I experimented with .024 welding wire today

ponykilr

Guest
I loaded my welder with .024 Hobart wire today after reading all of the positive comments on it. I previously had used .030 and .035 mostly.

1-My thoughts:

2-It needs a lot more wire speed to look and sound good. About 30-40% more.

3-It is WAY easier to control/push the puddle. The puddle does not get in the way like with thicker wire.

4-The bead is prettier. It looks more professional, plain and simple.

5-You can move a little slower and watch it "burn in" or fuse because the puddle grows much slower.

6-Control, control, control.

7-It was hard to even try to make an undercut weld, my nemesis. It is worth using for this reason alone.

8-It did not really like my highest heat setting (140A) and tended to be more sporadic in the quality and ease of the weld. This might change on thicker steel or with more practice.

Overall, I like it and will continue to use it.

The side of these washers closer to the center was done with the .024, the other side (second pic) was with .035. Notice the thinner but much better bead on the first pic. These are small washers, the added control and smaller bead is a HUGE plus.

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These old bolts did well, a spark hit my bare arm and you can see where I jerked LOL

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Grind off the galvanizing and your welds will look even prettier! Your arms will thank you, too. As will your lungs and guts. ;) If you're still flinching when you get a lump of molten steel in your elbow crease, you need more practice! Kidding. I like it when they fall down your shoes. I had a big one burn into a tight thermal tee I was wearing the other day. It rolled around to the other side of my elbow and left a big red streak before it burned its way out!

Your little Hobie might not have the wire speed available to run .023 at full blast. It certainly takes more wire to fill the puddle, but it's easier to work with in general. I'm going to start going back to thicker wires and playing around sometime just to see what the difference really is. It's been so long since I've had .030 or .035 on my MM 185, it's not even funny.
 
I have gotten a little ball in my ear a few times.....makes things interesting LOL

I still have lots of wire speed left on the dial, I can't really pinpoint why it didn't like max heat.
Gonna practice some more this week and see how it goes, but it uses a lot more wire that is for sure.

When I had the heat on 3 and the wire speed around 45 it was magic. Heat on 2 and around 30 wire speed was great too. I welded up a hole on a Flowmaster muffler where a bracket had been welded to it and ripped off. Worked well on 2 for that.

Welder is a Mac I have had a long time, I think Hobart made it but I am not 100%.

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Another tip is to take a sharpie and wrote your common setting that weld well inside the machine cover for each wire size and type.

Reminds me what to start the settings on when I change wire.
 
tknopp said:
No matter size wire you use I was taught to always start with bright shiney metal surfaces that are to be welded. That should help your welds if you are not already doing this.
Click to expand...

When it is for real, I am more studious in surface prep.

I went out and messed around a little more.

Here is a little outside corner on some scrap 1/16 plate.
Other than the little bit of contamination, do you see any obvious problems Mac?

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That looks pretty damn good!
 
I only weld about 2-3 times a month. It's like everything else, you gotta do it to stay proficient.
I have access to a $20K welder, I just don't need it LOL. My little 110v does about anything I need.
 
Makes me want to try some new .024. I've always run 30-35. At 1 time I welded up a wood stove that need a repair, & a mower deck. Was doing great. Months later, my wire just sticks in the nozzle. Now, several years later, I've tried 2-3 more times. Different nozzles, techniques, wearing my reading glasses. I still weld the nozzle. I gave up, & if the need arises, I use my stick welder! I have wondered if my wire went bad? Can this happen? It stays in my Full Basement, so I don't think I have a moisture problem. No gas, just flux wire.:confused:
 
Not too bad at all.

Cleanliness is everything,
Next is clarity of seeing the weld pool, and next is being comfortable while making the weld.
After these are set, any defects or fusion problems are east to fix.

These will lead to consistency and great looking welds.

Also listening to weld is very important. Keep the sound the same as you manipulate the puddle. This will keep your amperage consistent.

No spits, sputters or pops anywhere in your weave.

Practice moving through the weld before you squeeze the trigger to make sure you are comfortable, and practice a similar weld on a scrap piece to understand how to change your weave for each piece and position.
A good time to make sure you settings are good for that situation.
 
I use 023 on just about anything 1/8 and under. It's worth the time to swap wire.
 
Watched videos til 2AM last night from weldingtipsandtricks.com. He is a great teacher who talks about the complicated subject of welding in a way that makes it seem very simple. Kudos to him. While I have been a good welder, I want to be a better more confident welder who understands the "why" to a better degree.

Things I will try today I gleaned from weldingtipsandtricks.com are:

1-Setting the wire tension on the spool and feed like he suggested. Did not know how critical it could be to consistency.

2-"tracing the puddle" with a V on uphills.

3-Turn my gas down to 15 or so.

4-Set my nozzle so the tip is flush or maybe even sticking out. Mine has always been set about .25" recessed.

5-Experiment with the much better/shorter stickout the above will allow.

6-Gonna try pulling with very slight angle rather than pushing. I think it will allow better views of the front edge of the puddle.

7-Gonna work on a better ground setup, either a strong clamp or maybe a set of visegrips modified or something. The balled up wire is cool too but I don't have any braided stuff like that. A set of big locking pliers with the wire bolted to them might be awesome. I know it's steel but it should be very solid.

8-Gonna STOP WORRYING about trying to make a stack of dimes and just make sound, hot welds.
 
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