September 23rd, 2007 
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Why has my MIG wire gone bad all of a sudden?
“I’ve been using this MIG wire for the last six months without a problem”. “Now after having used many spools the wire its gone bad”. “What’s happened?
Sound familiar? The trouble here is that the person or company that you bought your MIG wire from cannot guarantee you quality.
Did you buy the cheapest stuff you could find? Ha-ha…As the saying goes, “he who buys on price, and price only, gets what he paid for”.
Sounds harsh but that’s the truth. Quite often you find end users happily welding away with their current brand of MIG wire. When all of a sudden they go and open up the next new pallet of wire that just arrived, slap it on the machine and the welds are all over the place.
Spatter, burn backs wire not feeding properly and so. What’s going on, they think to themselves. “Ahh, I know, it must be a worn contact tip”. So off they go and replace the contact tip with a new one. But no, sure enough same problem. “Well, it’s been a while since I change the liner”. So off they go and do that. Yet sure enough the same problem is still there.
They think to themselves, “well I’ve changes everything else, it can’t be the wire. It’s brand new and I’ve been using it for over six months without any trouble”.
This is such a common thing to come across in the welding industry, and it affects everyone throughout the world. Whether you’re in the USA, Australia, New Zealand…anywhere.
So what is it, what’s the problem?
The problem is quality.
The person who is supplying your wire can not guarantee you quality. But you think to yourself, it can’t be the wire, no way. I’ve been using this (xxxx) brand wire for ages. They are a huge massive company, they sell MIG’s, TIG’s all sorts of welding gear no way can it be the wire that’s giving me problems….can it?
The trouble is that unless you are guaranteed the quality of you welding wire your “up a creek without a paddle”, so to speak.
With so many people selling welding wire these days it is extremely hard to come by a quality wire. The majority of goods made in the world today come from China or India. With huge populations and low wages, they are the cheapest places to buy things from.
There are over three hundred manufacturers of welding wire in China alone. What does this mean to the quality of your MIG wire?
This means that if the brand of wire on the box is (xxxx) they are not the manufacture of it. You need to ask the sales person….ARE YOU THE MANUFACTURER OF THIS WIRE?
Because what happens behind the scenes is the company you bought the wire from has a big argument with their supplier in China or where ever. And they say stuff ya….well go next door and buy from them. Hey with over 300 manufacturers in China alone they can pick and choose who they like.
So they change their manufacturing supplier, and this happens all the time. But when they change manufacturer the quality also changes. That’s why your wire has gone bad. And that’s why they can’t guarantee you the quality.
Simple as that.
Each time they change their manufacturing supplier the quality changes as well. There is a huge difference in quality of wires.
Okay so what do I do now, which wire do I buy?
The secret is to buy a wire that is supported by the manufacturer. You need a manufacturer that has been producing quality welding wires for years and years so that they have the art perfected.
Did you know that there are general “quality” MIG wires and precision MIG wires? Which type of wire do you think that the big boys use? When I say that I mean vehicle manufacturers, earthmoving manufacturers and so on, company’s that use it by the tonne. What do you think they are after in a welding wire?
They are after:
• Precision
• Reliability
• Repeatability
• Consistency
• Quality
• Accuracy
How much money would Toyota or Mitsubishi or Caterpillar lose per minute if a welding machine was down? I sure bet it would be an awful, awful lot of money. These manufactures don’t want a single welding machine in an assembly line to break down. Cause if one thing stops, the whole show stops.
http://www.learn-how-to-weld.com/mig-welding-wire.html
Cheers,
Peter Apalais
Watch the video related to mig welding
www.weldingtipsandtricks.com Mig Welding Tip / Technique for uphill vertical
Help answer the question about mig welding
What is the best way to sell Mig welding supplies to the automotive manufacturers in US?We sell Mig contact tips, liners and nozzles to Robotic and Manual welding manufacturers. Our products are world class in quality and priced excellent. The customers are reluctant to change and the best contact is always difficult to find. Our web site is very technicial and offers feedback options for both Manufacturers and suppliers but finding the motivated staff is hard. Is there a listing of industrial sales reps or manufacturer contacts specific to welding?
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Have you guys seen “You Can’t Weld This!”? It’s pretty funny… The guys over at WeldingMart com had it made! Do a youtube search for it
Ha Ha very funny willystylee.
JEG SER DENNE I KLASSA NÅ!!!!!!!!
Im beginer.When Im welding Icant see difference between push and pull, In structure of weld.But I have only cupple hours of welding on my account:) Thank you
To weld stainless steel, you have to use stainless steel electrodes. Depends on the thickness of the steel, 1/16" is very thick for stainless steel, your welding machine would have to be the truck-mount type and is able to deliver 325 A.
not much stainless welding in this auto repair section! Sorry
rofl makes me feel so dumb
Mig welders are supposed to be the simplest way of welding, Point and shoot. You are going to have fun learning and feel the overwhelming urge to take a hammer to the machine when you are done. To little amps and the stupid wire sticks to the workpiece, then the wire gets clogged and welds its self to the copper guide, then you gotta take sidecutters and free the god damned thing and try and try and try and try and try and try and try and try untill you get a weld that looks like chicken shit. Too much amps and you will burn holes in everything, You will be the burn hole master, catching everything on fire and having the wife come out and throw a pitcher of water on you and then the cocksucker electrocutes the hell out of you and you get E.D. because of it. In all seriousness set everything in the middle settings, its a good place to start. Just make sure you travel fast enough and if the wire starts pushing into the metal back off the speed a bit so you will get a good steady welding noise out of it
pull … deeper penetration …. push … less penetration.
pull … puts more heat into the weld puddle.
push … puts less heat into the weld puddle.
This isn’t always the case though … uphill & downhill are the exactly opposite. Uphill digs deeper where as downhill doesn’t.
When your practicing … don’t fill in you weld at the end … you can easily tell which methods penetrate deeper into the base metal.
very nice video
If the nozzle is arcing it means the insulator between the nozzle and gas diffuser is probably shot. You will have to either replace the insulator or make sure you don't touch the work piece.
Arcing outside the weld zone is not good, can lead to inbrittlement and cracking.
Oh, and good job on buying a miller…i hate it when people buy crap gear and expect miracles(or ask me to perform them with their junk welder)
must i use welding gogles when seeing the video !!!! thxs???
Yes you can use self shielding wire in a MIG welder. It will cost more, this is true. How much more depends on where you buy it. MIG welding is, a type of arc welding since an arc is involved in melting the metals. One point that needs ton be considered, self shield wire is going to take a lot more current than a small MIG machine might be able to produce. Talk to the staff at a welding shop about it, or the welding supplies store where you live for the best information,
Your gonna have to use a flux-cored wire if you want clean welds…properly tuned it wo'nt spatter that much buch look for some burn's coming your way…your better off renting a small bottle of Ar/Co mix to get the best penetration and weld apperance, beside's, if your welding on car panels your probobly spot welding them so you want the best you can get right
?
Remember me. I remember you when you were buying the welder. You are sticking because the weld temp is too low or the wire is too fast or both. Turn the setting up and lower the speed. If the wire is pushing and hitting the steel, too fast The wire should melt before it hits the steel. The tip should be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch away from the steel. Tip Adjust the wire speed while you are welding. 30 plus years for me.
yeah u need to, the even looking at an arc on a computer screen will burn your eyes. Better hurry and go get one from the idiot store
Either will do the job. Flux core (gasless) wire is primarily used outside, as the shielding gas won't, or can't be blown away.
Flux core will require much more clean up, as the impurities and slag will cover the weld bead. Solid wire with gas is much cleaner.
Forget it with a mig. Cast iron needs to be welded while preheated and has to stay hot and cool slowly to prevent cracking and some cast irons are not weldable. If all the conditions are not right you got cracks. Mig deposits are made hot and fast and cool too quickly to work. If you can get it to hold that will probably be about it. The weld will fail quickly if placed under stress. I agree that DC stick is probably the best way. Good luck!
(30+ years welding – certified)