welder question.

Custom Search

[dave07]

  I'm looking for a new welder for work and have a couple of questions. we are looking for something that can weld aluminum, stainless and regular steel. right now I'm looking at the miller 211 because of the dual voltage. it will be really nice for working in diffrent area's where 220 isn't always available. my main question is what gas do i need i was told 100% argon would work for all 3? if not what gasses do i need for what metal? i know i use 75%argon 25%co2 at home for my wig welder but all that i weld is steel. the main concern i have at the moment is welding the stainless steel then regular steel and last the aluminum.

[jon]

call the welding shop and ask them what to use.

don't plan on trying to weld aluminum on 110.  you really need a spool gun to do it as well.

[dave07]

i called them. i plan on picking up the spool gun with the set up i guess i just found i kind of odd that all 3 metals can be welded with 100% argon (that's what they told me).

[HEYzipupyourfly]

if your doing a lot of stainless and alu buy a tig in my opinion.
aluminum mig is ugly, dirty and I personally dont like it
and Mig welding stainless just makes using stainless pointless afterward because your welds are going to oxidize and rust anyways.
yes pure argon will work but the c-25 is much more desireable with mild steels

[jason m]

if your doing a lot of stainless and alu buy a tig in my opinion.
aluminum mig is ugly, dirty and I personally dont like it
and Mig welding stainless just makes using stainless pointless afterward because your welds are going to oxidize and rust anyways.
yes pure argon will work but the c-25 is much more desireable with mild steels

The welds wont rust if he buys SS mig wire. Ran hundreds of spools to build pressure tanks for Norton Co. We ran Duel shield Core wire E-308 and for mixed steels ( SS to carbon ) we ran E-309 soild wire on a spray.

Jason.

[HEYzipupyourfly]

yes obviously using ss mig wire is what you would use, its still not the more desireable way to weld ss. again depending on the aplication. I have a half used spool of 308 sitting in my machine and still have never grabbed that over the tig for stinless. Maybe your getting better results than me but I have never been able to get the color and gas shield the way i would preffer with the stainless mig(using pure argon as well) And in my experience if you get any ss too hot and it doesn't cool correctly That weld is going to continue to rust.

Dave what are you actually welding that is alu and ss or are you mainly just looking for the ability to do it if you had to?

[dave07]

right now im looking to weld some stainles steel kitchen equipment 1/8in or thiner right now but i want to have the abilty to weld alu also. a few months ago i needed a alu dimond plate floor plate made and had to have a contractor come in for 15 min of welding. a tig might be a option. i just have never used one. im sure i could do it. is it alot harder than mig? i want to be able to weld all 3 metels but i dont want it to look like crap. miller has a dual voltage tig for about 2200 i think its a diverson 185? if i go with a tig would i still just get 100% argon?

[Ian]

would you have have to weld outside of the shop?  like in the kitchen or whereever?

[dave07]

would you have have to weld outside of the shop?  like in the kitchen or whereever?

yes, i will be doing some of the welding "on site" but it will be inside the buildings. money is less of a concern as quality and appearance are the main concern. right now after reading what tony said i think i will be leaning towards this http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/product.php?model=M00337.

[Ian]

that looks like a cool unit.  i was just thinking that a traditional tig unit might not be practical for you out side of the shop

[jps4jeep]

X2 Go Tig, once you learn, you will rarely want to go back, especially with stainless.

If you are welding kitchen equipment, I am assuming that this is to be a food contact surface for a manufacturing facility; course and rough welds are not allowed in this application due to them being difficult to clean and sanitize and also they can allow for the harborage location for pathogenic growth. another added benefit of Tig and Stainless; you can re-grain the stainless for a nearly seamless look which 1. looks pretty 2. is acceptable for a processing facility.  With 18 GA stainless, you most likely will not even need filler material, just pool the field and in small slow controlled circles, the material will weld together easily.

Only time we ever mig'ed stainless was if it was done in the field (real trying to move a water cooled syncrowave) or if it was just some random duct work.  most of the stainless we welded was for Bio-pharmaceuticals and assorted clean room manufacturing.

I also will agree, Mig Aluminum is not at all pretty, even with a High buck spool gun, it is just not nearly as clean as Tig.

Dave, learning to Tig is not nearly as hard as people make it out to be.

[HEYzipupyourfly]

If looks are more a concern Tig is what your going to get a much nicer bead out of. although I have seen tig welds that look like they were done with a stick welder ha. especially with thinner material your better with the tig. and if it is food grade stainless i wouldn't settle for less.

Points for choosing Miller
I have never used that unit but i will say the finger operated torches are NOT what you want to learn on haha. you will give it up the first day. I would suggest buying the foot pedal.
I couldn't tell you how much i would use a portable tig unit like that. as for shielding gas you would only need pure argon.

[jps4jeep]

I wish they had these portable units when I was a tin knocker; my miller 140 was pretty much the portable standard for a mig back then and it easily weighs more than Ian's miller 240. ( and probably twice what a modern miller 140 weighs now)