How to Avoid Splatter With a Wire Welder

A wire welder, also called a MIG (metal inert gas) welder, melts a wire with an electric current so the wire joins with a base, creating a strong bond. The welder receives its wire from a spool at a constant rate. MIG welders let you choose the rate at which the spool feeds through the welder, as well as the voltage applied to the wire to melt it. Any splatter of melted wire from the MIG welder results from setting the rate of feed too high. Turning down the rate allows you to weld without the likelihood of splattering melted wire.

Things You'll Need

• Welding safety gear

Instructions

1. Set the voltage and wire speed on your wire welder.

2. Make a practice weld at these speeds. Note the arc you get from these settings, and decide whether the voltage or the wire speed is too high or too low. Lower or raise the voltage first, then follow by lowering or raising the wire speed to match. Do not raise or lower one without doing likewise with the other.

3. Make another practice weld at your new settings and adjust accordingly. If you find that the wire is spewing out of the welder without being heated enough to melt to the base, or that too much melted wire is coming out, lower your settings. No welder is the same and no welding job is the same either, so readjust the settings each time you're changing welding jobs.

Tips & Warnings

• When welding, always wear welding safety gear, including helmet, goggles, and gloves.

References

• "Welder's Handbook: A Guide to Plasma Cutting, Oxyacetylene, ARC, MIG and TIG Welding"; Richard Finch; 2007