Everything You Wanted To Know About Everlast Power Equipment and Basic MIG Welding

Everything you wanted to know about MIG welding basics: The Good, the Bad, and the Important FAQ’s

A common question we get that is related to MIG welding is “What MIG welding wire should I use?” Again, this has been covered to some extent before but it is worth detailing again. MIG wire selection can be confusing as the choice of filler metals seem limit less. You have to consider roll size, wire diameter, coated versus uncoated, class and ultimately name brand. But in reality there are a few simple rules you can rely on when choosing MIG wire for Steel welding. Most people will tend to gravitate to one or two wire sizes. These two wire sizes will cover about 95% of everything they will need to weld. For starters, .035” wire covers the high end of wire welding up to 250 amps, and does well in the lower ranges down to less than 100 amps. I typically recommend that diameter for most professionals. .030” is a good diameter to have as well, and works well with thinner metals. It does cover a broad range of amps so it does well up to 200 amps of power. It may not be suitable for the thinnest body work, but I’ve personally used it down to 24 gauge with success. But for super thin welding, the .023” wire does work best, but unless you are in auto body repair, this wire may not work for you very well. Your MIG welder will limit you on the maximum size (diameter) roll of wire you may be able to use. But as a general rule, use the largest size it allows. This will yield the best price value. But unless limited otherwise, don’t use less than an 8” diameter roll. 4” rolls run out quickly, within minutes of welding with only 2lbs of steel wire being able to be fitted to that roll diameter. Plus it is as much as twice as expensive per pound than a larger roll of wire.

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