Equipment for MIG Welding

The MIG process is a versatile welding technique which is suitable for both thin sheet and thick section components. It is capable of high productivity but the quality of welds can be called into question. To achieve satisfactory welds, welders must have a good knowledge of equipment requirements and should also recognise fully the importance of setting up and maintaining component parts correctly.

Essential equipment
In MIG the arc is formed between the end of a small diameter wire electrode fed from a spool, and the workpiece. Main equipment components are: power source wire feed system conduit gun The arc and weldpool are protected from the atmosphere by a gas shield. This enables bare wire to be used without a flu coating !required by MM"#. $owever, the absence of flu to %mop up% surface o ide places greater demand on the welder to ensure that the &oint area is cleaned immediately before welding. This can be done using either a wire brush for relatively clean parts, or a hand grinder to remove rust and scale. The other essential piece of equipment is a wire cutter to trim the end of the electrode wire.

Power source
MIG is operated e clusively with a '( power source. The source is termed a flat, or constant current, characteristic power source, which refers to the voltage)welding current relationship. In MIG, welding current is determined by wire feed speed, and arc length is determined by power source voltage level !open circuit voltage#. *ire burn+off rate is automatically ad&usted for any slight variation in the gun to workpiece distance, wire feed speed, or current pick+up in the contact tip. ,or e ample, if the arc momentarily shortens, arc voltage will decrease and welding current will be momentarily increased to burn back the wire and maintain pre+set arc length. The reverse will occur to counteract a momentary lengthening of the arc. There is a wide range of power sources available, mode of metal transfer can be:

dip spray pulsed

" low welding current is used for thin+section material, or welding in the vertical position. The molten metal is transferred to the workpiece by the wire dipping into the weldpool. "s welding parameters will vary from around -.." / -01 to 2.." / 221 !for a -.2mm diameter wire#, power sources normally have a current rating of up to 34.". (ircuit inductance is used to control the surge in current when the wire dips into the weldpool !this is the main cause of spatter#. Modern electronic power sources automatically set the inductance to give a smooth arc and metal transfer. In spray metal transfer, metal transfers as a spray of fine droplets without the wire touching the weldpool. The welding current level needed to maintain the non short+circuiting arc must be above a minimum threshold level5 the arc voltage is higher to ensure that the wire tip does not touch the weldpool. Typical welding parameters for a -.2mm diameter wire are within 24." / 261 to 7.." / 341. ,or high deposition rates the power source must have a much higher current capacity: up to 4..". The pulsed mode provides a means of achieving a spray type metal transfer at current levels below threshold level. $igh current pulses between 24 and -..$8 are used to detach droplets as an alternative to dip transfer. "s control of the arc and metal transfer requires careful setting of pulse and background parameters, a more sophisticated power source is required. 9ynergic pulsed MIG power sources, which are advanced transistor+controlled power sources, are preprogrammed so that the correct pulse parameters are delivered automatically as the welder varies wire feed speed. *elding current and arc voltage ranges for selected wire diameters operating with dip and spray metal transfer:

Wire diameter (mm) 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.6

Dip transfer 30 - 80 45 - 180 70 - 180 100 - 200 120 - 200 15 - 18 16 - 21 17 - 22 17 - 22 18 - 22

Spray transfer

Current (A) Voltage (V) Current (A) Voltage (V) 150 - 250 230 - 300 250 - 400 250 - 500 25 - 33 26 - 35 27 - 35 30 - 40

Wire feed system

The performance of the wire feed system can be crucial to the stability and reproducibility of MIG welding. "s the system must be capable of feeding the wire smoothly, attention should be paid to the feed rolls and liners. There are three types of feeding systems: pinch rolls push+pull spool on gun The conventional wire feeding system normally has a set of rolls where one is grooved and the other has a flat surface. :oll pressure must not be too high otherwise the wire will deform and cause poor current pick up in the contact tip. *ith copper coated wires, too high a roll pressure or use of knurled rolls increases the risk of flaking of the coating !resulting in copper build up in the contact tip#. ,or feeding soft wires such as aluminium dual+drive systems should be used to avoid deforming the soft wire. 9mall diameter aluminium wires, -mm and smaller, are more reliably fed using a push+pull system. $ere, a second set of rolls is located in the welding gun + this greatly assists in drawing the wire through the conduit. The disadvantage of this system is increased si8e of gun. 9mall wires can also be fed using a small spool mounted directly on the gun. The disadvantages with this are increased si8e, awkwardness of the gun, and higher wire cost.

Conduit
The conduit can measure up to 4m in length, and to facilitate feeding, should be kept as short and straight as possible. !,or longer lengths of conduit, an intermediate push+pull system can be inserted#. It has an internal liner made either of spirally+wound steel for hard wires !steel, stainless steel, titanium, nickel# or ;T,< for soft wires !aluminium, copper#.

Gun
In addition to directing the wire to the &oint, the welding gun fulfils two important functions + it transfers the welding current to the wire and provides the gas for shielding the arc and weldpool. There are two types of welding guns: %air% cooled and water cooled. The %air% cooled guns rely on the shielding gas passing through the body to cool the no88le and have a limited current+carrying capacity. These are suited to light duty work. "lthough %air% cooled guns are available with current ratings up to 4..", water cooled guns are preferred for high current levels, especially at high duty cycles.

*elding current is transferred to the wire through the contact tip whose bore is slightly greater than the wire diameter. The contact tip bore diameter for a -.2mm diameter wire is between -.7 and -.4mm. "s too large a bore diameter affects current pick up, tips must be inspected regularly and changed as soon as e cessive wear is noted. (opper alloy !chromium and 8irconium additions# contact tips, harder than pure copper, have a longer life, especially when using spray and pulsed modes. Gas flow rate is set according to no88le diameter and gun to workpiece distance, but is typically between -. and 3. l)min. The no88le must be cleaned regularly to prevent e cessive spatter build+up which creates porosity. "nti+spatter spray can be particularly effective in automatic and robotic welding to limit the amount of spatter adhering to the no88le.

Protective equipment
" darker glass than that used for MM" welding at the same current level should be used in hand or head shields. :ecommended shade number of filter for MIG)M"G welding:

Shade number 10 11 12 13 14 15

Welding current A MIG ea!y metal MIG "ight metal under 100 100 - 175 175 - 250 250 - 350 350 - 500 over 500 MAG under 80 80 - 125 125 - 175 175 - 300 300 - 500 over 450 under 100 1001 - 175 175 - 300 300 - 500 over 500