Welding Tips and Tricks

Oscar wrote:burned up any gloves yet?

LOL! YES!

FootSoldier wrote:

Oscar wrote:burned up any gloves yet?

LOL! YES!

Just in case you're the type of welder that holds the neck of the gun (or even the nozzle) with one hand to guide it, you gotta learn to hold it way back at the handle as far back as you can. We're not in short-circuit land no more Toto. Those cheapie $6 aluminized backer pads help out a little bit too. But more than anything, holding the MIG gun as far back as you can, extending the trigger finger as much as you can. Your hands will thank you.

LOL. I burned two fingers today because I was trying to run 8" uninterrupted. Just redness, but man, my hood and shirt were hot to the touch. It gave me a whole new idea of what blazing a weld in was all about!

MIG gun gets pretty warm too eh?

Ok, it's fair to say I love my new Millermatic 255. Yes, there was some drama getting to this point, but that's all water under the bridge now. This thing runs great and I couldn't be happier that I stepped up to get spray capability. Clean, with zero splatter and easy clean up. There will be a learning curve, but it will be a hoot. Thanks to everyone here who tried to help or teach me, I really do appreciate it.

Built my first project with it today. A 24x24x.250 semi-portable welding table. It may not be as pretty, or as portable as the blue one, but it didn't cost $400 either.

I had to try the pulse settings on down to 14 ga. The cross ties between the legs are slotted unistrut 14 ga material, being welded to the .120 wall square tube. The machine has a program for it, so I thought why not try it on pulse spray? You can't dilly dally around, but flat or downhill it was fine. Hot, but fine.

Thanks again guys! I have learned a lot!

Gotta love that pulsed-spray! Right now I'm finishing my last C25 tank since I can always mix it if I need it for FCAW-G. Rather have more Argon tanks for use with pulse MIG.

Stop it. I'm getting excited.

Coldman wrote:Stop it. I'm getting excited.

Join the party! Pulse MIG is where it's at!

I'm coming late to the party and may not be able to check back in for a week after today as tomorrow were going camping and canoeing for the week.

In my limited experience and knowledge, my understanding if that with 90/10 gas you'll cross into spray arc at around 190 Amps for .035" wire and 205 Amps for .045" wire regardless of other settings so anything above approximately 24 volts in an argon rich gas will spray. And you'll want/need a 3/4-1" stick out which is more like where you would be running flux cored wire......

The pulse program, in the split second the power is lowered allows the normally very fluid weld puddle to freeze somewhat and is what allows you to spray out of position as opposed to being limited to flat and horizontal spray arc welding. I haven't yet tinkered with out of position spray arc using the Multimatic 255 and that will have to wait a week or two.

I will say that the need to push the spray puddle is taking some getting used to. I find that I really have too think about it or I wind up straight in or even dragging by a degree or two.

I'm glad you're having fun with the new welder. I was like a kid in a candy shop with severe ADHD for a day or two when I fired up mine. And I haven't yet gotten to know it well enough to even un-box the Ez-Select gun......

Maybe it's time to start a new thread about your learning curve as this thread's content is far from what the title suggests.

Best regards to all,

LanceR wrote:In my limited experience and knowledge, my understanding if that with 90/10 gas you'll cross into spray arc at around 190 Amps for .035" wire and 205 Amps for .045" wire regardless of other settings so anything above approximately 24 volts in an argon rich gas will spray. And you'll want/need a 3/4-1" stick out which is more like where you would be running flux cored wire......

Yup, that's pretty much what I've encountered as well. Except for 045 as I have not tried to spray that wire.

Yup, that's pretty much what I've encountered as well. Except for 045 as I have not tried to spray that wire.[/quote]

I won't have much choice. I have a 25# roll of .045" Lincoln SuperArc L-56 in the machine now and pair if 11# rolls in a drawer. And I have a 25# roll of .035" Innershield NR-211 but as they say, "that's for another episode". I need to order up some .035" solid wire and tinker some with that, too.

I plan to make one of Yofish's "hog troughs" and shoot some outside corners in the weeks after I get back.

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/threads/7001 ... g%20trough

Best regards to all,

Yup, at 26.5 volts with 90/10 you definitely won't be in short circuit, maybe you'll be in true spray or in some sort of globular transition zone if your wire speed and size is a little off but it definitely won't be in short circuit at that voltage.


Miller is severely backordered for whatever reason and every welding shop near me is backordered at least a month regardless of how much business they do. I'm guessing that effects warranty issues too.

Nothing Miller sells can be categorized as "more for less", they're very much dependent on their reputation of quality for sales but from what I've heard, They're a lot more focused on keeping vendors and businesses happy than "home users" so it's always a good idea to try going through the vendor as well If the vendor thinks you have a valid complaint, Miller is a lot more likely to take it seriously.