Starting to weld

[v8zed]

I've bought a Cigweld transmig 135 welder with Argoshield gas and I'm trying to learn to weld so I can do rust repair work to my datsun 240z but I can't seem to get things right.

I've got the wire feed about 7, fine and coarse power settings on the lowest and gas at around 15lpm(my BOC gauge recommends mig at 10-30lpm) my welds seem to have a brown stain around them and I don't think I'm getting enough penetration, any tips please?

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

there's a lot of brown in the top picture but the others look OK. It usually signals low gas flow but I use mine on 10 LPM and I don't get that problem. Is the gas flow restricted anywhere, kinks in the pipe, etc?

With power off, or the wire feed rollers separated, you should be able to hear a 'good' hiss if you hold the torch near your ear. The bottom picture looks OK expect for the one with a brown stain down one side...was it a draft or maybe you held the torch at a slight angle to one side?

Have you tried several longer runs along a plate at different settings to get a feel for your welder?

Once you get comfortabe running 3 - 4 inches at a time then you can have a go at actual work on the car. I generally put a couple of spots on each edge of a plate and then run 1/2" welds leaving a gap of around an inch or so and work all the way around, then go round again and start to fill in the gaps.

Doing it this way reduces heat distortion and hopefully reduces the number of holes blown through.

Regards
Peter