• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

welding tips/advice

rich hourigan

Well-Known Member
Local time
5:06 PM
Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
569
Reaction score
475
Location
Southington, CT
Let me start by saying that i just bought my first welder and i have no experience except the practicing that ive been doing with it. My GTX needed a new floor so i removed the rotted floor and replaced with a new AMD full floor.... so far so good, i prepped the new floor by drilling holes and sanding away the black coating and applied SEM weld thru primer on clean steel surfaces, so im all ready to weld up the spot weld holes..... so heres my question... when i practice welding on clean scrap metal my plug welds are pretty good... i then added weld thru primer and my plug welds are the ugliest welds with splatter and burn thru. Why is this happening, all things equal except useing the primer. I dont want to try welding my new floor till i figure this out. My welder is a Millermatic 140 with gas. Thanks for a great site....
 
weld thru primer sucks, I gave that up after my trunk pan, I think its just a way for someone to make some money thinking you'll get a better rust free rust proof weld. what happens to the primer when it hits the temperature to melt metal. weld it and then prime the **** out of it. but that my opinion maybe someone here knows the trick and or the actual proven advantages.
 
Thanks for the advice Don, i may pull my floor back up and remove the welding primer....ill wait and see if anyone has any tricks before i do that...
 
Glad you're using a machine with gas! FluxCore smokes a lot and you get bubbles. Try welding the plug welds without the primer.
You shouldn't use the weld-thru primer everywhere. Just places that are trapped or not easy to clean later. Too much weld-thru
will get you into trouble too! Just a dusting. and use 0.020 wire, not 0.035. Too much material and too much heat. Make sure the
gas is set correctly. Too much gas flow makes turbulence and mixes atmosphere into the arc area making ugly welds. Go on
you tube and watch some videos on mig welding. you can pick up a lot of experience from others there. Good Luck! Let's see
some of those ugly welds! Maybe we can come to a conclusion.
 
i think im using .30 wire.... what should my gas be set at?... im at 15 for the gas and i applied 2 light coats of primer....no clue how to load a picture
 
Try and wire brush out the weld thru primer in your plug weld hole before welding. I had a similar issue and that helped a bunch.
 
Thanks guys, i think im going to sand the primer off, like i said, my welds were pretty good till i added the sem primer
 
Weld Thru primer is a waste of money unless it is copper based. Even then your going to get contamination of the argon/co2. Check your tip on mig gun to make sure you are not contaiminated. THe copper nozzle will foul in 2 seconds. Mig has a parculiar sound when you have feed wire/gasa nd amperage set properly. The Miller is a very good unit. Gas should be 12-20 lbs. Are you running Combo gas? 25/75 Do you have polarity set right for gas.
 
Set your gas at 18-20 cubic feet per hour for plug welds and flat welding.
For corners and closed in spaces, 25CF/H. You must be using a flowmeter on your gas, not
a pressure gage. If you weld to a tube or channel, you need to put inert shielding gas
inside the tube or channel to keep things from getting ugly!
 
yes, im using combo gas and polarity is correct....snakeoil i used your advice when i was prepping my car for new floor pan.. you are spot on... thank you......zyzzyx where is that video? those welds pictured there is what i was getting before i experimented with the welding primer
 
yes, im using combo gas and polarity is correct....snakeoil i used your advice when i was prepping my car for new floor pan.. you are spot on... thank you......zyzzyx where is that video? those welds pictured there is what i was getting before i experimented with the welding primer
 
Just click the play arrow in the middle of the screen. Loose the primer!
 
i dont have an arrow in the middle of my screen to play it....i can go to you you tube ... whats the name of the video?
 
are you on a computer or cell phone? Anyone else here not able to play the video???
 
No arrow. Cell phone

Edit-working now
 
Put your mouse over the picture of the video . . . as you do that, the right looking arrow in the center of the picture will turn RED . . . press it and the video will play on the screen
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top