some pics of my mig welds with a arcmate 205

[SICFabrications]

one pic is of some 1 x 1 16 ga square tube and the other is a 5/16 fillet... both were continuous (was not using the "trigger bump" method

[tomsign]

consistent as all the welds I seen on here of yours

[KHK]

Looking good, thanks for sharing!!!

[tigqk]

Last picture looks like you went wrong there, to fast and did not see the weld area?did not prep very well either on this one Stan, seems like your into making a consistent stacked bead look, I prefer my mig welds to be smooth as I can get them and I like to push with fair heat.
I have reservations about this type of bead getting good penetration, what do you think?

[SICFabrications]

i dont have any problems with getting penetration with the stacked bead on mig... then again, mig wont penetrate like fcaw or smaw will anyway (its why the AWS wont allow gmaw on bridge parts) the last picture was 1 inch square tubing and i'm not seeing how i was off.... the other 3 pics are of the same weld bead... into a piece of angle...

had the machine set to 24 volts and approx 380 ipm wire speed.... with an inductance meter across the ground strap, the machine was pushing out between 205 and 211 amps on that weld, which is more than code requirements from the aws. if you want, i can cut a cross section out and dye them for grain structure?

[wellis77]

Very nice Stan. Gives me something to shoot for on my 205. What sort of motion are you using to get stacked bead look mig? Your settings of 24 and 380, is that a pretty good beginning setup for 1/8" thick material? Another question, my wire speed gauge actually displays negative numbers for settings that are low, is yours the same way? I asked Longevity about this and they said that is "normal" but I have a hard time buying that. I can't pic just a 380 ipm with my machine. Come to think of it, and check my email from longevity "help", they never addressed this concern and now I'm more concerned after some of the other service related posts lately... Any thoughts?

[SICFabrications]

nah, its the same as mine, dood.... is all good, i use meters and gauges designed to check these things for code work... lemme get back to the shop this a.m. and check the numbers and give you a relative scale

[ISKI]

Stan, nice looking welds especially going around the edge of the rectangle.

Will, my Miller 250 never gave the right numbers either. I always adjusted the feed and the current to where it worked well, and would go up and down depending upon the results. I was using the machine for auto body work mainly, and it was partly a feel thing as much as a science thing. The only real issue I had is that the wire would jam up a lot more often than I liked.

[wellis77]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback. I'm still a newb to welding but I'm very happy with the machine overall. I had a very experienced guy working with me over the holidays and he as well was impressed with the machine. I'm hoping to pick up a tig later this year and looking forward to him teaching me about tig and learning to use it. I appreciate all the help fellas!

[gilly]

I wish you lived closer to me or vise versa Stan.I would love to take some welding lessons from you.I just bought a miller sync 250 DX and i'll probably have to sign up in a welding class to learn how to use it.Those are some nice welds you made from the longevity machine.You have a good steady hand and it shows in your skills.