Trouble with plug welds

Lizer said:
Clipping the wire each time is something I have been doing, but making sure it's centered in the hole is something I've been failing at badly despite my best efforts, due to visibility and contorting.
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Looks like Don has the solution for you.
 
orangejuiced86 said:
Embarrassing story.....years ago(2011ish) I bought my 110v Lincoln welder, never really welded thin sheet metal before. I brought the machine home, got some gas and went to town. Anyways it always welded like complete shit, well compared to what I saw in my youtube certification classes anyways. I just chalked it up as a junk Lowes welder.., never really used it much other than shaving engine bay holes and what not. It wasn't until like 2019 that I opened the mig machine to clean it out and noticed that the leads were hooked up backwards. It was initially setup for flux core.
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That was a very diplomatic was to tell Lizer to make sure the polarity is set correctly.
 
shine said:
ditch the helmet and make you a muffler paddle to weld under stuff like that. put a cheap mini led flashlight on the welding gun or have a good flood light under it so you can see the work while welding..
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I might try taping a light to the welder. I have my DeWalt spotlight under the bed which is nice because it's easy to aim, but inevitably my arms or hands block the light when I go to weld. I do have a muffler paddle as well I will try.
 
Ok I'll ask the stupid question, is a muffler paddle anything like a muffler bearing? Never heard of it before.
 
orangejuiced86 said:
Embarrassing story.....years ago(2011ish) I bought my 110v Lincoln welder, never really welded thin sheet metal before. I brought the machine home, got some gas and went to town. Anyways it always welded like complete shit, well compared to what I saw in my youtube certification classes anyways. I just chalked it up as a junk Lowes welder.., never really used it much other than shaving engine bay holes and what not. It wasn't until like 2019 that I opened the mig machine to clean it out and noticed that the leads were hooked up backwards. It was initially setup for flux core.
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Last time I opened the side of my mig, there was a 3 ft long snake skin in there.
 
Lizer said:
I've been using my welder for 12 or 13 years and it works great, so don't think that's my issue.
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Right on..I was just sharing my story. Sometimes people reading these threads are trying to resolve their own issues. Surprisingly enough it welded "ok" like that, just the puddle wasn't melting in like I had watched on all the youtube pros, anything I welded would just stack up.
 
Lighting has always been my nemesis welding. That and Reader glasses. :( I'm nearsighted and wear contacts which screws my up close vision. So I use glasses for 1 or the other and prefer the readers option.
Try some 0.030 wire also. More filler for the hole with the additional heat.
 
Yesterday, I spot welded the left side of my trunk area, where the quarter panel adjoins, after adjusting to get it straight.
I experimented with Chris's suggestion of lowering the wire speed.
First spot weld I tried was horizontal and it did sizzle like a proper weld but still overfilled the hole. (something I am real good at. lol)
So I lowered the wire speed a little more on the next one and this time I burned through the metal.
This lead to lowering the heat just a tad and then more adjustments on the wire speed. Eventually I got two or three good spot welds.
Then it was time for the vertical welds. They actually went better than I thought.

I will keep working at this as it does seem that I was using way too much wire speed and thus having to grind excessively to get the welds flush.
 
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One thing I've noticed over the years is some machines do better plug welds than others. Snap On made a Mig that did great flat plug welds. And as someone suggested .030 wire works better than .023-.025
 
Yeah we use .023" as well. Just seems to be easier to fine tune on sheet metal, especially the really thin stuff.
 
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