences unlike my 3 paragraphs of redundant dribble...ha ha. I will sit back and let the pros teach us both something.........Pat

[Roger]

Re: Burn through

Originally posted by Devin
I have varied the heat and feed rate. When the two pipes are butted together I have good results but when I came to a gap it started melting away

We all know you mean Volts & Feed Rate but your terms indicate miss understanding of the adjustments.

Volts mainly control arc length.
Too short arc may cause stubbing. Cold wire pushes into work at bottom of puddle resulting in gun rebound which pumps air into arc stream when using shielding gas.
Too long arc can cause art to wander. Long arc puts less heat into weld degrading penitration, bead quality and inceases spatter.
Higher voltages tend to flatten weld bead and increase width of fusion zone.

Wire feed rate determins welding current; the higher the feed rate, the more current must be supplied by CV welder.

Volts must be adjusted to support feed rate.

Sberry27 has good discription how to fill hole. Your fluxcore wire has too much penitration to easly weld thin metal. Can weld even thinner by short pulse on then off until red glow fades then pulse on.

When you find out how much easier it is to weld thin metal with .023 solid wire and shielding gas you will say, "should have used it sooner".

[Devin]

Thanks

I will try your sugestions but I believe that I will get the tank and switch to CO2 instead of flux core I suspected that this could be the problem since I couldn't get the arc cold enough with the settings on the machine. I have allways had pretty good luck filling in with my stick set on 60 amps but it is hart to keep it burning at that low

[cutter]

Devin,

Now here is something I did learn right away: when I went
to the store to buy CO2 one guy sold it to me over the
objections of a more thoughtful fellow (Mike) who had read
the data on the regulator that came with the HH 135. It is
to be used with Argon or C25 only. So I got home with my
bottle of CO2 and read the sheet that was packed with the
regulator & decided to not even try it; sure enough, it says
that CO2 will likely freeze that Harris regulator and also void
your warranty. So I went back the next day, hunted up Mike
and exchanged the CO2 for C25 & also traded up for the
larger bottle. So in other words, I think you should unpack
your regulator & see if you got the same Harris regulator that I did.
And you probably better buy C25 to start with & save yourself a
possible hassel.

[Sberry]

Old timer Franz uses CO2 as do some others but I have always used C25 and you will definately like a bigger bottle. C25 has a bit less penetration, is better for thin steels with gaps and splatters less.

[Mike W]

That is interesting about the regulator. I have been using a german made one that I got from Harbor Freight 20 years ago. It is the two guage type (no floating ball). I use CO2 and have never had a problem.

I have welded exhaust pipes with .035 wire. I agree with using gas. I hate flux core wire.

[Franz]

"Old timer Franz" S, if I've told you once, I told ya a thousand times, it's Old Fart, with any adjective you want in front of it.
Freezing regulators when running Co2 usually takes a lot of run time to accomplish, and isn't likely to happen for the average guy.
I been listenin to you young whippersnappers yapping about spatter for 20 years, and have yet to see where you get less spatter with C25. Besides, if you eliminate spatter, what the **** is the grinder operator gonna do all day, sit around the office talkin to the girls.
Make Spatter and do it proudly!

[Mike W]

I have always used CO2 and the splatter that I get is minimal.

[bjdenommee]

I tried some of that powder core from Lincoln, real nice and NO splatter give it a try.

Bernie

[Pat]

Bernie,

If you don't mind, is that powder core used with gas and if so what gas did you use. Also what is the Lincoln part number for the wire..........thanks,

Pat

[bjdenommee]

Pat

The part # TG-32 Harris/Lincoln they call it Twenty Gauge
.030 Dia I used straight argon as I do quite a bit of alum work.

The stuff works great, will weld up to 3/16 and down to 28 ga.

My supplier gave me a 5lb spool to try out, sometimes I think he is more like a drug dealer, first he gets you hooked with a free sample.

I did not have a machine set up to weld steel so I had to use my spool gun for the feeder, welds like butter.

Bernie