just bought a welder, a few questions
 

well i finally put down some money for a lincoln electric 3200 hd. i put everything together and started welding, i'd say im pretty good for a beginner. but i am getting a whole lot of splatter(FCAW), the welder came with everything to do mig welding except for a tank. is it worth it to put down another 70 or so bucks for a tank, and what gas should i use(jc whitney pipes)?


another question, is 135 amps good enough for 304 stainless?

one more, i am getting sick of this handheld mask, what helmets are good for under $100?

Re:just bought a welder, a few questions
 

i got my lincoln electric autodark mask at lowes last month for $99.99

Re:just bought a welder, a few questions
 

for the mig you should use co2 gas, its really worth it other wise the nossel gets all cloged up and the welds get dirty and ----, the co2 blows the slag away as your welding for a nice clean good strong weld.

Re:just bought a welder, a few questions
 

I think I use 75% CO2 and 25% argon, but I don't remember. Its whatever's standard at the store. Also if you don't have a tank you should be welding with flux cored wire in which case you might have some sort of funky setting. I know on mine theres a swith you have to flip for flux cored that reverses polarity but its also a DC powered spool gun. As for weather its worth it or not, I would recomend gas 100%. You will be so much happier with your welds. There will be hardley any splatter and they will look much cleaner. Also for welding stainless with a MIG you might have to get a special wire or shielding gas or both. I've never welded stainless but I belive there is some sort of special process if you want to do it right.

Re:just bought a welder, a few questions
 

well it's a good thing I noticed this thread cause I'm going to save you from the wrong advice.

First off, you're obviously using flux cored wire right now cause if you were using solid wire then your beads would look like a hunk of swiss chease. Slag will develop with flux core wire, gets even worse if you're arc welding with rods.. in the industry we have a special tool called a slag hammer, works great to knock those little stray balls off your finished work.. it's a must to have.

For the best welding experiences you need to be running shielding gas. Yeah co2 does work but to do it up right you need 75 argon/25 co2 and will need a cylinder for the gas to go into. Your local welding supply shop will charge you around $100 for a 20 or 40 cubic foot cylinder, check on ebay and you might score one a lot cheaper.. like around $50 shipped for a 20 cf cylinder. When purchasing a bottle that is meant for argon then your regulator that came with your welder will fit right into it - blam! you're ready to weld. If you want to go with co2 then the tanks will be completely different.. they will measure in pounds (not cubed feet) and will require a different regulator to feed it into your welder. I can go more into differences in shielding gasses if you like.

Yes you can weld stainless I think up to 1/4 inch with that welder (check the manual to be sure). 304 is a mild grade and shouldn't be that hard, not like say... 440. I'm no expert in metalurgy but I believe you should be just find. Remember that you will need to swap out for a different mix of shielding gas when welding stainless (or aluminum if you dare). Shielding gas costs me like around $20 whenever I have to get my 40 cubic foot tank refilled.

That handheld mask is a piece of ----. Look into my avatar to see what I'm running (Mr. Cuddly Face - oh yeah ;) ). Check on ebay for a decent auto darkening one, no ------- way would I go back to a basic style mask ever again; I'm spoiled now. I've seen solar powered (needs no batteries) auto darkening lenses go for around $40 on ebay... just hunt around for it all.

Have any more questions? Just ask.

-ryan