Opinions on the welds

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tom999w

tom999w

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Something's not right with my welder (not my welding methods, :D). The welds are not coming out right. Can anyone give some ideas of what's not right? The welder is a harbor freight flux core wire feed welder. The speed setting is in the middle and the amp setting is on minimum. The wire is fed about 1/2" out of the tip. It seems that the weld is not adhering to the metal.

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The problem I was having with mine is that I wasn't holding the tip close enough to what I was welding. My welding has other problems but that was my big problem.
 
If your trying to weld up rust through holes, that's not recommended.
You should cut out sections and replace with new metal and then weld the seams.
 
".023-.025 will work better on body panels. And make sure what your welding is very clean, all old paint, primer, coating etc. removed."

I thought you could weld through weld-through primer. Maybe I'll try welding bare metal to bare metal instead.

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mopar head said:
If your trying to weld up rust through holes, that's not recommended.
You should cut out sections and replace with new metal and then weld the seams.
Click to expand...
Well the holes are from the spot weld cutter, so had clean metal at the edge where the cutter cut through the metal. Maybe I should have ground down the surface itself for better weld adhesion.
 
You need to strip a larger area to bare metal. When you weld the molten metal will pull the oxidation from around the hole into the weld.

Your welds are too cold, you should have a nice water drop shaped puddle welding a round hole. If you lowered the amperage because you were blowing through, it's probably because you're still trying to weld to metal with rust in it.

Flux core is going to spatter, it does not make for pretty welds especially on sheet metal.

Weld through primer can still mess with your welds. It's better to weld bare steel, although if you're doing spot welds on an overlapped seam you will want the weld through primer on the back side of the seam where you won't be able to paint it after you've welded the flange together.
 
tom999w said:
Well the holes are from the spot weld cutter, so had clean metal at the edge where the cutter cut through the metal. Maybe I should have ground down the surface itself for better weld adhesion.
Click to expand...
Clean is a must. I like the mini scotchbrite and flap discs on a right angle air die grinder. Looks as though you need to crank up the amps or back off on the speed, test scraps are nice to figure this out, have fun.
 

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