10 replies to this topic

[Gaz66]

Whats a good starting point to set the flow rate to on the mig?
Im using 0.6mm wire and argon with 5% CO2.
Ive just swapped over from flux cored wire and the difference is amazing but not sure of flow rate, I dont want to be wasting gas unnecessarily.

[sonscar]

I use the ear to detect a breathy Huuuuuh when you pull the trigger as a guide,not very scientific I know.6 litres a minute?Steve..

[sonikk4]

As Steve says, if you are in garage or covered area sheltered from the wind a gentle hiss is all you need. Flow rate?? well my ear is mine. 

 

You do see various flow rates mentioned but look at your welds, if they are showing signs of pitting / bubbling up the rate a bit more. 

[weef]

Hi  maybe not a good idea to listen for a "hiss", sounds like a recipe for an earful of weld wire.  Moving on there are quite a few factors in setting the gas flow rate, namely weld metal material, material thickness, gas type, wire feed and weld speed. Generally speaking though for mild steel up to 3mm thickness and using 0.6mm wire  5-7 litres per minute, ltm, is adequate. If welding stainless steel or aluminium up the rate to 9-11 ltm.

Most gas regulators are calibrated in ltm but if it is in cubic feet per hour, CFH, then 5-7ltm is about 10-14 CFH and 9-11ltm is about 20-25CFH.

If the finished weld looks and sounds OK then you are probably in the correct ball park. 

You can start with these suggested flow figures and tweek the flow rate to suit you conditions.

[PoolGuy]

Im using 0.6mm wire and argon with 5% CO2.

With that I use about 20cfh outdoors, it partly depends on how good you are, I'm not what I'd call a very good welder, my welds are effective though  

[cal844]

I usually find with 0.8mm wire that 8 to 10 Litres/Hour is about right, you can use less if you need to

[PoolGuy]

I usually find with 0.8mm wire that 8 to 10 Litres/Hour is about right, you can use less if you need to

Per minute surely? 

[cal844]

I usually find with 0.8mm wire that 8 to 10 Litres/Hour is about right, you can use less if you need to

Per minute surely?

Yes, my apologies! I had a long day yesterday!

[Homersimpson]

I've also found that it depends on how thick the metal you are welding is, I've found with mine that for body work 8-10 litres per minute is fine but for the occassional bit of thick steel I weld (upto 3mm) then a lot more gas is necessary to get a nice clean weld.  Its a case of trial and error.

 

One tip for longevity of gas is when you turn the welder off turn the bottle off over night, next day pull the trigger before turning the gas on, if you get a bit of gas out it means your lines are reasonably gas tight, if its all gone then its worth looking at as i've seen someone empty a large bottle in a week because their gas was turned on all day and the pipe was leaking slightly.

[Ethel]

I just bought a new inverter mig that's way better gasless than my old heavy transformer jobby. Not really tried it on thin stuff yet though - also found out there's now flux core for stainless.

[r.tec]

This is my suggestion:

 

Inert gas (Corgon) flow MIG
Steel: 10…12 times wire dia.,with ø 0.8 mm: 8…9.6 l/min
Al:      14…16 times wire dia. with ø 0.6 mm: 11.2…12.8 l/min
                                              with ø 0.8 mm: 8.4…9.6 l/min