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Guest kingsty1

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Guest kingsty1

hi all

I have a sealey 185 mig welder that I have had for many years .

my gas is about to run out and I was wondering if I could use the gasless wire as I have been given a roll .

do I have to change anything or doesn't it work as well as gas ?

cheers alan

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hi all

I have a sealey 185 mig welder that I have had for many years .

my gas is about to run out and I was wondering if I could use the gasless wire as I have been given a roll .

do I have to change anything or doesn't it work as well as gas ?

cheers alan

 

Hi Alan - I looked into this very recently too for the same reason. Found on popular welding forums that the gassless wire makes a hell of a mess with splatter everywhere and you can't see the weld pool very well whilst welding when you are using it. The professionals said its only really useful for welding outside where the wind would blow your shielding gas away with conventional MIG.

 

I discounted the idea and instead have looked into the Hobbyweld size bottles which seem to be great value.

 

Cheers

Tony

 

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/gasless-mig.htm

Edited by FERRINO
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Guest kingsty1

ok thanks for that . the hobbies gas sounds the way to go as I don't use it enough to carry on renting

I take it you need to change the regulator for the little ones?

thanks alan

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ok thanks for that . the hobbies gas sounds the way to go as I don't use it enough to carry on renting

I take it you need to change the regulator for the little ones?

thanks alan

 

The quote I got from our local hobbyweld stockist was as follows:-

 

For the 140mm Diameter by 840mm high bottle (any gas except Acetylene) - £60+vat Deposit (refundable of course when you're finished with it)

 

£30+vat for the gas (137 bar)

 

£30+vat for the Regulator to fit the bottle

 

£10 for adaptor for the small bore tube.

 

Onviously, the regulator and adaptor are yours to keep and the deposit for the bottle is refundable (so is academic anyway). So if I ever did manage to use all of it (debateable as I'm just a hobby/intermittent welder) - then £30 for a gas refill seems pretty reasonable to me seeing as the 60 litre bottles from halfords that last about 10mins are £15.

 

Cheers

Tony

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I've been using the small bottles like this http://www.mincost.co.uk/gas-cylinder-disposable-carbon-dioxide-600g.ir for years. last quite a long time and cheap enough.

 

useful as i switch to argon when i weld stainless. just switch the bottles.

 

I need to find a use for the old bottles.... have been thinking of a 100psi water pistol :crazy:

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Have used the throw-away bottles & changed to BOC Argonshield Light --- the difference in weld quality & penetration was amazing -- improved the strength of my welds & the appearance --- so saved time & effort with the flap-disc post-weld.

Flux cored wire for migs needs a larger tip size ( 0.9mm I believe ) & why would you want to entrain flux in the weld pool ---which is going to happen with such a small diameter wire.

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I just use straight CO2 on mild steel. The bottle has a £20 deposit and £20 for the gas so when I've used it I take it back pay £20 and swap it for a full one. If I give the bottle back I get the deposit back.

 

I've also got an Albee bottle of Argon that I use with the TIG set I also use quick release fittings in the gas line so it's seconds of a job to swap the Argon bottle for the CO2 one on the MIG if I'm doing something exotic where I actually need the argon or if I run out of CO2 mid-job and don't want to stop until I can swap the bottle. I can also stick the hobby regulator back on and use a hobby bottle if I'm taking the welder out and about.

 

Iain

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest snowy2

i have both gasless and gas welders they both have their uses, i prefer the gasless for construction work the gas for anything that will need to be seen (pannels etc.)

gasless wire has a fluxing effect and will get good penetration on thicker steel at lower power. I also have Oxyacetylene welding gear but rarely use it these days as mig is just so much quicker. I also bought myself a 165A TIG welder recently.....that is a steep learning curve, but i am hoping it will enable me to make a stainless manifold for my car (amongst other things)

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  • 3 weeks later...

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