Mig Gone Haywire

I have a Thermal Arc 211 Inverter TIG/Stick welder that I bought to leave and develop my skill in TIG welding. It worked fine at first. The torch was a large 26 size and for what I was looking to do, I moved to a smaller 17 size.
I immediately noted that my electrode would become red hot, the arc was diffused and wandering, lots of contamination in the weld, etc. I blamed me as I was just learning but after lots of reading, I decided gas was not getting to the torch head. I had flow from the regulator to the inverter but not the torch. No obstructions in the torch lines.
I took it to the approved warranty center. they discovered the gas line inside the welder was too long. When I attached the new 17 torch and tighten the fitting, the gas line behind the fitting twisted onto it's self and completely blocked the gas flow. They cut the line down and reattached fittings. Torch works perfectly now and I don't feel like a total idiot. :cower: Still need a lot of seat time but my skill is improving because the equipment is working properly now.
 
Franko said:
I traded in my old faithful Lincoln 175 MIG last summer and thought I upgraded to a Hobart Handler 190 with a spool gun, hoping I could weld aluminum with it, having tried a Lincoln 225 TIG a few years earlier and failed miserably.

The first month I had the new Hobart, I practiced with the spool gun on aluminum and wasn't very impressed with it. It was a beast and very difficult to control and I melted a lot of aluminum.Isost faith and purchased a Miller Syncromatic 210 and practiced with it for few weeks, giving TIG another shot. I practiced with it for several weeks and got distracted on a pressing job.

Meanwhile, the Hobart MIG sat idle for a few months. I didn't try welding steel with because I didn't think it would be a problem.

I had a project to weld some big steel, so I fired up the new Hobart Handler.
I fiddled with it for a couple hours and didn't even come close to making a good weld. I gave up, put it away and did the job with the Miller TIG.

The problem I was having was pourous and pitted welds that were just stacking up and not blending on the edges.

I have another project where I'm welding a heavy duty steel. I always made good welds with my Lincoln 175, so I thought I'd give MIG another try. I was sure I could figure out whats gone haywire. I spent a couple hours this afternoon and the results were dismal. I didn't even come close to making a good weld.

I tried everything. Check the gas flow, hoses and connections, clean the tip, high amps, low amps, fast wire feed, slow and in between. Nothing worked.
It didn't sound right no matter what adjustment I made. It was the old bacon sizzle, but it was very loud and aggressive, maybe like a string if fire crackers going off. It was like it was blowing it out.

I'm using .030 solid wire with CO2/Argon. I used .023 with the old Lincoln.

The welds all stacked up too high and didn't penetrate around the edges.

I'm at my wits end. I could sure use some advise.

Here is a pic of the last of the test beads. These represent the gammot of adjustments, yet pretty much all the same ugly. These represent amperage between 40 and 70 amps and wire feed between 3 and 7, It's on 3/16" hot roll angle. I used a high speed wire brush to clean up the steel, and even wiped them down with acetone.

View attachment 103777
Click to expand...
I'm wondering if the gas valve in the welder is malfunctioning and not letting the gas flow.
 
It was a simple fix, Machinist18. The stinger connection was not fully pushed in.
 
Frank
Great that it was a simple fix. My next suggestion would have been one that I feel to be a bit odd but has saved the day a few times. I've been welding for a long time and have for a a reason I still can't wrap my head around. Have " fixed" several welders that are running so badly that nobody will use them simply by putting on a new nozzle. Sounds way to simple and the old ones can look very serviceable, but the proof is in the pudding (what ever that phrase meens ) and put a high dollar machine back on line. Might help one of you some day. Happy welding.

Master of unfinished projects
 
Thanks, Chuck. That's perfect. I've saved it and put it into my folder of manuals. :)

Structurally, what I was doing is basically a corner joint, welding into a 45º bevel, just with a lot unnecessary grinding.

I actually considered doing a corner joint, but didn't know what it was called. I think I opted not to because the right side angle is 5" that joins with the 3" sides. It didn't occur to me that I could have cut a 3" notch.

I may be stuck with doing it the way I've started it, because my parts are cut and finished for the other joint. Holes are drilled and corners rounded at great effort, and the lengths of the side pieces are cut to allow the tenth inch gap, making them too short for a corner joint.

I'll know a better way next time.
 
Franko said:
Here is a pic of the last of the test beads. These represent the gammot of adjustments, yet pretty much all the same ugly. These represent amperage between 40 and 70 amps and wire feed between 3 and 7, It's on 3/16" hot roll angle. I used a high speed wire brush to clean up the steel, and even wiped them down with acetone.
Click to expand...

The pics of the welds indicate two things , 1/ lack of gas, 2/ lack of power.
In the case of power your welder rectifier could be damaged and you are not able to get full smooth dc power and/or you are getting ac volts mixed with the dc volts.
Your welder is not all that large to be used with aluminium welding for good results, having to use small diameter wire requires some skill in the operation.
You did not say whether you were using spool gun or torch for these welds?

Millalot.
 
Millalot said:
The pics of the welds indicate two things , 1/ lack of gas, 2/ lack of power.
...
You did not say whether you were using spool gun or torch for these welds?

Millalot.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, Millalot. I solved the problem. I was using the torch. The torch hose connector was not pushed all the way in, so gas was leaking there. Once I pushed in the connector all the way, the welds started looking pretty good.

The problem I was having with the spool gun was I couldn't control the heat and the aluminum was sagging on the back side of the weld. I sure I had the welder settings correct. Some of the welds looked ok on the top, so I think I probably had the hose plugged in all the way when I was using the spool gun.

I never tried any aluminum MIG welds with the gas turned off, so I don't know if aluminum looks the same as steel without shielding gas.
 
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