Blowing Holes In 20 Ga Sheet Metal With My Mig

Hot or cold weld.

Blowing holes in 20 ga sheet metal with my mig.

On sheet metal you always stitch weld to prevent blowing holes and warping the metal from overheating. In some other cases a rounded or tapered ball end electrodes can be used for welding sheet metals with dcep direct current electrode positive. Here s a quick video on how to plug weld sheet metal using mig without blowing yourself a bigger hole than you started with. That perfect balance between too hot a weld blowing holes and too cold a weld not enough penetration is where you want to be.

The thin metal technique is a non continuous process that is used for thin metal such as car body panels. The majority of the sheet metal welding i ve done was with a 90 amp 110 volt welder. To avoid rework follow the measure twice cut once rule. Is the metal on the minor is thinner than the stuff you ve been practicing on.

My names matt urch and i own and. Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of. Mig welding is the preferred method for most automotive bodywork and since sheet metal is the thinnest of metals a large expensive mig unit is usually not required. The aim with this technique is to melt a bit of metal and then let it cool slightly before melting the next and it s a handy way to avoid blowing holes.

Imagine a butt weld on 20 to 24 gauge metal. The one thing to avoid when tig welding with dcep is too much current. How often are the holes appearing. Fortunately this balance is pretty wide for at least normal welding on your car.

For thinner gauge sheet metal like 18 or 20 gauge we suggest 023 6mm wire in your mig welder. If the parts fail to touch each other for even 1 16 inch you have created a hole that invites burn through and a gap that can t absorb the heat. What this does is concentrate 2 3 of the heat on the tungsten electrode and prevent blowing holes in the sheet metal. If it s blowing through quickly then maybe the power is set too high on the welder.

The mig welder has to be tuned just like a spray gun or your carburetor on you car. You can also try to redesign the part with joints that can. Ya brent in addition to whats already been said i would say what ya need to do is get a couple pieces of scrap and practice welding them together til you get the settings right.