Some welding questions

[1BAD68]

Been repairing some small area's on my Charger with new steel and for some reason I can't seem to get the welder set up to lay a nice weld without blowing through.
It's a Lincoln SP-135, 0.035 wire, 75/25% gas mix, I tried pretty much every setting and still seems like it's either too hot or too cold, what am I doing wrong?
Here's a spot I did today and had the same trouble...







And this is after lot's of welding, grinding, rewelding, burning through, etc..

[Charger-Bodie]

035 wire is partof the prob for sure. take more heat to melt the wire than the fender wants.

[Ryan]

Smaller wire for sure. I think I'm using .025. Remember when welding sheet metal that you should not be running a long bead. You need to make a series of tack welds.

[deanj309]

I have to do the same for my fender. what guage is your sheet metal

[1BAD68]

Smaller wire makes sense, thanks  
I'm just tacking and moving to avoid warping (no long beads)
Not sure of the gauge but it's identical to a AMD cut off that I have here.

[NHCharger]

Another vote for using smaller wire. I'm using .030 and I still get the burn throughs.
BTW, nice job on that patch.

[bobs66440]

.023 is the most common (small wire) carried by local suppliers around here anyway. I've seen .020 on line, but never in a store.

[gtx6970]

I'm using the .023 I think

[Troy]

I am no expert but have been learning over the past 6 months or so. I have been using .020" wire and very small gaps (tight fit) between panels. I tend to burn through when I have to bridge a gap because the wire zaps the edge and obliterates it - making the gap bigger. Sometimes I start the weld off the edge and "push" it into the gap and across to the other side. I go ridiculously slow and use my air hose to keep the metal cool.

Troy

[matrout76]

one of the easiest ways to learn how to weld thin sheet metal is to back the weld up with a piece of copper sheet.  

you can buy copper "spoons" that have a handle so you can hold it with one hand and weld with the other, but i've done it many different ways:

take a piece of 1" copper pipe about 3 or 4" long, cut it length ways with some tin snips, unroll it and hammer it flat.  it give you a piece you can clamp in place behind a weld.

Or, some hardware stores (like Menards) have small pieces of copper sheet in the aisle with threaded rod and angle iron.  If you know any roofers that do copper roofing, ask them for a scrap piece to use as a backer.

I'm planning on JB welding some magnets to a piece of copper so i can just stick it behind where i'm welding and not have to clamp.  i'll have to make sure not to overheat the magnets with the weld, but it should be fine for tacking.

here is a link to Eastwood's website with a video of how to use the "spoons": http://www.eastwood.com/welders-helper-3x3-set-flat-curve-anglecop-plates.html

[sanders7981]

one of the easiest ways to learn how to weld thin sheet metal is to back the weld up with a piece of copper sheet.  

you can buy copper "spoons" that have a handle so you can hold it with one hand and weld with the other, but i've done it many different ways:

take a piece of 1" copper pipe about 3 or 4" long, cut it length ways with some tin snips, unroll it and hammer it flat.  it give you a piece you can clamp in place behind a weld.

Or, some hardware stores (like Menards) have small pieces of copper sheet in the aisle with threaded rod and angle iron.  If you know any roofers that do copper roofing, ask them for a scrap piece to use as a backer.

I'm planning on JB welding some magnets to a piece of copper so i can just stick it behind where i'm welding and not have to clamp.  i'll have to make sure not to overheat the magnets with the weld, but it should be fine for tacking.

here is a link to Eastwood's website with a video of how to use the "spoons": http://www.eastwood.com/welders-helper-3x3-set-flat-curve-anglecop-plates.html

+ 1 on the copper spoon!  I am no expert on welding, had a 5 min class and some practical application time, but the copper spoon definitely helped me out alot on some areas.

[Hemi Runner]

I am no expert but have been learning over the past 6 months or so. I have been using .020" wire and very small gaps (tight fit) between panels. I tend to burn through when I have to bridge a gap because the wire zaps the edge and obliterates it - making the gap bigger. Sometimes I start the weld off the edge and "push" it into the gap and across to the other side. I go ridiculously slow and use my air hose to keep the metal cool.

Troy

Snipping the berry off the end of the wire will help minimize that. It takes more current to start the arc and melt that large berry than it does the fresh cut end.

[69rtse4spd]

one of the easiest ways to learn how to weld thin sheet metal is to back the weld up with a piece of copper sheet.  

you can buy copper "spoons" that have a handle so you can hold it with one hand and weld with the other, but i've done it many different ways:

take a piece of 1" copper pipe about 3 or 4" long, cut it length ways with some tin snips, unroll it and hammer it flat.  it give you a piece you can clamp in place behind a weld.

Or, some hardware stores (like Menards) have small pieces of copper sheet in the aisle with threaded rod and angle iron.  If you know any roofers that do copper roofing, ask them for a scrap piece to use as a backer.

I'm planning on JB welding some magnets to a piece of copper so i can just stick it behind where i'm welding and not have to clamp.  i'll have to make sure not to overheat the magnets with the weld, but it should be fine for tacking.

Make sure the mags. are not very close to where you want to weld, or the arc will dance around.
here is a link to Eastwood's website with a video of how to use the "spoons": http://www.eastwood.com/welders-helper-3x3-set-flat-curve-anglecop-plates.html