Wire Size For Welding 20 Ga Sheet Metal

If you are burning through the metal you re not moving the torch fast enough and or your welder is set too high.

Wire size for welding 20 ga sheet metal.

Once you have the the welder set then the trick is to keep a steady a arc. Using a thinner wire 0 30 instead of 0 35 will also help. For sheet metal i use ine welding wire and it is just as good as their flux cored wire if you want you can grab one here. Move the torch faster and or reduce the amp setting of the welder and the lower the wire speed.

While wire feed welding sheet metal go for short bursts of welding instead of a going on a long bead. However if you are dealing with materials that are 18 gauge or thicker one should be able to use 030 inch welding wire. That will keep your joint from spreading on you while welding. To weld mild steel choose an american welding society classification wire such as er70s 6 which has a weld puddle that wets out nicely.

It is recommended that a welder should use 023 or 024 inch wire for light gauge sheet metal work. This may help you standardize on one or 2 wire sizes for most of your work. Use a hammer to tap all the spots that aren t tacked together. Try going for a wire of 023 inches when welding sheet metal.

As a rule when mig welding sheet metal never use a body filler metal that is thicker than the base metal. When welding sheet metal you re going to want to tack your joints every 1 5 to 2 inches. So if you are welding 12 gauge mild steel with a thickness of 0 100 you would set the machine at 100 amps. Problems with welding sheet metal.

Short bursts or tacks will help. If you are using mig it s best to weld vertically down. The 1930 s seem to have used a lot of 19 gauge in their body panels. Looking for some recommendations for welding patch panels in older classic cars.

The following sheet metal gauge size reference chart gives the weight and thickness of sheet metal given as a gauge sometimes spelled gage and indicates the standard thickness of sheet metal and wire for most materials as the gauge number increases the material thickness decreases. It s recommended to use a 023 or 024 inch wire for most light gauge sheet metal work. Wire size amperage range. For thinner gauge sheet metal like 18 or 20 gauge we suggest 023 6mm wire in your mig welder.

Each wire size offers a substantial operating range and overlap considerably. I have an older miller 180 mig that works great just wondering if anyone out there can recommend a good wire diameter 023 or 030 for what i m doing. I m repairing them with 20 22 gauge material.