What kind of setting do you guys use on your mig welders when you weld autobody stuff. I'm having a terrible trouble on mine, either I dont get penetration or then I burn through.

 

try doing a bunch of spots welds instead of trying to runa bead if you are not doing that already

 

I'm doing it already

 

what machine are you using?

 

Telwin Bimax 152 "turbo (lol)". Its just a 220V machine.
Basically looks like this. I used settings 2 and Min. and the wire at like 5-6


And no its not an ebay special, I'm using CO2 (which I ran out of today, so gotta get a refill tomorrow)

 

it only has two heat settings? try turning it on max and holding the gun farther away from the surface or min setting and closer.

 

Theres 4. Min 1 and 2 and max 1 and 2. So like another machine would have 1,2,3,4. 1 would in my machine be min and 1. 2 would be min and 2. 3 would be max and 1, 4 would be max and 2.

I tried min 1, no penetration. 2 was also horrible. 3 burnt through already.
Maybe theres something I'm overlooking.

 

What size wire are you using?

If you arent using .023-.024.-.025 good luck. If you dont have it I suggest you get some from the welding supply when you pick up your gas. That and a tip or two.

 

I'm using either 0.031 (0.8mm) or 0.023 (0.6mm) but I'm not sure which one it is, I'd have to look from the roll. generally those two sizes are available.

but I tried on 0.75mm sheetmetal and got a real nice bead and penetration, I wonder why it sucks when I try to do it on the car. Different metallurgical qualities, I would assume that it would be steel tho (its a toyota).

 

What exactly are you trying to weld?

There may be a zinc (galvanized) coating on the steel depending on the part.

After you weld on the panel is there a white film around the weld at all? This will indicate a zinc (galvanized) coating. If this is there you need to remove the coating prior to welding.

Most structural steel on a uni-body car is generally 18 gauge. Most non structural body panels are 20g.

I looked up a gauge to mm conversion and 20 gauge is .812mm so I dont know why you would be having problems if you can run beads on .75mm.

If you get it figured out I would definetely keep the beads less then 1 inch in length and skip around the panel to minimize distortion.

 

I'm trying to weld a shock tower. I hear ya about the thickness, I know I shouldnt have a problem but I am, my friend told me to check for a better place for grounding, I'm gonna try that today,

Nope, panels arent galvanized, I do know how they look, its not my first time welding a car body, but I've never had to deal with this kind of problem, I've used a Kemppi Kempomat 180 down at the shop, but that worked just fine on the car there, but now at home, this just sucks.

I've tried to do only spot welding, starting at one place, then opposite, and then like 90 deg from that spot and then opposite to limit distortion.