I'm going to be welding in my .120 wall DOM cage and i'd like to know what settings
would allow for the strongest welds, what wire and speed.
this is the welder:
http://content.lincolnelectric.com/pdfs/products/literature/e721.pdf
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/equipmentdatasheet.asp?p=2515
thanks!:beer:

should you be welding a something that could potentially safe your life if done right when you are not sure of this?

anyways....get a practice piece of tub make a joint....see how hot you can run it....preferably hot w/ a bit slower wire so you can shape it right as well see what you are doing and be possitive of good penetration.

Just to follow up on Silly's insight; practice, practice, practice!

Get some scrap pieces, notch 'em up, and burn 'em together all the while holding them in every conceivable "out of position" ... position ... you can think of. Chances are; when you start burnin' the cage, you aren't gonna' have two nice flat pieces lying on a bench that you can manipulate so as to make the welding easier.

FYI, I've had no luck with the same welder welding above the gun (bottom of a notched joint) using thin gauge wire and gas. You may want to try a heavier flux cored wire, crank up the heat, and drop the speed as much as possible.

cm "damn near burned a hole in my foot" k

basically 3 & J are what your looking for, ...make it hot and slow, it it starts melting back off the heat but not the wire.
;)

I kinda disagree with some of these suggestions. Wire speed and voltage sorta come as a matched set when your mig welding. The suggestions here are going to leave a very big nasty bead because of the wire speed, which really isn't neccessary. Open the welders side panel and there should be a list of settings they recommend for a variety of thicknesses. Just find something close to .120 like maybe .125 and see what it says. That is the best route to take if you are unsure of what settings to use. Once you get that baseline weld and see how it does, then you can adjust the wire speed and voltage depending on how it is doing. My Lincoln SP-175 has infinite control of wire speed and voltage where as yours I think has 4 settings for each maybe?

Good luck,
CJ

(Don't want to start an argument, just a different way of doing things I guess).

Set the voltage to setting D and the wire speed somewhere around 6;) That works for me on up to 1/4" and should be about right. I just leave the welder on setting D all the time.

Originally posted by CJ Lagos
I kinda disagree with some of these suggestions. Wire speed and voltage sorta come as a matched set when your mig welding. The suggestions here are going to leave a very big nasty bead because of the wire speed, which really isn't neccessary. Open the welders side panel and there should be a list of settings they recommend for a variety of thicknesses. Just find something close to .120 like maybe .125 and see what it says. That is the best route to take if you are unsure of what settings to use. Once you get that baseline weld and see how it does, then you can adjust the wire speed and voltage depending on how it is doing. My Lincoln SP-175 has infinite control of wire speed and voltage where as yours I think has 4 settings for each maybe?

Good luck,
CJ

(Don't want to start an argument, just a different way of doing things I guess).

my only reasoning for the slow speed (and as hot as it would go and still weld not pin at the tip or burn through) is because of the lack of experience. I recall the days when I had limited control when I was blazing stuff from all different angles. having to do a nice bead upside down at speed can kill an amateur :D:D You definately posted the right way to do it :D

whenever I'm not sure about something like this I'll weld up some similar scrap in whatever position (vertical, overhead, ect....) and figure out some way to break it.

weld up a 90 degree joint and chain it to something and pull it apart with your truck. it's better to find out what "cold lap" means like this that when you tip the rig over.

desertCJ , more then that i'm wondering about the kind of wire... CJ i have 4 voltage settigs but infinite speed,
and i'm wondering if i can do it with .025 or .030 cause the inner sheet recomends flux cored .035 for anything .120 and up. i do have a fair bit of welding experiance but i want to make sure that it penetrates good and if there was another option other then flux, i could just go about welding it together, but like mentioned this is something that could save my life thats my reason for asking.

here are pics of the suggestion page by lincoln, on the inside of the welder,

http://communities.msn.com/TheMINIHummer/weldingprojects.msnw?Page=Last

and i forgot to mention that i am using plain CO2
oh, and .120 wall is equal to 11 gauge.

If you're a relative newcomer to welding, get experience building bumpers, nerfs racks, etc first. Building a cage is serious business. It's intended purpose is to save your a$$ in the event of a roll over. IMO, you're better off spending the $$ to have a pro burn the cage.

If you're hell bent on doing it yourself, it's been said before- practice, practice, practice.

Good luck with your project!

Rubicrawler , if you have a look at my site i've built my own tire carrier and all my skids, with the exception of the Kilby, like i mentioned i do have experiance, i'm just making sure as it is an important project that could save my life.

Originally posted by Sharp
Rubicrawler , if you have a look at my site i've built my own tire carrier and all my skids, with the exception of the Kilby, like i mentioned i do have experiance, i'm just making sure as it is an important project that could save my life.

Notice that I said "If" you are a newcomer. I didn't look at your site and your question wasn't one that a seasoned welder would ask.

Obviously I was wrong :rolleyes: Good luck with your project :)

I've used .030 flux core and .025 with gas. I"m using 75% Argon 25% CO2 but I'm thinking of going to straight CO2 so I can use the bottle for onboard air as well;)

CJ Lagos, any further advice?:beer:

Sharp= you double posted the same question(in gen 4x sec) here, and I responded to it (on pg 3 now) did you read it? Just curious.
weldpro

weldpro i did read it, i posted the same post here and in general chit chat, but it got moved over here so they both landed up here.
thanks:beer: