Hi guys, a total Newbie who has trouble even spelling welding let alone actually doing it!
OK, I bought a new UNIMIG 190 MIG/TIG/STICK welder about 12 months ago, as a typical DIY'r, did very little work with it, am now all inspired again but I firstly noticed that on the AMP meter, one or two of the the little LCD bars were blank - pretty normal for LCD - but now they have all disappeared and I am left with a blank dial! The small green light under the knob is illuminated nonetheless!
Having said that, I have been told that for straight MIG welding using flex wire, that amperage is not part of the equation anyway?
When I check the manufacturers recommended settings for MIG welding, it simply gives me advice that only includes Voltage and Wire Speed i.e. Amps are not even included............. e.g. 20V & 9 WS
My pretty sad welds seem to be looking not all that bad so should I or shouldn't I have to set up AMPS for this MIG welding on steel? It may(?) just be the AMPERAGE dial that has had it as when I had a fiddle with it's knob - as you do - all of a sudden my welds started coming out pretty dreadful looking with loads of spatter, holes and far from what I was getting before I started messing with the knob.
Or, do the AMPS only popup for other functions like Stick or Tig welding!
Totally confused!
Many Thanks
The amperage in wire-feed welding (whether it's solid wire or flux-core) is dictated by the Wire Feed Speed (WFS). As you can imagine, running a higher WFS usually requires an increase in the voltage so it flattens out the bead. Otherwise the bead will just pile up and you'll have the wire pushing the gun back at you when you have a lack of voltage.