Got my first practice with the welder yesterday after buying it over a year ago. Seemed to go ok but occasionally blew/melted a few holes. When it
worked, the weld looked great but on occassion blew some pretty large holes. It seemed to be less of a problem the quicker I moved the torch across
but I thought that was what you are not supposed to do.
Any help?
If you really want input, post a picture or two on Here they'll be polite, but critical and they'll
give you any help you need
Welding really is an art, maybe try turning your power down a touch.
Remember blowing holes is just 100% penetration 
Just practice, you will find the right power and speed.
I still find if difficult when welding thick and thin bits together, solution, I use 3 or 5mm plate for everything
Take care
Rich
If you're blowing holes, you're very close to doing it right!
At least this shows your welder is man enough for the job. Its likely just practice, practice, practice.....
Though personally I'd recommend getting someone who is good at welding to have a go to make sure the machine is a good'un. Having struggled
with my welding for 6 months I was a bit upset when my brother pronounced my welder "bloody rubbish" and sorting that out improved my
welding no end.... IE it could be an intermitent wire feed problem resulting in fluctuating current usage...
Increasing the wire speed or lowering the power will both stop blowing the holes as more wire cools the pool, less current stops it getting so hot.
As above though, holes are good as you are getting full penetration, weld towards the thicker tube (by this I mean if you have a sawn off end butting
to a straight section weld towards the straight section as it has more material) and that might be all you need. Then its just practice practice
practice.
Regards Mark
Thanks guys. My welder doesn't have too much variable control. There is the variable wire speed and then a min/max switch which I assume is the
current control and a 1/2 switch which I have no idea about at all! It's a Draper 1503T Mig.
Greg.
Sounds very much like the Clarke welders.
They have two switches to adjust power (ie 4 power settings) which go
Min 1
Min 2
Max 1
Max 2
from lowest to highest power.
do a college course at night its cheap and you will then know what your doing .
i ssen loads of guys that say they can use a mig and they cant eg they pull and dont push the weld they hold it at the wrong angle they have the wire
speed too fast and splater the place with low penetration
WELDING IS A SKILL YOU NEED TO LEARN IF YOU DONT KNOW HOW TO DO IT YOU COULD KILL YOURSELF OR OTHERS WHEN YOU CAR WELDS FAIL.
this site will help
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/
quote:
Originally posted by BenB
Sounds very much like the Clarke welders.
They have two switches to adjust power (ie 4 power settings) which go
Min 1
Min 2
Max 1
Max 2
from lowest to highest power.
Fair enough.
Yet another reason why my welding sucks!!!
Guess I should RTFM properly next time!!
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
My clarke welder goes
1 min
1 max
2 min
2 max
3 min
3 max
according to the manual
I got my welder out for the first time in 18 months, had a play, splatter, blow, jam, fiddle, twiddle.....hmmm that's about right. Turn to the
chassis that has been tack welded for the last 2 years and make the most beautiful weld I have ever done, perfect. Sit back, inspect admire, lovely.
Get a huge rush and settle down for a night of welding. Start another weld on the other side of the chassis............ no fecking wire.
bollox!!!