The downpipe on my car is leaking where a friend and I welded it.. He kinda gave me a crash course in welding but he did all the work.. The welder I have is a Campbell Hausfield wire feed with argon.. I really know nothing about this but when we welded with it, it kept splattering everywhere and when we were done it looked like a bunch of bubbles everywhere.. I can take pics is anyone wants me to..


Like I said I am very new to welding, Does anyone know what could be wrong or what we are doing wrong.. Not sure how good my welder is either, My father bought it just to weld something together a while ago but never got around to it.. Let me know.. Thanks

 

you need a 75/25 argon, not 100% argon, you didnt say so im assuming
After that your gas might not be on
sounds like it
if you have a gas setup than you dont need fluz core wire which most of those type of welders come with if its one of those walmart welders


Modified by tHIS oNE at 4:06 PM 3/11/2004

 

take it off, practice welding on other stuff and reweld it. read the welding threead too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tHIS oNE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you need a 72/25 argon, not 100% argon, you didnt say so im assuming
After that your gas might not be on
sounds like it
if you have a gas setup than you dont need fluz core wire which most of those type of welders come with if its one of those walmart welders</TD></TR></TABLE>

The argon is on, I can hear it comming from the tip when I squeeze the trigger.. I dont know what you mean about the 72/25 argon.. Also the wire I am using is flux core wire, if that means anything..

 

Does rewelding it mean that I have to grind down the weld job on it now?

 

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

The argon is on, I can hear it comming from the tip when I squeeze the trigger.. I dont know what you mean about the 72/25 argon.. Also the wire I am using is flux core wire, if that means anything..</TD></TR></TABLE>

If your using Gas you dont need flux core. IF thats all you have turn the GAS off completly and use that wire
The 75/25 is the gas mix, full argon(100% argon) is typically for TIG

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tgreaves &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Does rewelding it mean that I have to grind down the weld job on it now?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes

 

1. find the hole.

2. aim the wire at the hole.

3. pull the trigger for 2 secs.

no more hole, just dont burn through.

 

Well its not a hole there.. Its leaking around the bit pile of welds that are there..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tgreaves &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well its not a hole there.. Its leaking around the bit pile of welds that are there..</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea but its still a leak/hole. just grab the gun and fill her in.

dont take offense, but if you cant tack a hole you shouldnt be doing anything with it.

take it to a muffler shop and they will do it in 2 mins.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by envision2teg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

yea but its still a leak/hole. just grab the gun and fill her in.

dont take offense, but if you cant tack a hole you shouldnt be doing anything with it.

take it to a muffler shop and they will do it in 2 mins.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Its not a hole.. The welder was popping weld all over and the leak is comming from all around the parts of the weld.. Its kinda hard to explain..

 

honeslty tacking is somewhat a bit tougher to right than he says.
Take out your fluz core wire or turn the gas off.
Flux core welds like **** IMO, you can make it look good, but your not to expierenced with it.
So get get yourself some new wire,
You might have the wire speed slowed down or turned up to much..

Do this to set the wire speed.
Get a piece of scrap metal, set up your voltage which i cant tell you because i dont know which welder you have or what your welding.
Ok lets says right down the middle w/ the voltage.
Start adjusting the wire speed on a higher setting than what your voltage is at.
Adust from there while your welding on a scrap piece and dont pay much attention to what it looks like at this point. YOu going to be listening to a nice steady buzz. no missing or anything liek that. YOu want a real nice steady continous buzz.
If you change the voltage you have to adjust the wire speed accordingly.
Thats the best i can explain for you sorry. Its somewhat of a natural kinda thing for expierecene welders as far as voltage and wire speed setting.

sorry for the spelling my keyboard just fucked up, i cant figure out how to put it back let alone know what i just did to it

 

The fact remains that there is a hole somewhere in there that's why there is a leak. If it looks like a "pile of bird ****" then you can grind it down a bit then it might become clear to you where the leak actually is. Like someone said above, point the wire at the hole and squeeze the trigger. And again, if you are using flux-core wire you don't need the gas (75%/25% Argon/Co2) mix.


BTW, "this_one" ...............Nice explanation on adjusting the wire speed.

 

Thats the words I was looking for.. It looks like a "pile of bird ****".. Ill take a picture of the welder so you guys know what im working with.. Also I will take out the flux core wire and get ?????..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tgreaves &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thats the words I was looking for.. It looks like a "pile of bird ****".. Ill take a picture of the welder so you guys know what im working with.. Also I will take out the flux core wire and get ?????.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL try grinding the "bird ****" down....and you can use regular mild steel wire w/ 75/25 argon/co2 mix. Or if you want to use stainless wire you'd have to use trimix, or try the argon (i've heard both work, but hobart recomends trimix for stainless mig). good luck man

 

you need a gas called Metal Match, not 100% Argon, this is for TIG welding wich your are not doing right now.

For mig your need's are:
Metal match ( 75/25 like someone said )

you can't use flux cored wire, this is what cause spatter all over the place,
to do a good job on MIG welding you need a stuff called Spatter block, that will cause little bit's of weld ( calles spatters ) not to stick to the surface surrounding the weld.

Get some full MIG wire, in 0.035 size ( best imo for muffler pipe )

MIG welding wok's better on CLEAN, rust free, aluminized **** free, metal, that mean that you need to grind everything before you ever weld something with a mig, Break cleaner, grinder and Metal brush is your best friend.

practice on scrape metal before starting a job anytime soon...

hope this Help
KRanked

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by clean90Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


BTW, "this_one" ...............Nice explanation on adjusting the wire speed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol...sorry

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kranked91dx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
MIG welding wok's better on CLEAN, rust free, aluminized **** free, metal, that mean that you need to grind everything before you ever weld something with a mig, Break cleaner, grinder and Metal brush is your best friend.

practice on scrape metal before starting a job anytime soon...

hope this Help
KRanked

</TD></TR></TABLE>
another idea, i use my 4.5" andgle grinder with a wire cup brush to clean. bzzz bzzz and ur done

 

Hey, listen to what these guys are saying. I'll summarize:

1. Grind and wire brush clean all that splatter and flux from the spot youam re welding. Also clean the spot where you are connecting the ground.

2. Ditch the flux-core wire. Get some solid wire from Walmart. I personally think little MIGs like yours can't handle anything over 0.030 but you can use 0.035 if you don't have the right tip. (check your tip size).

3. Use the welders mix of Co2 and ar. Pure argon won't make a very clean weld. A welder place will tell you what you got and they will swap bottles with you.

4. practice, practice, practice before getting on the real piece.

5. Someone said aim it at the hole. That is wrong. The metal wire will not melt if it does not strike a contact with the ground metal. Aim it close to the hole and fill by pushing or pulling the weld puddle over the hole. Anything else and you'll have wire strings inside the pipe.

6. Clamp and hole the piece sturdy in a ventilated area but with no breeze. Any breeze will blow away the sheild gas.

7. If the part is aluminized, welding it will delete 1 year from your life for every 10 minutes welding. So think about that.

Randy

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RGAZ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">7. If the part is aluminized, welding it will delete 1 year from your life for every 10 minutes welding. So think about that.

Randy</TD></TR></TABLE>

umm no thats galvanized youre thinking of.

 

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

umm no thats galvanized youre thinking of.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Had me scard there.. It is alumized steel.. And also I was smoking when my friend was welding so if it was galvinazed I probably would be dead by now..

 

other than the gas and the wire issues above...

did your friend tell you how to position the gun....

i was told 45 degrees from the work, and about an inch up(could be alittle off but it works for me)

also dont try and weld with one hand, it wont be steady enough, get you other hand in there and steady the gun. also try putting the work on a table either at just the right height for you to stand and do it, or better(atleast for me) get a chair and sit down.

do half moon shapes and work your way away from where you started, TIG you push Mig you pull

trust me we were all at your point in one time or another...it takes time

get ride of the flux core, if your gone use the gas, which isnt IDEAL for that setup...but i think it could work somewhat

and yeah grind the chicken plops or "bird ****" down as much as you can

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pornstarSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> and about an inch up(could be alittle off but it works for me)

</TD></TR></TABLE>

dont hold it that far away...
typically like a 1/2 " to 3/4 inch
At an inch you wont get much heat into it and it wil seem really inconcistent.
some people can get away with it, but since your inexperienced hold it closer.
We are confusing this guy with to much info, its not as hard as everyone is making it seem with all these precise details

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tHIS oNE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
We are confusing this guy with to much info, its not as hard as everyone is making it seem with all these precise details</TD></TR></TABLE>

good point

 

Basically... if it doesn't sound like sizzling bacon when you're welding... something (voltage, speed, angle, distance from weld) ain't right. To tell you the truth I found it was easiest to just listen rather than try and see.