Welding Tips and Tricks

What cfh is used for tig welding and mig welding steel or aluminum?

Wildwelder96 wrote:What cfh is used for tig welding and mig welding steel or aluminum?

Tig welding I run 15-20cfh as I'm usually inside a garage. Mig welding I'm normally outside so if there is little to no wind I run 20cfh, but sometimes I do kick up to 25cfh and block the wind best I can with a piece of cardboard. I have found these levels work well for me.

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Kind of a broad question, for recommended TIG flow settings go to the CK Worldwide Literature page and look at their form 116 Technical Guide.

For MIG Lincoln has some good resources.

TIG rule of thumb is 2.2x the cup size for gas flow in CFH. So a good starting point for a #7 cup with typical stick out would be right about 15 CFH (7 x 2.2).

Of course, this is only a rule of thumb. Adjust as needed based on stick out, environmental conditions, welding conditions, having only 100 psi of gas left in your tank on the weekend, etc.

Also be aware that a lot of flowmeter readings, especially on the cheaper ones, are not completely accurate. Adjust as needed.

Spartan wrote:TIG rule of thumb is 2.2x the cup size for gas flow in CFH. So a good starting point for a #7 cup with typical stick out would be right about 15 CFH (7 x 2.2).

Of course, this is only a rule of thumb. Adjust as needed based on stick out, environmental conditions, welding conditions, having only 100 psi of gas left in your tank on the weekend, etc.

Also be aware that a lot of flowmeter readings, especially on the cheaper ones, are not completely accurate. Adjust as needed.

Yup and once you get close to 10ish - 12ish you need close to 2.7 to 3x. The area of a circle does not increase proportionally to it's diameter. A lot of people are surprised when I tell them a #10 cup/nozzle has 56.3% more opening area than a #8 cup/nozzle!

Oscar wrote:

Spartan wrote:TIG rule of thumb is 2.2x the cup size for gas flow in CFH. So a good starting point for a #7 cup with typical stick out would be right about 15 CFH (7 x 2.2).

Of course, this is only a rule of thumb. Adjust as needed based on stick out, environmental conditions, welding conditions, having only 100 psi of gas left in your tank on the weekend, etc.

Also be aware that a lot of flowmeter readings, especially on the cheaper ones, are not completely accurate. Adjust as needed.

Yup and once you get close to 10ish - 12ish you need close to 2.7 to 3x. The area of a circle does not increase proportionally to it's diameter. A lot of people are surprised when I tell them a #10 cup/nozzle has 56.3% more opening area than a #8 cup/nozzle!

Absolutely, and that same math certainly puts into perspective the differences between filler wire sizes when stepping up or down a size.