mig 250p

[steel]

Looks good Mark thanks. I have 3 stick machines so dont really need the stick part.

[Markcuda]

At work, I use .045 wire, with a 90/10 mix of gas.
I run 30 amps/29ish volts=3 pass, 12 millimeter welds.
So, coming home and using my little 250p is a bit different

[Markcuda]

I'm making a cart for my 250P.
I know, it has wheels, but I can't leave good enough alone.

[zoama]

I went out to the shop and made a little demo weld. 11 gauge HR steel, 19v, 220 wire speed on the display (reads amps when welding) 75/25 gas.
I haven't learned how to minimize the BBs Any tips would be appreciated.

[steel]

run it on pulse that should get rid of them

[zoama]

run it on pulse that should get rid of them

I haven't learned to use the pulse feature, is that commonly used in short circuit ? You can click on the thumbnail pics for a larger view, it's a fairly high res pic.

[performance]

I went out to the shop and made a little demo weld. 11 gauge HR steel, 19v, 220 wire speed on the display (reads amps when welding) 75/25 gas.
I haven't learned how to minimize the BBs Any tips would be appreciated.

Excess Gun angle increases BB.s Pushing may help as well. You can tune the arc force, and reduce the wire speed or increase the voltage to reduce the BB's. After optimizing these settings, you can also go to an 80/20 or in my case a C18(Air Gas proprietary blend). Try dropping your wire speed to 200...What brand wire and wire size are you using?

[zoama]

Excess Gun angle increases BB.s Pushing may help as well. You can tune the arc force, and reduce the wire speed or increase the voltage to reduce the BB's. After optimizing these settings, you can also go to an 80/20 or in my case a C18(Air Gas proprietary blend). Try dropping your wire speed to 200...What brand wire and wire size are you using?

I'm running the silver esab wire you recommended .035. Gun angle was close to 90 deg My lws only offers 75/25 or tri mix, they looked at me like I was an alien when I asked for c18 or 80/20

[performance]

Ok, you need a lean, not a straight down angle. Start by pushing it slightly. 15 to 20 degrees should do it. The most of the BB's if there are many, will bounce in front of the weld and get reabsorbed. Keep your standoff as close as practical, 1/2" or so. Too long of a stand off can create spatter. But again, dialing the wire speed down will help. Most people tend to run too much because they feel they will get a hotter weld. But it's like trying going to a hot dog eating contest...eventually something is going to spew all over the place at too fast of a feeding rate. And dialing the arc force control will likely give you the most change in spatter. I run mine about 3 oclock on the small imig. Not sure if that will translate well or not. Mike may have more input.

[zoama]

I went out and did a few more tests, settings are all over the place but I thought it would help to narrow down my problems. Torch angle is still almost straight up and down because I hadn't read the last advise yet.
From left to right, Pic 1 is 19.5v 220 wire speed 5 arc force__ Pic 2 is 19v 200 wire speed 5 arc force__ Pic 3 is 19v 200 wire speed 3 arc force__ Pic 4 19v 210 wire speed 7 arc force.


Also, what causes the rust color around the weld ? The pieces were all cleaned with a coarse 8" wire wheel on a grinder before welding. 75/25 at 12 lpm. I usually run it at 10 lpm but increased it on these welds and it didn't make much difference.
All pieces were the same size and temperature. Pics are high res... for those who don't know how to zoom in, click on the thumbnail then click on the pic that opens, hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard while you roll the mouse wheel forward.