i am in the process of re-working some bad floor boards again and got to thinking....

my welder only has 2 settings high and low.... works perfect for 1/8" steel plate and does pretty alright with 1/4" steel plate etc but when it comes to thin sheet metal (18 gauge factory floor boards) even at the low setting it burns through..... now my welder runs flux-core gasless .35mm wire....... i can run .30mm wire but i need a different tip

my question is; is there a welding wire out there that would work better for this thin metal GIVEN THAT my welder is gas less and a wire fed welder....

now i know there are better STYLES to weld like mig and tig and such but OTHER than buying another welder setup and learning how to weld the different style what can i do with what i have????

 

can you adjust your wire speed too? if so for thin metal you have to set the settings on low and slow your wire feed speed down. im not 100% sure but i think .30 is the smallest you can have for gasless wire. you will truley want to use that opposed to using the .35. that will help tips are not that pricey like 5$ i think for a pack of them. that is all you can do really when welding thin with gasless. slow wire feed, low setting. also try pushing the molten too as that gives less penetration that dragging. good luck take your time and just keep welding. if you can practice on similar size material first.

 

Like the other guy said, slow the wire speep way down. Also, I noticed that when I used a 100ft extention cord I lost a little power so you could try that too. Are you stitch welding it or trying to run a continuous bead? Stitch welding will help the burn through also.

 

lol i'm actually not sure if i have a 100ft extension cord.... but i will most deffinitely collect up all the ext. cords i have to maximize resistance hahaha
thc for the advice guys

 

I'm doing the same thing, but I haven't picked up my welder just yet. I'm getting it from Harbor Freight, though, and have used similar ones on some really thin stainless steel.

I know you said you don't wanna invest in other welding equipement, but one with adjustable speeds and power levels wouldn't be a bad consideration. You'd at least have a more versatile setup.

 

Even with a mig welder, anytime you're welding 18ga or thinner (try 22 or 24!!!) you're better off making a series of spot or tack welds, and then going back and filling in. This will almost always eliminate any warping from heat. With a gasless setup, follow everyone elses suggestions for slowing down and even cheating with a long extension cord

If you're still having trouble, My375hp302 suggested stitch welding. It's a GREAT way to weld thin sheet. Just make a series of "tack" welds, one on top of the one before. Gives the metal a couple of seconds to cool down between each weld, minimizing and hopefully eliminating burn through.

If all else fails... now you've got an excuse to upgrade your welder.

 

try rolling the edges down to give you more thickness that will help

 

I have also been playing with welding 3/16 to the sheet metal. Low and slow seems to be the best settings and I am also using a 25' extension cord. I only push a bead about an inch at a time and change areas to work on frequently along the rockers.

 

that is a very good idea using some extension cords. that and use the plug in furthest away from the power source too. wish i would have thought about the longer thinner extension cord when we did some half doors.

 

make sure that the seam is as close as possible because when your welding its easier to burn thru if you have to fill a small gap, x2 on the pulse welding as it will keep the heat down, plus if you do it right itll look like a tig weld

 

dont stay in the same area when welding move to opposite sides of the the plate after every weld to let the previous spot cool and if its still getting to hot cool with water with my half doors I literally did 1000's of spot welds and just stitched it together

 

thx for all the advice guys, floors are finally redone, now i just need to rhino line them

 

 

do not use the extension cord thing your welder will starve for food, how long will you live without beer and chips?how about your attitude? the main thing to slow down is you let the weld puddle,let it weld!

 

wait what? restate that differently. trying to follow and just dont. i used extension cords on my exhaust when i built it and seemed to do just fine. had to turn the setting up to the second lowest setting but welded it just fine.