weld spatter

[98mxz583]

I am having some spatter problems when mig welding. I am welding thumbs onto excavator sticks. I am running at 415 IPM and 31 volts i get a lot of spatter. i have tried to adjust the settings a little bit but no major changes. I am also runing .045 wire and a miller mig with 75%-25% shielding gas. How can i stop the spatter? TIA

[vipermanz]

have you tried an anti-spatter spray? i never have but people say they do pretty good

[John C]

You might go to a 95/5 or 98/2 mix, diferrent suppliers have different mixes, but they are about the same.
BTW Argon/Oxy is the mix.
Sounds like you are trying to sprayarc.

[NorthernLights]

I agree with John C, sounds like you are trying to spray arc and need a more concetrated mix. I believe 90%Argon/10%CO2 is the minimum, but 95%Argon/5%CO2 or 98%Argon/2%Oxy would offer better results. BTW, I could only get 90/10 in a 300 cf bottle from my local supplier and I get very little splatter.

[HWooldridge]

75/25 mix should spatter minimally if you are using the correct voltage and wire speed. Cut the settings way down and see if the spatter goes away or is reduced, then increase slowly until you start to see it again.

[NorthernLights]

98mxz583,

Just wondering what welding machine you are using and thickness of materials. I imagine the mounting eyes for the thumb is 1" minimum and probably closer to 1-1/2" or 2". What do you guess the tube thickness of the stick to be? 1/2"? Have you been able to control the spatter yet?