MIG welding newbie - First attempt

[rich.]

have you fixed it yet??

[jpsh120]

No not yet. I did make another visit to the welding suppliers and they have given me some more help as to how to remove the liner, it should pull out of the brass fitting at the nozzle end.

I was going to have a go over the weekend but this is an outdoors job and currently its far too cold for that brrr!

[jpsh120]

I braved the elements after work and replaced the liner - easy when you know how

Swapped over to the 0.8mm wire and now she runs like a dream! I still need to play with the settings, I did a very quick test and either had spatter or on the next power setting blow through. The test piece was fairly thin though so I'll try again on something a bit thicker.

Good to finally get it working properly

[rich.]

great.... can you fix mine now???

[TerryG]

Have you still not managed to put all the screws back in then Rich?

[rich.]

the screws are all in, its just im having trouble getting spares as its over 10 years old... that and ive left it at a mates house for nearly 2 years...

[TerryG]

Have you checked your mate's ebay feedback to make sure he hasn't sold it for spares

[rich.]

hes a good sort.... hasnt started charging me rent either

[jpsh120]

Here we go then. Simple job where I had to weld one of the brackets that holds the spare wheel carrier to a new backing plate due to the original one being well passed it's best.





Pretty happy with it but are the welds ok for size? I thought they were on the small side but if I held the trigger any longer I think it would have blown through. Anyway all I need to do now is weld the plate to the car. The area in question I have treated with rust remover which leaves a black coating, do I need to clean that off first?

[Luxobarge]

The area in question I have treated with rust remover which leaves a black coating, do I need to clean that off first?

Absolutely 100% yes, you do. You really need bright shiny "silver" steel to weld to, anything else will give you major headaches and come out very rough.

If I had a criticism of your weld, it would be that it needs to be slightly hotter, and continuous - you need to keep the arc moving to stop it blowing through, but agreed - this takes patience and experience - and courage! This is why a really good mask (I've already recommended the automatic light-sensitive ones) helps enormously, as you can really see the weld pool in detail, and you can learn to spot when it's getting too big and dangerous, and move the arc onwards to stop it blowing through.

Good first effort though!

Keep the updates coming!

Cheers