1st Gen Lunchtable Thread - General Discussion

I don't know what welder you have, a lot of them will have a chart pasted inside the wire cabinet portion. It's a good jumping off point, from there I dial everything by sound. If changing your hand/movement speed doesn't get the desired sound then you have to start trimming heat or wire speed. Make sure you have the electrode polarity right for the wire you're using... And if you've been dragging your gun, you should probably be pushing. Dragging is usually only for unshielded work or large diameter wires.

 

Ya I go off that, but it seems wildly off sometimes. They also call one setting "wire speed" but it's clearly amps and wire speed never seems to change (or maybe it changes both proportionally)... The HF Titanium multi-process is the one I've got.

Really wouldn't know what sound I'm searching for as I've never even witnessed anyone else weld...and it's not like YT captures sound well

 

Does it start with the same wire speed for a few seconds to establish an arc then feed different after that? A few of the "smart" welders I've used did that. It was confusing til I realized what was going

 

That's an inverter machine so it has an inductance knob. Wire speed is one thing, voltage is another. Until you get a feel for welding, I would leave the inductance in the middle, you can use it for super tuning your welds. But many machines don't have it and for mig welding it isnt necessary for a good weld. A good weld sounds like consistently frying bacon with almost a sound of air excaping from the end of a balloon in it. You may to want to make sure you're using enough shield gas, i would start with it set around 13-15cfm for indoor work. You have to check the setting with the gun flowing. Confirm your using the wire size you think you are too. Seen plenty try to dial in for .035 when they're using .025(good size for learning and most projects BTW)

 

Hate to say, I just go by experience however...you might find this useful.

 

I found I put a little more heat and wirespeed compared to the chart I listed when I played with an HF welder.

Welding should sound like a nice, consistent low sizzling...think of it as making bacon.

 

Mustang 5.0 swapped Ranger prerunner (RWD) on 35s, whynot?

If you can get it running, that is...

 

Speedy that's helpful thanks. I've found I need closer to 20CFM like KV's poster says, but I was worried I was wasting it if I was overcompensating somehow. Pretty sure I've got 0.030 in there.
Bacon sizzle though, got it

Voltage though? Just seems like 17-18V average for some reason. What does it really do?
Also, I seem to have trouble getting that "consistent" sizzle. It interrupts a lot. Why could that be?

 

I'd be curious to watch a short video of you welding; you could be whipping it and so you'll temporarily long arc causing the "interruption" you describe.

Settings are one thing, but manual travel speed and technique are even larger variables to consider.

That's why there's no "perfect" settings for 2 people using the same machine on the same material.

 

@treyus30

I never forgot your project; not sure if you've been following but I ordered a cnc plasma table setup 3 weeks ago.

I'll need to get it dialed once it arrives but I would love to start getting some precise cutting done right away.

 

Looks familiar!

 

Shiiit I got a raise, hell yeah it's in effect now

 

Congrats!!!

If money can't buy happiness then why is it so fabulous?

 

15.50 now?

 

Worst tank in the Sentra ever. Only 25 mpg

 

Thanks, but it's a cost of living increase, so nothing I did. Just the govt trying to help us a bit.

 

No one should get paid that and expect to survive in CA; that's minimum wage.

 

Those burn outs at Papa Johns doesn't help any

 

maybe if they bootstrap their bootstraps and walk into corporate HQ and demand to speak to the CEO they'll be hired on the spot /s

 

I've been whippin the dentra quite a bit, I'm surprised th CVT hasn't exploded yet lol