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What are all the issues that can cause weld spatter?

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5.9K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  N2 Welding  
#1 · (Edited)
Been using the Rebel EMP 215ic and love it. Latest project had me frustrated. Welding horse shoes into snow man figurines and have the auto set to 1/4" 240 while using solid core Hobart .030 wire. At first I was thinking I was running low on C25 gas but my guage says the tank is at about 700 - 800 psi. Set the CFH somewhere between 30 - 35. I tend to keep my gauge in the middle of the green in the victor gauge. This is because I normally have both big and side doors open in the garage ang gusts of wind periodically blow through without notice.

I have not tried making any changes to the auto voltage/wirefeed speed setting yet. Later when I get home I will try to lower the settings and weld on some cut off horse shoe scraps.

Any ideas of other things to look for as to what can cause lots of spatter. Maybe not enough or too much stick out. Any suggestions at all is appreciated.

I have a spool of .023 & .035 of italian wire
INEFIL ER70S-6 .035-Inch on 10-Pound Spool Carbon Steel Mig Solid I could try.

Oh I forgot to mention I had the ground clamped to the table and then directly to the shoes. So I dont think grounding is the issue but won't rule it out it poor grounding is a known issue for spatter.
 
B
#2 ·
I have a spool of .023 & .035 of italian wire
INEFIL ER70S-6 .035-Inch on 10-Pound Spool Carbon Steel Mig Solid I could try.


There you go..(.035 since you have it) I also would lower your CFH some.. 20 should be plenty..
 
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J
#5 ·
I would guess it is the crap metal in horse shoes? You might try the lowest SMIG setting for 3/16 and them trim the voltage up a few notches. Not sure what nozzle you are using but flush works best on the Rebel in SMIG.
 
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D
#6 ·
I have no experience with the Rebel 215. However, for horse shoe art work around 18 volts (depending on the inductance setting and wire brand the voltage could fall in the 17's) and 140 amps should be plenty. You have an inductance control that can help clean up the arc some, if you get it set right. If you get the voltage, wire speed, and inductance set correct a 140 amp output can be virtually spatter free.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
I will give the INEFIL a try Scott.

I have been using the knurled roller with very minumal clamping force on the drive rollers. Just enough to keep the drive roller down. Maybe the wire is getting marred and chewing the liner or tip but I highly doubt it I have only used about 5 pounds of wire at most and probably less than that. I will look into this John.

I am using the correct polarity but will keep this in mind Louie.

Jaws I think I am using the flush nozzle on the original gun. I have noticed that some times depending on how the gun cable is twisted or layed out can make the weld arc all wonky and not have a nice crisp arc. I will try the setting you suggest first followed by changing the gas to 20cfh and if that don't work then I'll change the wire as suggested by Scott. When you say trim the voltage up in Smig are you talking about the advanced trim bar that goes up in red line bars or down in blue line bars on the main Smig welding screen?

Dan I will have to try that voltage and adjust my wire feed speed to achieve 140 amps then play with it a little bit on inductance to see how it goes. The only time I took the machine out of Smig was when I was practicing for welding uphill 1/4"

Thank you all for the suggestions.
 
J
#9 ·
Yes the voltage trim bar, move it over a couple notches into the red. I like to set my inductance around 55 on the Rebel 215, and seems on some settings it needs a little more voltage above 1/8. In some cases I go manual mode and I seem to get better results on thicker material. As far as the liner on the Fusion and Velocity guns some come just a tad bit long and you need to snip a little off the top of the liner where the tip pushes it in. The trick is to stretch the cable hose out with no consumables on the end, see how far the liner comes out, put the tip over it and it you have to push back real hard to get the tip to seat then might need a trim, also try this same method with the cable hose twisted up. Doing both procedures with give a guide on how much needs to come off if any. I run all my gas at around 30- 35 CFH and never had any issues. The knurled drive roll should not give you any problems, I have run many many pounds of wire with my setup the same way on 15 ft gun.
 
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B
#8 · (Edited)
I'm am suspect of the velocity ft end too. Maybe the great software can help the make that design work well, but I still think those setups suck hind tit in general. Least in that size guns.. I don't drink Kool-aid from anyone,and sure seems like some on that setup..:laugh: Pushing the liner down against the tip when you screw the nozzle on, is not the way I set a liner up for best feeding of wire (Bind)
 
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#10 · (Edited)
Thank you for explaining all that Jaws. I tried the settings you mentioned last night and no dice. I think the piece of the gun that plugs into the machine is bent. The little black washers always get cut in half and or gouged from removing and installing the mig gun. I just put a few new O-Rings the last I had and it seems to have help a little. I tried making the settings in manual mode with volts at 18v and 140 amps but that is easier said than done lol. Any changes to inductance and the amps go way up or down. As a last ditch effort I put the spool of INEFIL .035 on the machine. Unfortunately I had to split for a while so I did not get a chance to try the new wire. I should have another spool of INEFIL .030 delivered tonight by Amazon same day delivery by 9pm

Oh I just realized I never changed the roller to a larger .035 knurled roller.
 
B
#11 ·
Put a little silicone grease on your o-rings of the mig gun, before installing the gun..
 
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D
#13 ·
Yeah,

If you're going to manually adjust the voltage, wire speed, and inductance to find the optimum performance it becomes more of an intermediate to advanced operator procedure. So you aren't chasing machine settings forever, on the inductance you'd probably be best off finding a setting that gives the arc some softness, but still allows it to retain some crispness to it. If you leave to much crispness in the arc, it is going to be difficult to dial in a light spatter level that also produces good puddle wet out. The 18 on the volts for around 140 amps was just a starting point on the volts, because the voltage required tends to vary depending on the wire brand and inductance setting. As an example with Lincoln's L-56 the voltage actually drops down into the lower 17's.

You know, if you had a unit like my ESAB Migmaster 250 or Hobart Ironman 230 :D it'd be a reasonably simple procedure to get a real clean running arc dialed in at around 135 - 140amps.

I've never been impressed with the Hobart brand solid wire. So switching to .030 INE may make a noticeable improvement.
 
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#14 · (Edited)
Tried the .030 INE tonight and not much luck. I was getting pissed. What pisses me off the most is the arc is never consistent even at same settings stick out and materials. Perhaps it's time for me to purchase some hood cheaters.

Does anyone make a bright clip on led light for mig guns. Seems like I am always welding in a shadow and seeing where the wire is at is not always happening.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I was thinking the only problem with it being on the gun would be heat from the welding. Problem I see with having the light on the helmet is I would have to adjust the light all the time and I don't always have the hood positioned the same. For example if I am wearing a resperator then the hood does not come as close to my face as when I am not wearing a resperator. There is also the fact that my hands and the mig gun are going to cast a shadow as well if the light is behind them on the hood. Then of course I already have neck issues so I don't exactly need extra weight on the helmet. Just curious if anything existed that I have not seen or heard about yet.
 
D
#17 ·
N2 Welding, in a past thread I'm thinking you mentioned that you had an issue with the drive roll not lining up properly with the inlet and outlet wire guides.
 
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P
#19 ·
Weld spatter comes from the weld puddle.

Several reasons for this:
  • The wire is being pushed down into the puddle and causes a splash.
  • The wire melts off violently .
  • When the wire melts off the drop of molten metal doesn't fall down into the puddle as it should.

The reasons for these are the same. The balance between arc voltage and wire feed speed is mismatched for the given shielding gas and wire size.

So if your voltage/wire speed settings are wrong for the wire size you're using (and gas), if there is a problem feeding the wire or there is a problem with the power source - you end up with a mismatch and with spatter.
 
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