Flux Core is way different than gas shield

[Janderso]

I need to weld in the field. No problem, I’ll just buy some flux core wire.
Went on Amazon and ordered some .030 wire. Come to find out they make dozens of different flux core wire products.
I think I got lucky, I ended up with Lincoln Innershield NR 211 MP. This is for sheet metal and thin plate. I’m welding 1/8” tubing, should be fine.

Here is what gets confusing. I did some practice welds and boy howdy, what a difference between gas shielded and flux core.

My Miller 220 AC-DC auto settings for .030 and 1/8” material is 19.7 volts and 350 wire speed!!
Weld.guru says to set your machine to 17-19v and 170-215 wire speed. WTH??

My sample welds using the auto settings were very hot. I’ll go to manual and make the appropriate changes.
See what happens.

How are you setting up your machine for .030 and 1/8 material?

 

[woodchucker]

I need to weld in the field. No problem, I’ll just buy some flux core wire.
Went on Amazon and ordered some .030 wire. Come to find out they make dozens of different flux core wire products.
I think I got lucky, I ended up with Lincoln Innershield NR 211 MP. This is for sheet metal and thin plate. I’m welding 1/8” tubing, should be fine.

Here is what gets confusing. I did some practice welds and boy howdy, what a difference between gas shielded and flux core.

My Miller 220 AC-DC auto settings for .030 and 1/8” material is 19.7 volts and 350 wire speed!!
Weld.guru says to set your machine to 17-19v and 170-215 wire speed. WTH??

My sample welds using the auto settings were very hot. I’ll go to manual and make the appropriate changes.
See what happens.

How are you setting up your machine for .030 and 1/8 material?

Hope you are set for DCEN

 

[NCjeeper]

Did you reverse the leads Jeff?

 

[FOMOGO]

Yup, positive ground, or no bueno. Mike

 

[C-Bag]

I went flux core decades ago and even though I have a CO2 bottle I’ve never used it. Yeah flux core is not as clean as CO2 so it takes a little clean up. But way less than stick. I have used it for everything and it’s never let me down. I get good strong welds and never have to mess with filling bottles, running out of gas etc. My Lincoln 175T is 25yrs and never have used CO2. Probably never will with the new flux core wire now.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

I need to weld in the field. No problem, I’ll just buy some flux core wire.
Went on Amazon and ordered some .030 wire. Come to find out they make dozens of different flux core wire products.
I think I got lucky, I ended up with Lincoln Innershield NR 211 MP. This is for sheet metal and thin plate. I’m welding 1/8” tubing, should be fine.

Here is what gets confusing. I did some practice welds and boy howdy, what a difference between gas shielded and flux core.

My Miller 220 AC-DC auto settings for .030 and 1/8” material is 19.7 volts and 350 wire speed!!
Weld.guru says to set your machine to 17-19v and 170-215 wire speed. WTH??

My sample welds using the auto settings were very hot. I’ll go to manual and make the appropriate changes.
See what happens.

How are you setting up your machine for .030 and 1/8 material?

My 110v Lincoln Mig has settings in the lid for different wire metals and thicknesses, I usually start there and burn a test piece to adjust before striking an arc on my project.

Just a note, I like welding with gas; but, if a material is a dirty material that is difficult at best and impossible at worse to clean up / knock a coating off of completely I have found Flux Core to be the best alternative.

Now, if I need to weld heavy material I'll break out my Lincoln tomb stone (220 Amp AC), I have rods and I ain't afraid to use them.

 

[GeneT45]

I went flux core decades ago and even though I have a CO2 bottle I’ve never used it. Yeah flux core is not as clean as CO2 so it takes a little clean up. But way less than stick. I have used it for everything and it’s never let me down. I get good strong welds and never have to mess with filling bottles, running out of gas etc. My Lincoln 175T is 25yrs and never have used CO2. Probably never will with the new flux core wire now.

I am quite the opposite. I started with flux core and eventually converted to mig, and I've never looked back. The fumes and mess from FCAW are now untenable to me, and I've never seen an advantage (other than portability, which doesn't matter much to me) to FCAW over SMAW.

Don't sweat the theoretical differences - watch the puddle and it'll tell you everything you need to know. I made only small adjustments switching from flux to gas, and probably compensated mostly by speed. Burn hotter - move faster, etc.

GsT

 

[Janderso]

Not to worry.
I have a Miller 220 AC-DC Tig, mig and stick.
You dial in flux core and it automatically changes polarity. How slick is that!!

With the little testing I did, 17.5v and 220wfs were adequate for attaching the mounting base to the 2x2 post and attaching the frame to the existing post. I did clean the rust off the old post with a flap disc. This fence is rock solid!

Yep, flux core and gas shielded mig are two different animals

 

[Janderso]

I went flux core decades ago and even though I have a CO2 bottle I’ve never used it. Yeah flux core is not as clean as CO2 so it takes a little clean up. But way less than stick. I have used it for everything and it’s never let me down. I get good strong welds and never have to mess with filling bottles, running out of gas etc. My Lincoln 175T is 25yrs and never have used CO2. Probably never will with the new flux core wire now.

I must admit, plugging in my welder, attaching the ground and pulling the trigger was pretty slick.
When I got back to the shop, I changed the roll back to gas mig wire but forgot to hook up the gas. The weld looked kind of poopy, I knew what I did immediately.

 

[DavidR8]

Looks great Jeff!