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Trying to weld muffler to exsisting stock pipes.Anyone have experience with MIG?Have a 110 volt Farmhand with 2 heat settings 15 amp & 2 settings 20 amp.What size wire,heat should i use.Have .024 in now.does bigger wire give a thicker bead?Help.
Go with .023"-.025" wire. Thin wire for thin metal. I've welded 16ga exhaust pipe already with .030" wire but you get better results with the thinner wire. I use solid wire with 75%/25% argon co2 mix. If your using flux core the smallest wire you can get in that I think is .030". Solid wire with a shielding gas welds better than flux core.
As for the welder set-up I would say you need to go with a lower amperage/voltage with the .024" wire. Get a scrap piece of 16 ga. sheetmetal or exhaust pipe to practice on to set your heat and to make shure your weld bead is looking good. All my welders are larger Millers so I'm not familer with your brand of welder.
The exhaust pipe on late model cars including the SD is 400 series stainless. You can easily weld stainless with steel wire. I'd spray some hightemp silver paint on the weld after your done to help keep it from rusting since you are using steel wire.
Im using gas.It seems like it it just wants to stick to muffler and not pipe(pipe is a little rusty)and it just ***** on me.Not a nice bead like thicker metals i have welded.
You could try cranking the heat all the way. Do the weld have porosity (Holes) in it or is it turning black around the weld? You could be losing your gas at the weld. You want your flowmeter at between 20-30 cfh.
Remove all the rust at the weld joint and make shure you have a good ground. If your welder is working properly it should easily be able to weld 12-16 ga. sheetmetal.
I have a Millermatic 175 for smaller work and that will easily burn through 1/8". My Millermatic 252 will burn through 3/8".
I don't know if you have a torch, but you can heat up the rusty part and it should flake off a lot of the rust, then wire brush it. Turn your heat up and try to point the mig more on the old part and let it flow torwards the new muffler