Welding Tips and Tricks

Good afternoon,
I have heard JD Brewer and Jody talk quite a bit as to using Lincoln's dual shield flux core wire for Mig welding. Specifically is this Lincoln's "Outershield 71 Elite" E71T-1 ? I see that they make several different shielded wire series. I am thinking of switching to this wire as I have to weld outside as there are too many places for sparks to go in my garage and get into unwelcome materials? I have had trouble in the past losing my shielding gas and things go south quickly when that happens. I see that there are other brands of E71T-1 but know nothing as to their performance or quality of material in the wire. I know these two guys seem to swear by Lincoln so that is what I have only heard about. I am running a Millermatic 212 Autoset machine with .035 at this point using C25 gas for shielding. I believe the "Outershield" wire starts at .045 so would have to change out contactor tip and possibly drive rollers? Throw me some information if any of you can shed some light! Appreciate the knowledge.
Brad

The dualshield or outershield flux core wire will all have the same problem outside.
If it's windy, loss of shielding gas on the weld.

But self shielded flux core wire work perfect outside. That's 71t-11 most often.

Both self shielded and gas shielded flux core have 0.035" wire available.

Dave,
Thanks for the information, much appreciated.
Brad

The most common Lincoln wire would be inner shield NR211 - I heard many people rate it best wire - I only ran a little bit as it's hard to source & expensive in the UK - mine was .045" - still had plenty of brown smoke but way less splatter than some - only complaint I had was prone to porosity if WFS was low - should be simple to dial in but I did'nt have the correct size drive roll in serrated so wire feed was inconsistent - totally my / machine fault not the wire - may not be the neatest weld ever but plenty strong & I did do cut & etch on a piece - if you do your part it is capable of good penetration - just be careful to get proper fill / bead profile - I found it slightly strange to use not being used to fluxcore & got slightly concave welds before I realized & corrected myself.

Noddybrian,
All good tips to know as to your experience with Fluxcore. I ended up ordering a set of knurled rollers for my Millermatic 212 and will set those and the wire up when they arrive, ordered online. Since I am stateside I have no issues sourcing the stuff, plenty of Lincoln suppliers. Ended up getting Innershield NR-211 MP or E71T-11 in .035.

Kind Regards,
Brad

Be aware that E71T11 has some properties that can be undesirable in some cases.

1) There is a limitation to the deposited weld metal thickness that can be welded. This is due to the chemical elements in the weld metal building up during multiple pass welds.
2) The weld metal is not easily welded over with other processes.
3) The smoke is a little worse for breathing.

It is still a great product for its intended use and for around the house welding and a few other applications, it works well.