Welding Wire Diameter

It's to cover the different thickness of the metal being welded.

Smaller wire will take less current for the same melt temp. That enables a smaller deposit of weld material(pool size) and the better control of heat will reduce burn though on thin sheet as on a car body.

Also they are not the only sizes. I use .045 also. And I have seen .055 in use.

There are large range of sizes of with for MIG welding depends on the use. Those sizes you mentioned are just what you see that are generally used for some the small welders that one may have in their home or small fab shop.

That makes sense. Now I can sleep at night.

As far as the .035 you should be able to run it with just a change in tip size. Most the liners for those sold set up for .030 will handle the .035. Only if you you go above the .035 do you need to replace the liner. I don't know what make or model you are using but before sticking a lot of money out for 10 lb spool or larger would buy a small 1 or 2 lb spool see how it runs for you. On some of the small portables .035 may be pushing it as it may not have the juice.

GA, good accurate post.

For USA and other 120VAC countries, this means that probably any 120VAC machine may have trouble welding properly (note I did say "properly"!) any thicker gauges of wire....in fact some smaller welders will have trouble going above .030" in my limited experience.

I would recommend to NEVER to buy a 120VAC machine ever.......do a rewire job on the garage electrics for a 220VAC machine.....you will never regret it.

Here I use 0.6mm (0.02362205) and 0.8mm (0.03149606") wire on a reasonably sized home 220VAC welder with no problems, for both stainless and normal steel....

I have not bothered buying or trying thicker wire gauges up to now as it just simply works as it should with both of these sizes, as in fact the only reason that I ever bought the 0.8mm tips was is that sometimes there is a really cheap deal on ebay with regard to MIG welding wire that I can then take advantage of......0.6mm was supplied with the welder.

What you mean never have a 120 MIG. I have one must be 25 years old. Bought it to do repairs back then on conveyors. It's relatively light and portable. Would not be able to get to 220 volts in most of the customers. And most the steel on the conveyors is roll formed and thin so it worked quite well. They all have there applications. It's never let me down. But it is also why I made the comment on trying the small spool first.

I think you are missing several points.

1) If someone is buying a new welder for home/hobby use, I still say go for the bigger 220 volt machine. It should not cost that much more than a 120VAC machine. But it will do a more varied number of jobs.

2) Most people don't travel around with their welder. Mine for example has never left my house/garden/garage. Probably 1 in 10,000 welders will travel around like yours, so you are an odd case (sorry), but that is not saying you are alone in traveling with a welder, but you are simply not the "norm" or average. (your first name is not Norman is it?)

3) The one you have will work fine with thin wire on thinner metal, but you may get serious penetration problems on thick metal, especially when using wire of 0.035" or thicker....

4) You may be someone with years of experience in welding, and you can maybe achieve a better weld with "lesser" tools than most of the hobby CR4 welders like myself.

5) I and you are both allowed to post our comments, experiences etc. here!!! Do please remember I did not pick on you, nor did I say that 120 volt welders are bad for welder travelers either. So please return the compliment! Be nice and exhibit only your good manners....

At the end of the day, you can weld with a bigger machine a more diverse number of different jobs, with far less effort.......that you cannot change!!! Neither can I!!

Hey Andy was not trying to pick. Just making a statement that the small welders do have uses. I also have at Hobart 175 & stick welder. Would not want to lug them around. I can't agree with you more on your other points. If in fact I was not looking to lug the MIG around on job sites most likely would bought the 175 first.

And yes have spent some time welding. Never as a profession more as add skill to the work I have done.

So sorry if I offended you there was no intention to do so.

Peace!!

I have been welding for around 10 years and am college taught, and some of the most useful welders I own are 110v wire feeders. If not for the portability, they are capable of producing beautiful beads. In the right hands they can do almost as much as a 220v unit, with more time and hassle, and much less duty cycle. I had a rectifier assembly burn up in one, which I redesigned and also added a fan. Now I need several extension cords to weld anything thin, the welder acts like a 220v unit. For small home projects, especially ones that demand portability, the 110v wire feeder is great in my opinion.

I agree completely. My Lincoln 100 AMP MIG does everything I need to do around the house, and at work. And most of the time I run flux core. I've gotten to the point that it keep it separate from the tank/cart so I can throw it in the truck and weld a bracket at work.

To each his own, I say. I never felt the need for a .44 magnum, when a .357 will do the job just fine, thank you very much.

You (probably) can use a different size wire by changing the contact tip to a different size and the flipping the feed roller, if you only change by one step.

Some bigger welders can handle several wire sizes up and down. When you change wire size, match the torch liner, feed rollers, and contact tips to the wire.

The liner needs to be the correct size. Too small, and the wire won't feed thru. If it is too big (diameter), the wire will tend to ball up inside the liner as it is pushed from the machine.

It is illegal to weld pressure vessels with a MIG. This tells you a bit about their capabilities in relation to penetration.

The MIG is used as a fast production tool and not for serious work, as i said not for pressure vessels and i would guess ( only a guess ) structural work. e.g. bridge, buildings, shipbuilding, etc.

I have had to reweld near new BOBCAT buckets that have a beautiful looking bead that was for the most part attached only to one side. Yes i used stick. They used MIG.

I have a BOC 190 amp MIG that will take 0.6mm up to 1.2mm wire. I use 0.6mm and gas to weld light (1.2MM ) tubing. As you can imagine a lot easier and neater than with stick. I use a 300A stick welder for serious work ( it has a longer duty cycle at 100A ).

Our supply is 240v 15A for the MIG and 440v 32A for the stick.

Your welder is one of the better brands, i would expect the hose could take a range of sizes and the gun will have interchangeable tips. But i expect you will get better penetration with smaller wire, faster feed, and higher current. This of course means many passes.

Have fun

Jim