gas mix

kd4gij

Active User
Registered
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Messages
5,039
What is the best gas mix for mig hobby welding steel
 
I have good luck with co2 bill
 
Argon / CO2 is the common mix, I use a try mix of Argon / CO2 / Oxygen. Forget the percentage of oxygen 3 or 5 . Gives a much hotter weld with better penetration for heavy sections but impossible to weld less than about 10 guage with it, way too hot.

Greg
 
"Best" is a relative term;

Best price/performance would be straight CO2 - but it leaves a lot of spatter - so you need Pam or other vegetable oil to make the spatter easier to remove.

Best quality of weldment may be a toss up between Argon/CO2 and Tri-Mix (Ar/CO2/O2) but the gas mixes are much more expensive per inch of weld than the straight CO2.

YMMV

Stu
 
I have had very good luck with C25 and have a strong preference for it. It is 25% CO2, 75% Argon. It can be used for carbon steel, stainless steel, and coated steels. Spatter drives me nuts, thus my distaste for straight CO2.
 
I have been searching around the web and I need to find out just what the welder is I may be getting. It is an old miller But it is up on a high shelf and facing the wall.

Based on pic from the web it may be a millermatic 200. Looks like this from what I can see.
1513396234559.png
 
Last edited:
I use 85% argon and 15% co2. Little more expensive than 75/25 but a little less splatter. It’s a fine balance.
 
I have been searching around the web and I need to find out just what the welder is I may be getting. It is an old miller But it is up on a high shelf and facing the wall.

Based on pic from the web it may be a millermatic 200. Looks like this from what I can see.
View attachment 249963


That looks just like mine. Mine is a 200 w/SKP. I picked it up at a School Auction for $150. It came with a Bernard gun. Only had to do a few minor things to it and it welds great. I use C25 on mine. Stripped it down, taped off the emblems and primered and painted it, Rustoleum Safety Blue. Very close to stock color.

1513404854946.png

1513405010019.png
 
Last edited:
Impossible to tell for sure, not being able to see the front panel, but from the back, it looks identical (like more than a few others I suspect) to my MillerMatic 35s. It has some unique features that are quite useful for thin work, but can be used for heavier materials as well. It's not fancy, other than the sheet metal features. You have to manually change taps on the transformer output to change the output, but the wire feed is enclosed, which helps it stay clean. Overall, I like the machine, but it's not my go-to MIG. That would be the Lincoln CV-300 with a piggyback LN-7 wirefeed. If you can pick that Miller for the right price, go get it. I've burned about 30 rolls of wire in mine and have no complaints.

And for gp welding, I normally use straight CO2. The little spatter doesn't usually bother me, but if it does I use Spattershield or hit it with a flapwheel.
 
Back
Top