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

Everything you wanted to know about MIG welding basics:  The Good, the Bad, and the Important FAQ’s Part 2

As a follow up to our previous MIG welding wire article, other factors to consider when selecting MIG welding wire, in particular steel wire, are coating types.  Many welding wires are copper clad and others are unclad.  Deciding which is the best choice for you is fairly basic.  You need to take into consideration exactly how much welding you need to do.   Copper clad wire offers a couple of extra advantages.  The copper offers good protection from the elements like condensation from humid environments.  It may not seem like it, but simple foggy mornings can penetrate under the cabinet and get to the welding wire.  If you are not able to consume a full roll of wire within a few weeks, you might need to either consider stepping down the diameter of the roll or go to a copper clad wire.  Copper also offers itself as a deoxidizer, but can also play a role in some types of weld defects such as when welding thin Chrome Moly.  Overall, though it’s a good choice for the average welder.   It may not be the best choice in all situations though and should be reconsidered once in a while to make sure welding habits have not changed.   As far as uncoated wires, most only appear uncoated and do have at least some sort of protective film over the wire to help prevent rust.   This wire will rust more rapidly, but will not have the same difficulties of possible weld porosity on projects that “eat up” Chrome Moly such as roll cages.   It can be a little cheaper than copper clad as well, but the really high end uncoated filler wire may be more expensive than any of the best clad MIG filler wires.

Everlast Power Equipment, you complete MIG welding resource.

Find out more in our welding forum