Thread: Fabshield 23

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I was misinformed when I bought my MIG welder. I was told that I could use it to patch sheet metal. Now, after blowing through a lot of old scrap pieces, I find that that's probably not true. What I should have bought was a TIG welder so I could use .023 solid wire. I've scoured the internet and have concluded that .023 fluxcore doesn't exist but found "Fabshield 23" which is actually .030 but looks like it might respond more like .023. Can anyone set me straight on this?

Can't help you with anything about Fabshield 23, but you should be able to patch sheet metal just fine with a good MIG welder. I never use flux coated wire though - I use solid wire with Argon/CO2 shielding gas. Just a matter of turning down the amps and the wire feed to match the gauge of the metal and it works fine. For sheet metal patching you use a bunch of full penetration tacks, spacing them out to minimize warping, same as TIG - tack, move down an inch or two and tack again, continuing until you've filled it in with solid weld all around. TIG's probably easier to control the heat, but MIG will work once you have the settings right.

Not a clue as to what Fabshield is, but solid wire with that C-25 (argon and CO2) shielding gas is the only way I have ever run a bead on light gauge body steel. As Roger pointed out, several tacks, and depending on the thickness, will determine how long you can run that tack. I generally try for a half inch or so, skipping 2-4 inches ahead then back to allow some cooling and minimize distortion which will always happen to some extent. If you are trying to run a continuous bead several inches long you will eventually "blow through" with flux core or solid wire. And TIG - itwill blow through as well when you localize too much heat

Any ideas on how I can adapt gas to m flux core welder would be appreciated. Thanks

Originally Posted by october-1881

Any ideas on how I can adapt gas to m flux core welder would be appreciated. Thanks

What welder (manufacturer & model) do you own?

Any mig welder flux core or gas shielded even on a very low setting will blow through on a continious weld. Trick is to make several spot welds then move down the line and make more spots and let it cool in between then more spots and repeat till you get it all filled in. One thing that will help you is a piece of scrap copper clamped in on the back side,it will do a lot to help you from blowing through and the weld will not stick to it. Harbor freight sells a copper paddle with a handle just for this purpose for around 15 bucks. I prefer oxy/acetelyne with a very small tip or a tig welder for sheet metal. Oxy/acetelyne bead is the easiest to dress out and planish but causes the most warpage. I prefer the tig weld as I feel that I have more control of the weld and can just sit on the puddle without blowing through for good penetration. Never used a flux core mig but my experiance with mig welds on sheet metal is a very hard weld thats tuff to grind and very brittle when trying to planish. All welding on sheet metal is gonna cause warpage with any of the processes.

Any of the major and most likely even some of the recent Chinese made off brands will have a 'kit' which will adapt to your welder. What it amounts to is a replacement lead liner or a complete new lead, a gas relay, a gas supply hose and usually a rudimentary gas regulator. The instruction sheet will show you how it's assembled plus tell you to reverse the current wires inside. You will then either need to buy a C-25 tank or lease one - bigger is best. The smaller 20 CF tanks are good only for about an hour of welding - and you only forget to shut it off once because most welding suppliers aren't open weekends (Tractor Supply is expensive). I'm paranoid - I shut mine off most any time I lay the lead down. Not inexpensive, but I really do NOT like grinding weld spatter from flux core.

What really helps is a night school or training course. I took a several night course over a month and learned to lay an acceptable bead by just burning their wire on steel in all positions - and while far from pro perfect, a heluva lot better then I could do before on my own.

If you have a local weld shop or a TSC in your area, you can find the adapters and gas needed to do what you need to do.
I have a Hobart MIG and got a small gas bottle at my local TSC. The initial expense for the bottle isn't cheap, around $200, but when its empty ,you take it back to TSC and get a filled one for $25-30.

Originally Posted by rspears

What welder (manufacturer & model) do you own?

It's a Campbell Hausfeld 30-85 amp, thanks

Originally Posted by october-1881

It's a Campbell Hausfeld 30-85 amp, thanks

Home Depot!!!

If your welder is new enough i'd speak to the store you got it from. I'd be returning it to get credit against a larger machine that is designed to do what you want without any 'add-on' and afterthought 'kits'.
People minimize what they want to do and make it seem easier than it is. 'I just want to weld body panels', thats' easily said and on paper the welder you purchased has the power to weld .022 steel - an engineer has calculated the requirements to provide the right amount of current to join steel of that thickness. What he didn't include - this is the expensive part - is the sophisticated circuitry to have control of the current at very low settings. Anybodies machine can weld 1/8th inch - nothing sophisticated there, right? A machine that can weld aluminum beer cans together takes a fraction of current that your machine has, but you can well imagine the sophisticated circuitry and control that the machine must be capable of to strike an arc and weld beer cans together.

it's a 110/115 volt unit I'm assuming from google search. I don't think you will be happy with it in the long run. some I have saw in the past could use standard wire with argon but the one I just saw didn't look like it could be fine tuned to much. have you ever used a Tig or mig or have any welding experience?

Originally Posted by green34ford

it's a 110/115 volt unit I'm assuming from google search. I don't think you will be happy with it in the long run. some I have saw in the past could use standard wire with argon but the one I just saw didn't look like it could be fine tuned to much. have you ever used a Tig or mig or have any welding experience?

I worked in a fab shop about 45 years ago. Wire welding was justing becoming available at the time. All I did was stick welding. I remember the frustrstion of the guys practicing with the new technology but after a while, they got the hang of it. I thought I could do the same. I also hung out at a body shop back in my drag racing days and remembered them cutting patches and pop riveting them in place. They would use a torch and coat hanger and sorta tack stuff in place. They used a alot of cold, wet shop rags to keep the sheet metal from warping. Anyway, I spent a lot of time making my first patch that had many compound bends. I was flattered with my work after riveting it in place.........very tight joints only to be blown apart with even the slighest tack. Looks like the best thing for me to do is sell the MIG on craigslist and buy a TIG.

If you decide to take that step do yourself a big favor and go shop your local welding supply house and at least see what kind of deal you can get on a good quality machine. Once you know exactly what you want you can shop prices, but buying from your local guy has a lot of advantages, including them being very open to questions and even some demo time to help master the monster. A welder is one of those places where buying "economical" can end up costing a lot more in the long run.

Those 115 flux cores are great to have around. Wonderful for ' field ' repairs.

However, not so great for anything under 16 GA.

I'd consider getting a better welder for body work, but keep the one you have, it's portable and handy for odd jobs.