![]() ![]() Many people don’t like to paint, but I enjoy painting walls, doors, and even trim. Rust, paint, grease, and mill-scale on your work surface will cause the arc to spit and sputter splashing the spatter out of the weld. Maintaining consistent form will help you dial in your weld settings quickly. Keeping the electrode length uniform helps me make consistent welds. for flux-cored welding works well for me. This also can disturb the weld puddle causing spatter. A short arc helps reduce spatter, but if your electrode is too short, the arc may sputter. If the electrode stick-out is too long, it may jab into the weld pool causing spatter. It’s easy to exceed that angle when trying to keep the weld puddle in view.īut too much gun angle can push the gas to one side of the weld, leaving the other unprotected. Keeping your gun angled only 5-15° from vertical allows the shielding gas to blanket the weld area. Proper welding techniques can go a long way towards reducing spatter. ![]() When the amount of spatter varies during a weld, I’ll take a hard look at what I’m doing for operator error. Key for me: Making one change at a time and taking notes for future reference. Then, after fine-tuning the wire feed speed, I should be ready to weld. I’ll either increase the voltage or turn it down. If the arc sputters, while the bead still looks too cold or hot, I know that I’m out of range for the current heat (voltage) setting.If needed, I can make small adjustments to wire feed speed or gun travel speed to get a good bead profile (an indicator of penetration) while maintaining a smooth arc. With a stable arc, I’ll check the weld bead for penetration.Then, return to Step 2 and repeat until the arc is stable. If I’ve run through the entire wire feed speed range and still can’t get a good arc, it’s time to make a coarse voltage change, either up or down.Small adjustments prevent skipping over the sweet spot. This is a fine setting that I adjust up or down in small increments to get a smooth arc. Set wire speed according to settings chart.This is a coarse setting that I don’t touch again unless I can’t get the arc right with the following steps. Set voltage according to the welder chart, or to where I think it should be from experience.But because welding machines, materials, and conditions vary, they usually need adjustments for the best arc. You can use your welder settings chart or programs to give you a starting point. Overall welding experience helps, as does time with your particular welder. Same for the voltage settings.įine-tuning your MIG welder for a smooth, stable arc will cut the amount of welding spatter. Setting the wire feed speed too fast is a leading cause of excessive spatter.
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