Maybe this will help.
Your wirefeed speed is your AMP control. Amps = Heat = penitration

Voltage controls the flow of current through the wire. You adjust your voltage to keep the current flow high enough to keep up with the rate your wire melts.

When you burn through your first instinct might be to turn up your wirefeed speed to add more metal. But all that will do is make you burn through more. turn your amps way down and adjust your voltage so your tip doesnt burn back to the electrode.


Oh and yeh. Fluxcore burns much hotter and needs much less amperage then hardwire. However, you can get duelshield and run flux with argon. It produces a very clean weld after you tap the slag off. But for sure the easyest form of mig welding is hardwire with an argon//co2 shielding gas.

As other people have said bodywork with .030 is about the biggest you want to go if your a good welder. .023 is better for sheetmetal bodywork. Also everytime you stop clip the end of the wire to knock the oxidized ball off. This will help starting your next bead and can help reducing your burnthrough.

also on extremly thin sections you can trigger weld. trigger welding you just tap the trigger for 1 or 2 seconds at a time then alow the zone to cool for a second and tap it again in a second or so. When this is dont in a steady pattern it alows the thin metal to cool and not get so hot that you burn through all the time.

Hey bro I have a Lincoln Weld-Pak 3200HD (which is a home depot model hence the "HD",Lowes has same model but is called a Pro-Mig 135 or something) and it is just like yours except it came set up ready to use flux core or run gas. Turn it all the way down, real slow feed speed, and like everybody else has said, lots of little tack welds. I've even done this successfully with flux core, but your life will be a lot easier with gas and thinner wire. If you haven't already, get yourself an auto darkening welding hood too. Don't get frustrated, it will get easier. Practice, practice, practice....Translation=Perfect reason for more projects and more toys...lol. Good Luck to ya.

that oxy fuel setup is really useful, but if you get one, be prepared for $600 to $700 with tanks, unless you buy the extra tiny ones as a full kit from Home depot. Best to get Victor or whatever you local welding shop carries parts for. Some of those odd ball sets can be very hard to get tips for and the tip that comes with teh sets are usually #1 or bigger, and you will want #0 or #00.
There are a lot of addsitional safety issue with the tanks too. NEver get anything petroleum based in, on or around O2. Pressurized O2 and oil, petroleum based hand lotion, or whatever can create fires. The fires start with itty bitty leaks that push through the oil. These little fires can cut into the hose, fixtures and the tank. Once it goes, the tanks blow and, bye bye. Ever seen an Oxygen lance? Steel pipe is the fuel for the fire, it is amazing.

First oxy fuel welding is only good for 1/8" thick steel and smaller. Its extremly difficult to get good at and i dont recomend it to any novice welder. The flame burns at 5500 degrees and will burn the crap outta you if it glances your skin. Oxy fuel welding is not something you should try to figure out by yourself its extremly dangerous. You always need to leak test with ivory soap based water. Make sure no patrolium products are anywhere near it. No electrical tape or duct tape or ANYTHING like that. And make sure you check it everytime.

oxy fuel is good because its extremly versitile. However, i really dont recomend doing it unless you have someone to teach you.

heres some oxy fuel welds , not my best work but. yeh

Welding thin metal is always a challenge. It's always a good idea to start on some scraps to get the welders settings dialed before burning holes in your sheetmetal <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />

As has been mentioned, you want 0.023 wire and a argon/C02, and you'll still be able to burn holes in it if not careful.

One technique not mentioned that allows one to weld thinner metal than the welder is designed for is to pulse the mig gun. Think about rapid firing a semi auto pistol. I used to weld up 0.025" bandsaw blades with my buddies mig, theoretically it's impossible to do that, but by pulsing the weld and grinding off the blobs it worked like a charm.

I did mention this and its called trigger welding

Thanks Crashyota, I have had some welding training. It was a long time ago in A&P school though. I have not welded anything in years. Dont weld alot working on jets. I appreciate all the help and tips you all are giving. I new that this would be the place to ask. I will hopefully have my MIG conversion kit this weekend and can get a bottle of co2/argon mix and get to work. I'll keep everyone informed on how things are progressing. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Well I tried again today with alot better success. Is this what you meen by stiching? Its certainly not pretty but there are no holes! I'm still have not got my MIG attachment kit, can't wait till it gets here. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> Since I blew hose in my last piece, I had to cut it out. This ment that I had to cut out one of the humps in the bed. That made it a hole lot harder to get my patch formed. I am going to finish it up tomorrow. I am planning on grinding down the welds to smooth them out. Its definately not pretty but hopefuly when I ground down the welds I can get it to look better. Thankyou all for your help. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Looking much better <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Just remember that bondo covers most minor sins <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

Another technique I've found for times when I have too big of a gap to fill, or trying to weld something thinner than I should, is to use a piece of wire or filler rod in my off hand, and do a sort of hybrid mig heliarc weld. Not something to do for structural work <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> but for cosmetic get er done repairs, it's a good technique to have up your sleave <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />