MIG Wire Feed Speed Calibration

[Snort]

I've never been properly schooled in welding and mostly made do with my own DIY experimentation. I have a consumer grade Campbell Hausfeld 110V MIG welder and I'm wondering if the wire feed speed is just too fast for lower amperage thin metal work. It seems as though even if I put the wire speed at zero and make short bursts of 1 second or less I get excessive buildup. Is there any way I can test my wire feed speed in terms of inches per minute or any other standard so that I can tell if my machine is anywhere close to normal wire feed speeds?

[theKbStockpiler]

If the wire is not stubbing into the puddle ,it's not too fast.

Are you using .025ish wire?

You're probably trying to weld thicker metal then the machine is capable of or set up to do and hence moving the nozzle WAY too slow. What happens if you move faster, do you get a thin bead that will hardly puddle?
_________________
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Use all safety devices including a mask.

[Snort]

I'm using .030 flux core. I'm not sticking the wire into the puddle so that part checks and it seems fine with thick metal so I don't think I'm welding above the machine's power rating. With lots of nozzle movement on thicker metal it seems to work better but I'm still running the wire speed at about 0.5 when working on larger gauge. Maybe I'm just exceeding the limits of the flux core size of wire? The problems come when I'm trying to butt weld small gauge sheet metal so I have to make short bursts to keep the sheet metal from heating up and burning through.

[theKbStockpiler]

You can't lay a continuous bead with flux core on anything thinner than 20 gauge with a lap weld so a butt weld is obviously out of the question. Maybe 18 gauge butt seams are possible with a perfect(zero light visible through)seam. You can do a series of spot welds with flux but it looks like crap. It will work though.

Unless you like a challenge I would use .025 with gas shield. In a pinch or if I'm welding up a sh.t box ,I use flux but not for something I'm restoring.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1337572

In the red area ,I wanted to try to leave a bead. If I wanted the bead flatter ,I would start the arc closer to the raw metal and away from the top of the preceding spot weld. If you start the next spot weld on more of the last one, it's like cooling down the puddle. If you don't overlap the spot welds as much,it welds hotter. That's how I control it because it is more reliable then trying to fine tune the welder or other techniques.

The issues with flux core are 4fold. The wire is mostly flux so you are not adding as much metal to the pool and cooling it down as with solid core, it's globular transfer (not short circuit "MIG") ,and flux core has much more "Arc Force". Arc Force is what makes the crater which makes it easier to blow holes. With the polarity of Flux Core, the nozzle tip stays cooler but heats up the metal,just the thing you don't want with thin metal.
_________________
My beetle is not competing with your beetle. I have the yellow beetle in my town. There is a red one, a green one ......
Use all safety devices including a mask.

[Snort]

Thanks for your advice.