Welder cheat sheet / setup table?

[radial]

Hey All,

Just wondering if anyone has a sort of cheat sheet to get me in the ballpark for settings on different materials, thicknesses and wire sizes?

E.g. something like this https://www.scribd.com/document/407610601/242-MIG-Settings-Chart#

Ideally in metric, up to at least 250a and 1.2mm wire for mild steel with mixed gas.

As you can see that one only goes to 0.9 wire. Plus I would have to convert the voltage and speeds on there to be able to use on my Clarke Mig which is 1-7 and 0-10 respectively... whatever that means. Attached is all the Clark manual says

I could collate a table in Excel if I could get enough information together on here.

Thanks in advance all!

 

[badabec]

I just 'suck it and see'. There are too many variables, especially when I'm welding up my old Citroen.

 

[Mark 2]

One man's 'low' is another man's 'turn it up'.
Call me old fashioned but what happened to instinct?
Is instinct extinct?

 

[outofthefire]

I've never used a table, I started off listening for the bacon sizzle, then carried on learning from there. If the weld balls up high you've not got enough power if you blow through you've got too much.

 

[radial]

I appreciate that instinct can be used and trial and error. That’s what I currently do.

But as a new welder, those are both super inefficient. I know there are lots of variables, but a cheat sheet /table would get me closer to start with and then I can adjust from there without having to use up a tone of scrap each time I want to weld something.

 

[outofthefire]

I appreciate that instinct can be used and trial and error. That’s what I currently do.

But as a new welder, those are both super inefficient. I know there are lots of variables, but a cheat sheet /table would get me closer to start with and then I can adjust from there without having to use up a tone of scrap each time I want to weld something.

There aren't lots of variables, the thicker the steel the more power, the more power the faster the wire feed. Not every welder is the same either if you did find a cheat sheet the odds are it will tell you how many volts or amps you need for a thickness of metal and especially with clarke welders that have 2 switches to adjust the power you'll still be in the dark. If you want a rough idea look at the instructions for your welder that's the best place to start and then practice.

 

[outofthefire]

Also what clarke welder have you got that will take 1.2mm wire?

 

[Redsailor]

Use a more sophisticated and scientific approach myself. Just twiddle the knobs and see wot appens! Experience lets you know when it's right.

 

[addjunkie]

MIG Settings Calculator

Estimates the range of mild steel thicknesses you can weld with each setting on your MIG welder.

www.mig-welding.co.uk

There you go. In this section there are also lots of usful info to help beginers.

 

[Eric the chicken]

I see you have your location down as simply 'UK' and I appreciate you may not wish to be more specific. However a more precise location will almost certainly produce an offer of practical help. Just a thought.

 

[radial]

I see you have your location down as simply 'UK' and I appreciate you may not wish to be more specific. However a more precise location will almost certainly produce an offer of practical help. Just a thought.

Happy to be more specific. Just north of Bournemouth

 

[radial]

There aren't lots of variables, the thicker the steel the more power, the more power the faster the wire feed. Not every welder is the same either if you did find a cheat sheet the odds are it will tell you how many volts or amps you need for a thickness of metal and especially with clarke welders that have 2 switches to adjust the power you'll still be in the dark. If you want a rough idea look at the instructions for your welder that's the best place to start and then practice.

That little chart above came from my welder manual that’s all you get.

It’s a 255tec. It doesn’t use the two switches…. I have a 130en also that has the switches for power… it’s infuriating and Illogical. The 255 has dials and can go up to 1.2mm wire. Plus has a spot timer that I’ve never used. The dials bear no relation though to any actual speeds or power numbers and even their own chart for wire feed speed doesn’t correlate to the controls.

I’ll just keep doing trial and error until I have experience I guess

 

[leadpig]

im no expert in fact new to mig myself, but what i did was to set the power to material thickness using online charts, set the wire speed to the lower end of charts and start welding watching what the weld pool was doing.
i started with 12mm steel using 0.8mm wire on a 180as mig that was my first job with mig put a 2mm bevel and it punched through.
my point being is the weldpool tells you what you need to know. pull trigger-wait till it fills pull forward half material thickness let it fill and repeat, the better you get the quicker you can go and increase wire speed

 

[addjunkie]

im no expert in fact new to mig myself, but what i did was to set the power to material thickness using online charts, set the wire speed to the lower end of charts and start welding watching what the weld pool was doing.
i started with 12mm steel using 0.8mm wire on a 180as mig that was my first job with mig put a 2mm bevel and it punched through.
my point being is the weldpool tells you what you need to know. pull trigger-wait till it fills pull forward half material thickness let it fill and repeat, the better you get the quicker you can go and increase wire speed

I agree with this…. But if you have a machine that is 30 to 255 amps you can roughly calculate what each voltage step will give you. As its the wire speed that actually control the amps. So on position 1 itll be roughly 30 amps give or take a bit depending on wire speed. And if you have 10 steps itll be roughly 22.5 amps per step, again roughly as its actually wire speed.

You need roughly 30 amps per mil of steel….the rest is feel and technique. I have a 270 amp machine, but never run 1.2 wire. Only ever .8 or 1mm. It quite happily welds car body work up to1/2 plate.

 

[8ob]

my point being is the weldpool tells you what you need to know.

Thats the drum I have been beating on here, folk get way too hung up on "settings".

Bob

 

[8ob]

Happy to be more specific. Just north of Bournemouth

Manchester?

Five minutes of hands on help would be invaluable if you are struggling to get your head around set up. There are some seriously good guys on here that would give up a few minutes of their time to help.

Bob

 

[Bravheart]

Thats the drum I have been beating on here, folk get way too hung up on "settings".

Bob

As he says it's not a perfect science there's a lot of suck it and see but the help section on here gives you a good starting point especially the table linked to by @addjunkie and as he says above remember its the wire speed that gives you the amps. If you really want to, measure the wire length for each speed setting for your own welder and keep it as a handy reference alongside the table.
Like you I've looked for amateur help from reference tables but in the end to get going get some scraps (of mild steel) and jfdi.

 

[radial]

Thanks all for you help and the guidance on where to get started. That's really what I needed and I have started to be able to make half decent weld's about half of the time!

I appreciate the comment about hands on help @8ob, but comment about 'the weld pool tells you what you need to know' is not at all helpful when you are trying to learn... because until you learn, the weld pool tells you nothing. I'm sure you start with some numbers on the machine and go from there? I'm sure in time I will be able to read the pool like you, but to start I needed some kind of way to know if I should be running 10amps or 200amps.

 

[tom2207]

if in doubt set everything in the middle and start there ...

once you have the basics and things are working , you soon get to know your own machine , basically you just find out what works for you , your welding style and preferences , and before long you wont care about numbers , you just know where the dials sit and how the machine sounds and feels.

 

[carbon]

If you have an iOS device try the miller weld setting calculator

It’s also available on there website Miller weld setting calculator