What gas?

[Aggie007]

I have been welding with a HH135 for 2yrs now with flux and finally growing out of it. I have used this machine and a Miller 250 tig (water cooled torch and foot pedal, talk about being spoiled), but the Miller is not mine and I cannot afford one right now. I am leaning on purchasing a HH210, so I can weld steel, stainless and a thin aluminum. I weld mostly steel, but I make a lot of bracketry from stainless and aluminum. Can I get away with only one or two bottles and what mixtures do I need? What wire do you use for stainless with a mig?

[tigster]

hey there. you'll be best with C25 (75% argon, 25% CO2) for the steel, straight argon for the aluminum. don't know about the stainless. hope this helps.

[Some Creep]

Click the 'e-Learning' tab at the top of the page and check out the mig section. It explains gasses and wires and amperages and all kinds of stuff for various metals. Good stuff in there!

[hankj]

007,

C-25 will work for MS and stainless. Tri-mix is the "darling" SS gas, but I never bought any, and SS welds fine with C-25 as far as I'm concerned.

For SS, you use SS wire! Either 308, 309, or 316, depending on what you're welding. 308 is all I have, but I don't do much SS.

You'll need 100% Argon for the aluminim, though.

[Aggie007]

My friend uses Argon for stainless, aluminum and steel with his tig, I didn't know if it was the same for Mig or why the difference, and I don't want to buy three different bottles when welding one or the other.

LOL of the SS wire for SS, figured that much, just thought there was more specifics on what is most used etc.

[SundownIII]

Aggie,

I would recommend the use of C25 (75%Argon/25%CO2) for GMAW (short circuit) steel. A lot of people use straight CO2, which can be cheaper, but I've gotten better results with C25.

Straight Argon should be used for aluminum.

A 98/02 mix (Argon/Oxygen) is recommended for Stainless. As mentioned, C25 can be used, but the introduction of Carbon (CO2) into the weld will reduce the benefit of using stainless in the first place (think carbon steel--rust). Straight Argon requires additional amps to wet out the puddle--the Oxygen seems to add a little "heat".

Just my .02

[hankj]

The difference between TIG and MIG is that, in the GTAW process, the elctrode is not consumed. All that is needed is the exclusion of atmospheric gases from the weld area by a covering of an inert gas. The arc heat causes the base metals and filler, when added, to fuse.

In GMAW, the electrode is consumed, and becomes the filler as well. Atmospheric gases are still excluded, but due to the chemical makeup of the electrode wire, a reactive gas is needed to maintin the balance of the weld metalurgy. 100% CO² is totally acceptable for GMAW.

Hope that made sense.

Also, you can MIG weld stainless with mild steel filler, and vice versa. The mild steel welded stainless will not be rustproof in the weld joint, but oherwise it will be fine.

Hank

[Brianstick]

To answer your question: tri mix is first choice and straight argon is second choice with ss.

[Aggie007]

Sounds like I can get away with a bottle of C25 for steel and a bottle of 100% Argon for stainless and aluminum.

Thanks for the help.

Hankj, how do you compare the Miller and the Hobart, which do you like better?

[Dan]

Sounds like I can get away with a bottle of C25 for steel and a bottle of 100% Argon for stainless and aluminum.

Thanks for the help.

Hankj, how do you compare the Miller and the Hobart, which do you like better?

argon won't work worth a darn on SS. The weld puddle wet out would be very sluggish. anything beyond thin sheet, lack of fusion issues would be a definite problem.

Compared to tri-mix, the arc characteristics of C-25 suck on SS. However, for single pass ss applications the C-25 is a far better choice then argon.

[hankj]

...Hankj, how do you compare the Miller and the Hobart, which do you like better?

The HH210 has a softer arc and is light enough to throw in the truck and run of a genny.

The MM210 is an industrial rated machine, and can weld all day if needed.

There's no real answer to your question. The two machines are not the same. The duty cycle on the Miller is higher.

I like them both, but for different reasons.

Hank

[tigster]

aggie007, FWIW, i recently purchased a MM 212. i like it. a lot. never used a hobart, so i don't have a basis for comparison. the miller has a higher duty cycle, is spoolgun ready, and has running gear installed.

[hankj]

aggie007, ....is spoolgun ready.

The HH210 is also spoolgun ready. It takes a DP3035 spoolgun. The difference is that the DP-version is a total replacement for the MIG gun, rather than a "plung n' play" arrangement like the MM210/212.

Hank