I just got my Chicago Electric Mig-100 figured out this morning.

I really didnt know a thing about welding and after doing it for probably a continuous hour and maybe joining about 8 pieces of scrap I thought Id take a pic to ask what I am doing wrong and why I cant lay a continuous weld and to give my problems.

First the pics




That is just 2 pieces of 2.5" piping welded and shaved down and then that piece of pipe welded to a thick 4"x4" plate. All the grinding around the endges was to just quickly get rid of the tiny little ***** that fly everywhere that I seem to make a lot of

I really dont know what to ask so Im just gonna say what I noticed

-I can never see any puddle or liquid metal so I dont know when to start moving and how fast to move
-it doesnt seem to be continuously welding when I have the trigger pulled, like it will go for a sec then the light stops and then starts again, sometimes it stops welding for a good bit of time
-a lot of popping and crackling seemed to be going on (normal?)

I had the switch flipped onto HIGH and the wire feed set to 5, seemed to be were I was comfy

Like I said this is my first tiem ever attempting to attempt or understand welding and I have ZERO experience, dont bash or anything if I explained wrong, I want to learn this skill as well as any other teen and need some constructive help. Ive got plenty of scrap and plenty of wire and am more than willing to try and learn

Thanks

 

first off slow the wire speed down a bit, u want a nice crisp crackling sounds not POP POP SLAG POP ****.

another tip. use alot of heat and focus most of your weld on the thicker piece u are welding, start a nice bead on that then connect it up with the pipe.

its so hard to explain how to weld on the internet...

also keep a steady hand, it looks like your moving around way to fast. slow and steady..

 

mine come out good when i have it at low heat and at 5 speed.. one thing might be that the lil pully that puls your wire isn't tight enought agains the wires thats why it could be stopin to pull... just a thought

 

In this thread: https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1355754

I said: "Yes, it will WORK. It's like a bicycle...it will take you anywhere you want in the continental US...but will it take you there within the time constraints you have? Likewise...the cheapo welding machine will work, but will not make a nice looking weld, and you may have a difficult time welding it such that it doesn't leak."

Then you said: "I found a lot of nicely done manifolds and even a roll cage done with flux core though, like it does penetrate and everything right? Just doesnt always look as good? Thats what my grinder is for haha"

So...I guess your grinder will be getting a lot of use.

So...you got exactly what you paid for.

I hate to say it, but I TOLD YOU SO!!!

(is it flame time?)

 

Just wonderring how to use what I paid for lol

Seems like it could do good work if I had some experience

How slow exactly am I supposed to be going?

 

hard to explain with out seeing, just gotta practice more and try diffent speeds and setings.. like if you set it to fast you'll burn a whole right thru, to slow it do wat happens to you if i remeber right... practice, practice, practice

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by W O T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How slow exactly am I supposed to be going? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Slow enough that you have a puddle of molten metal that moves along with you....rather than so fast that you outrun it.

 

Like when I frist shoot the fluxcore into the part, how long does it take to start the puddle?

I really dont have the proper eye protection so maybe I dont see what everyone else with a mask can see but I can easily watch the weld if Im "pulling" but I got a pretty nasty *** sunburn today, hurts a bit actually

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by W O T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Like when I frist shoot the fluxcore into the part, how long does it take to start the puddle?

I really dont have the proper eye protection so maybe I dont see what everyone else with a mask can see but I can easily watch the weld if Im "pulling" but I got a pretty nasty *** sunburn today, hurts a bit actually</TD></TR></TABLE>


Um first of all you need to be more specific here.....are you saying you are not wearing a mask at all? Because if you aren't you are an idiot and I have found the problem with your welds. Secondly, wear long sleeves, long pants and CLOSED toe shoes. Having splatter going down your shoe SUCKS. I have the scar to prove it. You really need a decent welding hood to be able to weld decently. The differance between a harbor frieght peice of **** hood and the Miller big window elite I have is like the differance between driving in a rainstorm with no wipers and having mint as crap wipers.

 

Im wearing Rapala Extreme polarized fishing lenses. Its all I have right now until the ebay dealer ships me my mask, there super dark and it doesnt hurt my eyes at all to keep them open while welding and can see nice after a minute of adjusting. Just doesnt protect my face at all

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by W O T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Im wearing Rapala Extreme polarized fishing lenses. Its all I have right now until the ebay dealer ships me my mask, there super dark and it doesnt hurt my eyes at all to keep them open while welding and can see nice after a minute of adjusting. Just doesnt protect my face at all</TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you understand that not all things that damage your body are painful? Ever heard of radiation? You can't even feel it, but if you get enough of it, you will die.
(yes, I know you won't get that much from welding, but the point is that your lack of pain means nothing.)

TURN THE ******* WELDING MACHINE OFF UNTIL YOU GET A WELDING HOOD!!!!

 

and you need gas to run on a mig... thats what makes the weld pure.. i dont see how the gasless works.. the tig flux on the stick that acts like gas.

 

The fluxcore wire is self shielding, already has the chemicals in the wire spool to protect the welds from being contaminated with 02

The glasses seem to work perfect though, Im just gonna cover my face somehow tomorrow and wear them

And yes, I will be wearing pants tomorrow, had a few large spark ***** jump down my shoe and they fawking hurt

 

Wow you are an idiot.

Get a ******* hood, you'll be able to see the puddle then.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93civic96ls &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">and you need gas to run on a mig... thats what makes the weld pure.. i dont see how the gasless works.. the tig flux on the stick that acts like gas.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Tig doesn't use flux.
FluxCORE is a wire that has flux inside it. As the flux burns, it releases gasses to help shield the weld.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by W O T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The glasses seem to work perfect though, Im just gonna cover my face somehow tomorrow and wear them</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, they're destroying your eyesight perfectly. Do you know that the makers of sunglasses will tell you not to look directly at the sun, even with the glasses on? Did you know that the arc (being much closer) is brighter than the sun?

Out of my 15 closest relatives, I'm the only one that does not wear contacts or glasses. I'm also the only welder. I do not use auto darkening hoods, and would never even think about welding without one at all.



Modified by Engloid at 11:38 PM 9/4/2005

 

Just eager to learn I guess, hood is already on its way

 

I understand being eager, but remember that one day you will hopefully be 50 and 60 and 70. It would be nice to know that when you reach 70 and your grandkids write you a letter that you can read it. By that age, neither you or them will give a **** about welding.

You've got the rest of your life to **** up your vision. Don't do it all now.

 

Man slow down... you better hope the short wavelengths from the arc (ultra UV) are being adequately blocked. Or else welcome to blindness or cataracts.

You don't mess with your eyes... or hearing... or respiratory system... or your back... ask any old guy (like me) and we will tell you 10 things we should NEVER have done in our youth that we a paying too high a price for having done in old age...

Arc welding without using known, certified, industry standard optical filters is just beyond comprehension...

Take a moment to rethink your approach... BTW, don't be surprised if you come to understand the advice I gave you in the previous thread... Engloid knows his stuff...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Engloid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I do not use auto darkening hoods, and would never even think about welding without one at all.
Modified by Engloid at 11:38 PM 9/4/2005</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is there a reason you don't use the auto darkening?

I use an autodarkening mask, and I get flashed every once in a while, but they say the lens itself blocks all the harmful UV so its just bright for a second.

 

This last week i was building my ram-horn manifold; and when i was tacking it together i'd just shut my eyes and hit the button. Sometimes i'd look away sometimes not. Big mistake; my face got a pretty gnarly sunburn considering how LITTLE i actually welded. I didnt put down more than say 15 little tack welds but my face and the left side of my neck was red for about 2 days. Now i wear the mask when i'm just tacking; **** getting burnt again; that hurts worse than a sunburn. Also use long sleeve shirts; the insides of my arms were also red after setting the welder for the metal by running some beads on the stainless; i used long sleeves every time after that except when i was tacking.
Eyes aren't a problem as i always wear a mask when i'm really welding and dont look at all when i tack


moral of the story: wear the gear

 

I’m an optician. One day at work this huge Mexican dude comes in crying like a baby. I ask WTF, and he told me he had been welding the night before at his buddies lowrider shop. He had been up all night throwing up seeing “lighting” and all this other ****. The eyes don’t really have any pain sensors (receptors) so what they do to tell you that something is wrong is flash light signals to your brain looks like lighting. The retina is just a tissue like skin tissue and is susceptible to “sunburn” just like your skin. The fluid in your eyes has a set pressure that it likes to stay at its called intraocular pressure (the puff of air test you get at the eye doctors) swelling of the tissue in the eye can block off the circulation of this fluid and cause a spike in that pressure, kinda like high blood pressure this can cause all kinds of destruction in your eyes and make you feel very unpleasant . Bottom line the mask can be bought from home depot for $30.00, you cant buy new eyes.

 

looks like you were rushing the weld. slow down , get a molten puddle , then move in circular motions around and make a nice clean weld

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Is there a reason you don't use the auto darkening?

I use an autodarkening mask, and I get flashed every once in a while, but they say the lens itself blocks all the harmful UV so its just bright for a second.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I just don't see it as a necessity. In time, you get so fast lifting and dropping a regular hood that the guys with auto dark hoods can't keep up. When the guys at work watch me weld something, they always get flashed because I can have my hood down and an arc started before they can get their hood down.

If you're getting flashed THROUGH your auto darkening hood, you should send it to the dump and get a better one. The only way you should ever get any flash through it is when something blocks the arc rays from getting to the shield's sensors that tell it to go dark. There's no avoiding some amount of that....which is part of why I don't use the auto dark hoods.

 

trust me on this one...yoiu want to weld w/ a helmet...i did some minor welding...couple places puttin a o2 sensor back in...and lets say i was fine for about 4-5hrs after...until the burning started...like said before i saw the flashes...its actaully called flashburns...needless to say i sepnt 5hrs in the er sqeezing my eyes as tight as possible w/ 2 hoodys on my head to keep the light out...i then was prescribed 15perks...and bed time...needless to say i was bling for 3 days...couldnt see ****...and if i tried to open my eyes it stung like a biatch...and they would tear up like crazy.....i can see a lot better now after a few months...but the damage was noticable...and i myself consider myself lucky...so please ofr the sake of not feelung what ive felt...wear a god dam helmet

 

o man.. sun glasses.

dood take it from me, i had 2nd degree burns on my face from the UV of my gasless welder. my face was ******* disgusting for 2 weeks. i looked like i had leprosy.

engloid remembers my story :D