Stainless mig wire

[spasm3]

I hope tig1 sees this. Other than cost, is there any down side to mig welding carbon steel with say ER308? Assuming of course you used trimix gas.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: spasm3

I hope tig1 sees this. Other than cost, is there any down side to mig welding carbon steel with say ER308? Assuming of course you used trimix gas.

I have tig welded miles of mild steel (1018) with 304-8-16 stainless rod. I do use .023 308L mig wire on some thin SS screens I weld for a mach shop once or twice a year. As for a home project, if SS wire is all you have then go for it.

 

[spasm3]

Thanks tig1. Basically I'm going to get gas so i don't have to use flux wire. I don't weld that much so i just wanted to know if 308 would cover anything i wanted to do vs ER70 S. P.S. I'm using a Lincoln 3200hd. It is a 110v unit.

 

[Linctex]

I'd be worried about adding brittleness to the weld. (never tried it, though)

 

[Linctex]

I can buy big rolls ER70S2 or S6 so darn cheap.... Are you just wanting to use stainless for fun? Just because it was free? Probably have to run straight argon with it.

 

[spasm3]

On occasion there is something stainless from the hospital that i could weld. Most of the time its just small home/auto stuff. But if i had to pick one wire, would i be better to weld with stainless on everything than to try welding stainless with the er70s? Since i don't weld a lot, the cost is negligible.

 

[Silk]

I used to use stainless rod for my stick welder on mild steel, easy good looking welds. A boilermaker told me to use them as a GP rod, and used them from them on.

 

[tig1]

As for gas and mig welding SS. You can also just use regular Argon CO2 for SS. I have for years with solid core and flux cored duel shield SS wire. For carbon steel just pick a small roll of solid core wire.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: tig1

As for gas and mig welding SS. You can also just use regular Argon CO2 for SS. I have for years with solid core and flux cored duel shield SS wire. For carbon steel just pick a small roll of solid core wire.

Thanks! nothing structural. So i can switch from 308 to er70s and still use c-25.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: spasm3

Originally Posted By: tig1

As for gas and mig welding SS. You can also just use regular Argon CO2 for SS. I have for years with solid core and flux cored duel shield SS wire. For carbon steel just pick a small roll of solid core wire.

Thanks! nothing structural. So i can switch from 308 to er70s and still use c-25.

Yes, and you will get a quality weld with both wires.