Welding wire

messing around with the welder today, a mate popped around and recommends that the bigger the wire the bigger n better the weld any truth in it. my welds are fine just thought i'd ask the question as there's got to be better welders out there than myself

.6 or .8 is right for most , the bigger the wire requires bigger current to melt it not necessarily a good idea on thin metal

thats what i thought im on .6 n like i say my welds are fine perhaps its down to him running what looks like a industrial welder, plus in all fairness the steel on a disco isnt that thick even what ive seen on some chassis

.8 is my favourite gauge for general work , you can do body panels or crank up to 250amps and burn in some heavy plate
Your pal is half right if your talking about heavy steel and want to blast in the heat and filler on spray mode

pressbrake said:

.8 is my favourite gauge for general work , you can do body panels or crank up to 250amps and burn in some heavy plate
Your pal is half right if your talking about heavy steel and want to blast in the heat and filler on spray mode

Click to expand...

had another play about today with some plate just under 4 mm, welds looked good also beat it with a lump hammer to make sure it all held together result was a bent plate n still stuck together.
whats meant by spray mode ??

Most manufacturers will have on their website suggested settings for the thickness of material you are welding using a particular gauge of wire. You can use this to compare different wire gauge and the settings for the same thickness of material to see what you (theoretically) can and can't weld with each gauge.

As you say though, if you are happy and confident with your welding then why worry.

Got my welder set up on .8mm at the minute but i did a lot of the back end with .6mm. Makes a lot of difference when i was welding the 3mm box section. Only got a little hobbyist welder but pretty confident in the welds, just got to get the settings right. Started plugging it into the Oven socket now as i was told you get more power?

Yeah the power going in does make a difference. In some areas you can see the difference in the evenings when people are at home with TVs and cookers on etc

We keep 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0mm with appropriate nozzles, but like others we find 0.8 to be a pretty good 'all-round' wire to have on the reel.

Peter

I've only ever used .8 and I do panel repairs to roll cages never had a problem yet

the reason is that said friend bought a trialer two n half grands worth started to do some mods and found it a death trap pretty much, nearly all the welds have broken a real **** build so just making sure that mine are all as good as can be

I use .6 wire.done boot floor,box section cills and other repairs on my disco.no probs.

We use 1mm although our welder is up to 425 amp

Thinner stuff is harder but not impossible to do with 1mm

yep, as others have said, for panel work and thin gauge I find .6mm easier and less prone to blowing holes, but for chassis or major structural members you need the extra power going in from the thicker wire.
I have used .8mm on everything up to the 8mm winch tray, but tbh that could have been neater with thicker wire but welding really is all in the prep, clean metal, good weld return and a power supply that dont drop out when you spark up.

cheers guys