TC602

Can you mig weld upsidedown or is the gas lighter than air afloats away leaving a poor weld?

robsgta

Yes you can mig weld upside down.
The pressure is adjustable via your regulator.
A problem you might face is if your doing this out side and its very windy, then you would have to crank your pressure up really high.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

I prefer flux core, but year, just give it a little extra gas flow and you'll be fine

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

I use flux core and mig welded upside down, while I fixed my floor pans. No problems at all. Just be carefull.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

yeah, it sucks whenever you get hot metal dripping on your bare arms...oh, yeah, where fire resistant full length sleeves.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

try getting one of those red hot metal goobers inside your shirt in your armpit... it's worse then getting one in a shoe...

robsgta

WARNING !!!

If you are welding over head wearing ear plugs will be a great idea, getting a few spatters(SLAG) dancing around inside your ears is the worst feeling, you have to immediately lean over so it runs out your ear away from your ear drum.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

yep, been there too! i dropped a filler rod onto my neck while TIGing over head once...i still got a 4" long scar on my neck from that, though i suspect it'll go away after a while...it wasn't that bad, it just scared the **** outta me.

1983sc

iTrader: (6)

I had a piece of slag catch on my lip once and man did that burn, left a good little bister on my lip for about 3 days

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

Humm some good tips, going to be welding over head tonight. Taking the night off to weld on my sub frame connectors for tomorrow's track day.

BRobinson

Practice on some crap first!

I would set your machine at about 16.6 to 17 volts, wire speed 205 inches/min. (I do this stuff all day long, and have the scars to prove it)
And unless you like the smell of burning hair, put a bandana on under your helmet.

My worst weld burn took a month to heal. I got a huge chunk of molten metal caught in the folds of my canvas sleeves, right over the inside of my elbow. It burned straight through, and by the time I yanked the sleeve off, I had a pencil eraser sized, 1/8 inch deep hole in my arm.

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

eeeeeeeewwwwwwwww lol worst I've had so far is a hot wire through the tip of my finger. Went to sweep it away, with those heavy leather gloves mind you, and it went right through.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

heh, I have a whole series of socks that have lots of little holes through the top of them from goobers that burned through the top of a shoe and into them… as long as it’s not a really bad one you usually can’t get the shoe off faster then when it stops mattering, I think I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t notice it anymore since I have a lot more holes in socks and shoes then I remember having burns.

Pocket

iTrader: (24)

Got tons of shirts and socks that are covered in tiny holes too

Worst I had was a piece of redhot flux I was chipping off caught me on the lip

It ended up burning completely thru my lip

Moral of the story - welding gloves dont taste good and wear a full face shield when chipping hot stuff

I could fit the ink canitsters from cheap pens thru the hole no problem

Took 3 months to heal

BRobinson

Had a new one today. welding a doorframe into a steel enclosure (kinda like a shed) and the corner got just a tad too hot, and burned through, dropping huge chunk of molten steel onto the top of my shoe. It caught fire. So I had to stomp the hot metal into the top of my foot to keep from having a massive hole in the top of my shoe.

I'm glad it's the weekend.

Larry Dunlap

Is mig welding better than TIG Welding? What type and size machines to you guys use. I want to get one a learn but Im a bit lost.

Looks Like Tig Welders are more expensive

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

They’re different.

MIG is easier to just pick up and do, but it’s also more difficult to REALLY do correctly. TIG gives you more control of heat and filler, MIG is much cheaper and MUCH (like on the scale of 5-20x) faster depending on what you’re doing. Both can be done much better sitting at a welding table, but there are just some things that are next to impossible with a TIG that can be done easily with a MIG (ex: exhaust and subframe connectors… yea you can lay on the floor with the TIG pedal between your knees like a thighmaster and sort of get it done if you have someone else positioning or a lot of clamps… or you could just zip it up with a MIG…)

It’s really, REALLY nice to have a TIG welder, but even with the best TIG I still wouldn’t want to be caught dead on most stuff that I weld without a MIG.

robsgta

Tig lays down the cleanest welds and requires technique and skill. (there are Miller tig welders that you can adjust the amperage and gas flow and just start welding at a set amperage with out the use of a pedal just the **** on the torch ) Tig = cleaner welds, sheet metal, thin tubing, precision welds, you can also lay thick beads with this as well.
Mig = easy to use, makes filling holes or gaps a breeze, subframes,mufflers, joining of heavy metal, axle brackets etc etc.

BRobinson

There are thumb/finger switches for TIG, so you don't have to position youself weird while doing anything other than waist level stuff.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

i went through that like 2 years ago. i bought a diy book that has the different types of welding and what you can do. i think for the car hobbie DIYer with a budget the mig is the way to go. so i went to the welding store and got a hobart 180(mig). the salesman actualy helped me too. i was going to buy the lincoln 175 for extra money but he said the extras it had i wouldnt use and i think he was right. now im glad i went the way i did i can weld small to pretty big with this and im starting to get pretty good at it. i dont use it very much but when you need, it you need it.

Rob Wade

Try swallowing slag! You'll feel it all the way down to your stomach. Cutting off a muffler clamp. The molten piece fell, hit the hoist, splattered, and me, the dumb *** with his mouth open, swallowed it. NOT a pleasant feeling, I can assure you. My advice......keep your freegin mouth closed!