Spray arc mig

[bigfellayork]

Dumb question maybe.
When Mig welding and it is doing it in spray arc. Is the sound from welder missing the frying bacon effect?
If not what causes the weld to run at a gentle hiss with the pool forming well with good penetration.
6 mm mild steel plate bevelled.
Smartmig 162 on full power.
Wire feed on the slow side.
Argoshield light (93/5/2) set at 10lpm indoors no draught.
Room temp 24 degrees.
Cheers.

 

[Brad93]

Your machine isn’t powerful enough

 

[Wozzaaah]

As Brad says, I wouldn’t have thought you’d get that little welder into spray.
More likely to be globular if your power is high and your wfs is slow.

 

[Richard.]

You need 26 volts before you’ll start spraying a 0.8 wire.
Matched up with a decent wire speed we are looking 200 amps plus.
With a gys 168 you’ll get a globular transfer if you try make it spray.

 

[bigfellayork]

Cheers. So would you say it was just globular then. If so. What causes this action in the weld. Thanks.

 

[backpurge]

Wire feed speed and volts not balanced correctly, either increase wire feed speed or drop the voltage. The weld you are depositing will not have decent mechanical properties.

 

[bigfellayork]

Ok cheers.

 

[backpurge]

Ok cheers.

When you're in dip or spray transfer you are melting the filler wire at a controlled rate that ensures droplet transfer matches weld pool fluidity and you get good fusion etc. In globular you get irregular sized snotty lumps of molten metal forming on the end of the filler, these drop off into the weld pool due to their weight rather than being propelled across the arc in a controlled manner

 

[bigfellayork]

I

When you're in dip or spray transfer you are melting the filler wire at a controlled rate that ensures droplet transfer matches weld pool fluidity and you get good fusion etc. In globular you get irregular sized snotty lumps of molten metal forming on the end of the filler, these drop off into the weld pool due to their weight rather than being propelled across the arc in a controlled manner

its interesting you added that.
The weld itself ran beautifully. The weld pool was forming really well and penetration appeared very good. The finish weld was very smooth and neat by my standards.
I’ve put a pic below. It’s got a light coat of spray paint on.

 

[Kent]

As an aside I should not Welsh in spray transfer on 6 mm plate anyhow. Counterproductive

 

[Richard.]

As an aside I should not Welsh in spray transfer on 6 mm plate anyhow. Counterproductive

Why is it counterproductive
I would almost certainly weld 6mm in spray.
Dip would be counterproductive on gage like that not to mention lacking sufficient fusion

 

[backpurge]

As an aside I should not Welsh in spray transfer on 6 mm plate anyhow. Counterproductive

That material thickness should be welded in spray if your welding it in the downhand position, penetration, fusion and deposition rates will be much better than you can achieve in dip, plus you have the bonus of no spatter

 

[backpurge]

I

its interesting you added that.
The weld itself ran beautifully. The weld pool was forming really well and penetration appeared very good. The finish weld was very smooth and neat by my standards.
I’ve put a pic below. It’s got a light coat of spray paint on.

Interesting, doesn't look bad, it does look as if you've got a fair bit of undercut but I can't see it falling apart

 

[Kent]

That material thickness should be welded in spray if your welding it in the downhand position, penetration, fusion and deposition rates will be much better than you can achieve in dip, plus you have the bonus of no spatter

Perhaps on heavy wall hollow section when you don't have to switch positions but on 6mm plate I shouldn't personally. There are exceptions to that like most things

 

[Kent]

Why is it counterproductive
I would almost certainly weld 6mm in spray.
Dip would be counterproductive on gage like that not to mention lacking sufficient fusion

Frankly if I wasn't getting sufficient fusion on 6mm I should be worried
As with most things there are exceptions. I remember a load of plug welds failing on a job on thin walled box, the only fix was spaying them in.

 

[backpurge]

Perhaps on heavy wall hollow section when you don't have to switch positions but on 6mm plate I shouldn't personally. There are exceptions to that like most things

Like I said, 6mm thick material in the downhand position

 

[Richard.]

Frankly if I wasn't getting sufficient fusion on 6mm I should be worried

In the down hand position on 6mm gage in dip transfer it’s very possible you are lacking fusion and penetration mate.
Lacking fusion and penetration doesn’t necessarily mean drop to bits but it does mean it’s not as well fused as it could be.
Cut and etch some Kent. You’ll see it’s hardly bitten it at all

 

[Kent]

In the down hand position on 6mm gage in dip transfer it’s very possible you are lacking fusion and penetration mate.
Lacking fusion and penetration doesn’t necessarily mean drop to bits but it does mean it’s not as well fused as it could be.
Cut and etch some Kent. You’ll see it’s hardly bitten it at all

Listen I can't put a lot of things together by keeping moving them about so I can weld downhand and I believe I do know what a sound weld looks like when it's going in even if I need a 2x cheater these days.

 

[Mid Wales welder]

Listen I can't put a lot of things together by keeping moving them about so I can weld downhand and I believe I do know what a sound weld looks like when it's going in even if I need a 2x cheater these days.

Does that mean you weld things vertical up to save turning them over? Surely that’s even slower?

 

[Richard.]

Does that mean you weld things vertical up to save turning them over? Surely that’s even slower?

In that line of work I’d say he probably goes down not up with the mig.