How to Use a Wire Welder

A wire welding machine (also known as a MIG welding machine) is one of the most commonly used types of welders by both professional and amateur welders today. Although it is one of the oldest types of welding machines, it is also one of the easiest to operate, and, with enough practice, will allow all welders to do a wide variety of projects for the home, yard, farm projects, and much more. One should carefully follow instructions detailing how to operate their particular brand of MIG welding machine; however, the following outline provides the basic steps.

Things You'll Need

• Welder mask
• Metal
• Clamps
• Wire

Instructions

Use a Wire Welder

1. Check to see if there is any rust on the wire. Then prepare the wire; the spring tensioner on the wire reel mounting should be tightened so that the reel does not unravel first; then place the wire spool onto the axle/spindle of the wire feeding unit or welding machine (this will be next to or behind the wire feed drive rollers). Be sure not to install the spool upside down, and replace the cotter pin afterward.

2. Align the spool with the pin on the spindle; this pin, located on the back of the spindle, should line up with the hole on the spool. The first 3 inches of wire should be straight, and the bent part of the wire (usually the first inch or so) should be cut off. The tensioner should be tight enough so that the spool does not unravel on its own.

3. Feed the wire, by guiding it through the guide tube of the torch and over the roller (or tube rolls); remove the contact tip from the end of the torch so that the wire potentially does not get stuck when feeding it into the torch. Insert the wire into the hole of the wire liner (there should be little or no force necessary for this step, and the wire should slip in easily; if not, you have likely missed the wire liner). After the wire has been inserted a few inches into the wire liner, replace or turn down the tension/tensioner clamp, turn on the welder, and lay the welding torch out as straight as possible. Use the wire feeder to push the wire through the liner. As you do so, increase the tension until the wire feed stops slipping, but not to the point where the wire feed motor slows.

4. Put on the welder mask. Check the tension on the wire reel, making sure that it is as light as possible; set the wire feed speed to the maximum necessary. Pull the trigger on the torch until the wire is out on the other end; when releasing the trigger, the wire reel should stop but not unravel. Replace the contact tip, put back the nozzle and cover the machine

5. Clean the metal that you are planning to work on.

6. Determine and set the wire feed rate/speed -- this will set the arc length. One way of doing this is simply by trial and error -- using a scrap test piece of metal, turn on the gun and drag it along the metal until you get a smooth arc (this speed is the ideal speed). There should be no burning smell, and a constant sizzling sound should be heard with a good speed; too slow a speed will create the burning smell, and too fast a speed will produce a popping, machine-gun-like sound; extremely fast will cause the wire to bend, and create a lot of spatter. For thinner metals, a slower speed is usually necessary (in fact, it is usually set at the lowest speed necessary), while with corners, a faster speed is used to decrease the length of the arc and avoid the sides. With less expensive or do-it-yourself welding machines, as the welding machine power increases, the speed of the wire feed will need to be increased manually as well.

7. Determine and set the power tip rate/voltage -- this will determine the level of penetration of the metal and the weld appearance; the goal is to have enough penetration so that the metals join and fuse together, but not so much that the penetration is excessive. Using a piece of scrap metal that is the same thickness as the metal you plan to actually work on, test the voltage settings of the welding machine to find the optimal setting. Settings can be found in the owner's manual.

8. Position the welder tip. The tip should be positioned about 6 to 10mm from the surface of the metal. Pull the trigger and weave the handle back and forth about 1cm and weld along the seam.

Tips & Warnings

• The shielding gas should contain as high a concentration of argon when welding thin metal or aluminum to generate less heat and get less spatter in the process. Carbon dioxide will create deeper penetration and is best suited for thicker metals.

References

• Buy MIG Welder