I'm in the process of buy a wire feed welder.........What kind of sheild gas do you use and why......I prefer Co2 but most people like the Co2 argon mix.....Just would like to know why you prefer what you use:flipoff2:

I have done both, the 75 25 argon co2 is a cleaner weld than the pure co2

Depdog

defnitely mix

Yeah, but straight CO2 can run the kegerator too. :flipoff2:

CO2 sucks! 75/25 give a lot nicer weld. There is no reason not to use 75/25!! Keep the CO2 for filling up your tires:flipoff2::D

What kind of welding experence do you guys have????????and what's so bad about co2:flipoff2:

straight c02 will give a hotter, better penatrating weld. but i use 75/25 and turn up my machine if i need more heat. the co2 will be a bit more smoky when welding with it than the mix. but i still say 75/25. just my 2 cents mike

no welding experience... :flipoff2:

...but I purchased my Miller 185 directly thru the Miller Product Manager for their Mig welder line and he said run the mix gas. Considering he flies around the WORLD to demonstrate their Mig welder line, I felt his recommendation was worthwhile...

Originally posted by gunracer1
straight c02 will give a hotter, better penatrating weld. but i use 75/25 and turn up my machine if i need more heat. the co2 will be a bit more smoky when welding with it than the mix. but i still say 75/25. just my 2 cents mike

exactly, run CO2 if you have a penner 135 amp welder to make it hotter

75/25 can't be beat if you have a decent machine

First off don't belive everything a sales tells you. Co2 is considerable cheaper and easier to find on none businness days. Try them both and form your own opinion.

Originally posted by Cryslr
First off don't belive everything a sales tells you. Co2 is considerable cheaper and easier to find on none businness days. Try them both and form your own opinion.


YEP TRY BOTH........I SWITCHED OVER TO CO2 AND LIKE IT .....TO ME IT DOESNT SEEM TO SPATTER AS MUCH......ITS A LOT CHEAPER TOO.

TRY BOTH. THE ADAPTER IS ABOUT 10 BUX TO RUN CO2.

i run co2 just cause it's that much cheaper, and the smoke and spatter isn't all that bad.

A few years ago when I was looking to buy a welder I visited several weld shopos and ask the welders for their recomendations on MIG welders.. The opinions varied but they all agreed that Argon and argon mix both gave better looking welds and would work for hobbiest.. CO2 was cheaper and kept their overhead cost down therefore keeping their prices down and profits up..
Personally I use straight Argon but that is mostly because I weld on several different materials(carbon steel-aluminum-stainless steel ).. My welder is a miller 185

Originally posted by woody
no welding experience... :flipoff2:

...but I purchased my Miller 185 directly thru the Miller Product Manager for their Mig welder line and he said run the mix gas. Considering he flies around the WORLD to demonstrate their Mig welder line, I felt his recommendation was worthwhile...

10 years welding experience

I talked to the guys at norco and they told me that all the wire manufactors use Co2 when testing there wires.........What's that tell you:flipoff2:

Originally posted by 71RCKCRZR RYAN



YEP TRY BOTH........I SWITCHED OVER TO CO2 AND LIKE IT .....TO ME IT DOESNT SEEM TO SPATTER AS MUCH......ITS A LOT CHEAPER TOO.

TRY BOTH. THE ADAPTER IS ABOUT 10 BUX TO RUN CO2.

I agree with you totaly..........I have tried both and Co2 is my choice by far.............and the funny thing about most people prefer mix gas.......but when I was in collage for welding all we used was Co2....and I got all my AWS welding certs using Co2.............Then I went to work for a fab shop and all we used was 75/25 mixed gas.........I worked there for 6 years and I still prefer Co2:D

i like 75 argon 25 co2 best.. we used straight co2 in class too.. just cause it's cheaper..

neither will hurt the weld so try both and use what you like. if you ware welding all kinds of metal like hy_desert then argon would be the way to go. but otherwise pure argon would be a little pricey for ordinary mild steel MIG work. I use argon at work but that's all aluminum TIG. from my experience the bluesheild gas we use at work does a pretty good job. I can't remember what it consists of since I have never used it prior to employment but I will check out what's in it tomorrow, anyways.............adding my .02 to the pot

-Scott

75/25 for carbon steel tri mix for stainless and argon for aluminum and tig.

Thats what i use and what we use at work. We are Millwrights
We don't care about the cost normally because we get a lot of T&M jobs ( time and material) we have found that if you use tri-mix for carbon steel the weld looks worse and the same from stainless if you use just 75/25 the weld will not be shinny either.

I prefer plain co2.

Wes

How much is C02? I pay 18$ to refill a 125 cu ft 75/25.

I have a Miller Training manual with pics and tons of info. The welds shown with 75/25 definite look better than Co2.

High points:

Co2

Deeper penetration, less stable arc transfer, sometimes increased sparks and splatter, requires deoxidizing wire or you can get porosity, not as good for out of position welding, harder to weld < 1/8" metal, cheaper.

Ar/CO2

"In some cases reduce splatter, good weld appearance and good mechanical properties are called for in a weld. When this is the case, it may benefit a welder to change from a CO2 gas shield to an Argon base mixture......"