[jevchance]

Hi everyone,

I'm sort of at my wits end with this welder. I've been watching Jody's videos for a long time, and I was checking out his web site to see if I could get some advice and it led me here.

I have a roughly 2007 Craftsman 120V MIG welder. The model number is 196.205690, made in Italy I think by a different welding company (Century possibly?)

I'm using it for my 1966 Mustang restoration project.

I'm having a lot of difficulty with the welder. It seems like the welder just doesn't get hot enough to get that nice bacon sizzling sound you should hear with a good weld. It works, as in it creates arc, but it sputters, it blows through, and it doesn't penetrate well. My test panel is 20 gauge sheet steel.

I had my friend, who is a much better welder than I, come over and test it out and he thinks there's definitely something wrong with the machine.

I put together this video that shows some welding attempts, and some of my troubleshooting which included:

• Fresh spool of Hobart .24 wire
• Verified polarity for gas
• New .6 contact tip
• Checked for a solid ground
• Tested continuity between contact tip and nozzle

If anyone has any constructive thoughts, I would be happy to hear them. I realize a new welder is probably in my future, but I would like to at least fix this one so I can sell it if nothing else. Thanks.

[noddybrian]

I'm sort of confused by your question as you state your experiencing " blow through & lack of penetration " - if you have blow through then you have 100% penetration - I don't see anything really wrong from the video either - just you clearly have nowhere near enough wire speed for the voltage ( or way too much voltage for the wire speed depending on your point of view ) - I'm not familiar with that model as it's not sold here but appears to be a smallish unit so likely does'nt have many voltage tappings - either keep increasing wire speed till it gets in the ball park or drop the voltage - I would think probably both as 20gauge is pretty thin - if you know anyone that can weld invite them over with the promise of beer / pizza / BBQ or something & get them to set it for you - I think once you hear it set correctly it will make sense - on a side note I realize the video was just for demonstration purposes but please think about protection from UV & hot metal !
PS good luck on the restoration - nice car when finished.

[jevchance]

I'm sort of confused by your question as you state your experiencing " blow through & lack of penetration " - if you have blow through then you have 100% penetration - I don't see anything really wrong from the video either - just you clearly have nowhere near enough wire speed for the voltage ( or way too much voltage for the wire speed depending on your point of view ) - I'm not familiar with that model as it's not sold here but appears to be a smallish unit so likely does'nt have many voltage tappings - either keep increasing wire speed till it gets in the ball park or drop the voltage - I would think probably both as 20gauge is pretty thin - if you know anyone that can weld invite them over with the promise of beer / pizza / BBQ or something & get them to set it for you - I think once you hear it set correctly it will make sense - on a side note I realize the video was just for demonstration purposes but please think about protection from UV & hot metal !
PS good luck on the restoration - nice car when finished.

The problem is its mostly feast or famine. I'm either blowing through, or not penetrating. I did have a welder over the other night, and he confirmed that it isn't acting right. I moved the welder to someplace close to the panel without an extension cord and it was a bit better. I think I might be experiencing voltage drop. And yes sorry it was meant to be a quick demo so I didn't have my safety gear on.

[DLewis0289]

Yes if you are running it on a 50ft 18AWG extension cord, don't. Don't mess with the light stuff until you can get that thing to make a decent spot. You can always creep backwards to dial it down. Get a piece of 1/8 or 3/16 angle and use your DVM to set it at around 22 volts. You can use the Miller app to get feed need and do the six second thing or.......keep adjusting wire speed until you get the same stick out on stop that you had on start. Use a pair of dikes as a guide against the nozzle and what ever that stick out is...around 1/4"-3/8" make a nice spot weld and when you stop look at your stick out. shorter go faster, longer go slower.

[MinnesotaDave]

What made you decide that the highest voltage setting would be correct?
What does the door chart recommend for that thickness of metal?

Wire feed speed and voltage are a balance.
Wire speed is your amperage, then you just need enough voltage to make it weld correctly at that wire speed.

The hissing I heard indicated you were running too high of voltage for the wire feed speed - not balanced.

[Artie F. Emm]

Using Jody's settings chart, here:
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/Mig ... -tips.html

...for 20 gauge steel using .023 wire:
20 gauge = .0375"
1 amp per thousandth: multiply by 1000
.0375 x 1000 = 37.5
Wire feed factor: 3.5
37.5 x 3.7 = 131.25

So your desired wire speed is about 130 inches per minute. Since your machine has a knob with graduations but no direct reference to IPM, turn the machine on, pull the trigger, and count 6 seconds. Measure the wire that came out: you're looking for a setting on that knob that will produce 130/10=13 inches of wire. This may take some experimentation, and rather than waste the wire you can disengage the drive rolls and manually retract the wire in between experiments. (Might be an idea to note the results of each graduation on that knob so you have the information for future projects.)

When you get IPM sorted out, adjust voltage until you get the frying bacon sound.

Just because no one has yet asked: what kind of shielding gas do you have?

[Tommy2069]

that extention cord in your video is not gonna work.i have a 140 amp mig and it will only run good off a heavy duty cord. im not an electrician but the cord i use is about 4/3 in diameter that little cord you got is gonna make that machine burn cold /hot . its gonna be all over the place.with sheet metal i run my box on the second to highest setting and it burns fine .i run .023 wire with 75/25 gas. try plugging the machine directly into the outlet and see how it welds.i might have missed it but are you running 75/25 or straight argon. is your useing straight argon i suggest you switch to 75/25 . the best way to set the machine is set the amps then get a test plate put your hand on the wirespeed knob and start welding turn the knob up or down while your welding and listen for that nice bacon sound or to some people it sounds like bumble bees. but again you really need to get a heavy duty cord before you even atemp to set the machine or weld with it.

[yamahablue]

I'm pretty sure he has a video showing it plugged directly into the wall. The factory cord on a welder is something like a 12/3, maybe 10/3, even on a 220v machine. 4/3 is way way over kill and expensive, especially for 110 unit. For making an extension cord that's not crazy long, 8/3 would be more than sufficient.

Not sure how it differs from mig but my friend has an arc welder, 220v, that he runs off a 100' 10g extension cord without issues.

that extention cord in your video is not gonna work.i have a 140 amp mig and it will only run good off a heavy duty cord. im not an electrician but the cord i use is about 4/3 in diameter that little cord you got is gonna make that machine burn cold /hot . its gonna be all over the place.with sheet metal i run my box on the second to highest setting and it burns fine .i run .023 wire with 75/25 gas. try plugging the machine directly into the outlet and see how it welds.i might have missed it but are you running 75/25 or straight argon. is your useing straight argon i suggest you switch to 75/25 . the best way to set the machine is set the amps then get a test plate put your hand on the wirespeed knob and start welding turn the knob up or down while your welding and listen for that nice bacon sound or to some people it sounds like bumble bees. but again you really need to get a heavy duty cord before you even atemp to set the machine or weld with it.