The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Overhead welding with Mig

I have been attempting to weld heavy steel overhead with a Lincoln 255c mig welder and am not getting results that satisfy me. The adjustments on this welder are very fine which is great, but I don't know or have the experience with this particular welder on where my voltage and wire speed should be.

I have been told in the past that using a mig for overhead welding is not recommended, but I don't have a choice. This is a work related project.
I thank-you for any info that you can pass along.

Brian

I use Miller welders. There's nothing wrong with Lincoln. Kind of like some people driving a Ford and some a Chev. On welding heavy stuff with wire, I can get better penetration with flux wire. I have a wire feed attachment on a 440 and I use nothing but flux wire in it. But like anything else. If in doubt, I get two pieces of scrap similar I'm going to weld and play with it until I get the heat and wire speed right. My personal theory is, the thinner the metal, the more you need mig instead of stick or flux wire.

The weld on a MIG weld freezes quickly but you can make a few adjustments to make your life easier. You can drop your voltage a little and that might help. Just be sure not to go too far because weld appearance and penetration will suffer. If you are using shielding gas, look at the end of the wire when you complete a weld. If there is a little ball on the end of the wire consistantly, your voltage is too high. Increase your wire speed slightly or decrease weld voltage until the ball dissappears. I usually favor increasing wire speed when possible except when you are burning though thin materials easily. BTW, if you are welding on clean iron and your welder is set properly, there will be VERY little spatter.

I prefer to maintain a close stick-out distance and keep my weld speed up. It is easy to go to slow with a MIG and if you do your puddle will be too fluid and will fall out easily. Particularly with thicker metals (3/8"+) you would be better served using multiple passes. Go to www.AWS.org - there is a wealth of welding info on that site. Also check out a book written by Ed Craig called MIG Welding Parameters--it is the best book I have seen regarding MIG welding.

Thank-you for the tips, they helped a lot today. I still have a ways to go to get it just right, but it was a heck of a lot better than yesterday.
The material is thick and my welds are all inside corner welds. I am using gas and I turned the voltage down to 19 volts and the wire speed was 230. All of my pieces were ground clean prior to welding. There was no spatter but the finished bead had a somewhat high ridge to it. I will just have to keep working at it.
Thanks again.

Brian

One other thing to think about for overhead welding. $@#% does happen. I always put a piece of wide duct tape over my ear if I have to be positioned underneath. I saw an old welder years ago that always welded with quarters in his ears.

Ear plugs will work, too. A welders hat will help, also.

Turn the piece over? Obviously not always an option...

At least I have that option on my truck frame. I'm going to get out my cherry picker and turn it over to do the underneath crossmember welds.

I don't think much of my upside down welding...

oh man i can't tell you how many times i have had a spark fly in my ear or mouth. you just have to keep it moving so it doesn't stay in one place too long. hahaha

Well fellows just wait till you have one go in your ear and spit it out your mouth! Or better yet have one go down your chest and into your shorts and roll off you know and than land on the bottom of your shorts between the two you know whats! Now I know how they got the name Dingle-Berries! What was really bad was I had just gotten married the week before and my tender skin took a long time to heal!
Don
62Blue

Ear plugs, leathers, proper gloves, etc.

Holy crap Don, your story had me doubled over and in tears with laughter, especially when I was reading it out loud to my wife. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Oh by the way, at the time of your misfortune, it probably wasn't a laughing matter.

Brian