welding help!

[charlie_mini]

hi, i'm trying to do a bit of welding for the first time, using a mig welder, it was working fine yesterday on my practices with random metal but now i've come to weld on the actual car its not working, not sure if its me or not,
the surfaces are prepped and everything is ready but when i put the mig end to weld, pull the trigger it 'pops' and melts the wire that sticking out of the end back into the torch and doesnt do anything else, by the time i've flipped the mask up is feeding wire again! just wont continue to weld! :(
anyone got any ideas?
thanks!

[Deano]

The hardest part in mig welding is setting up the welder eg power `wire speed ` wire tension` Gas flow and making sure the liner and wire are in good condition. Try again on you test piece you may be holding the torch to close. Make sure you have a really good earth and give the torch a really good clean could be arcing in the tip if the shroud is touching any of the bodywork hope it works for you mate:)
There`s nothing worse than your welder not working properly :mad:
Cheers Deano

[supadupacupa]

That sounds like a bad earth to me.

Is the area super clean and is the earth nearby?

[charlie_mini]

thanks! sorted it now, was using the earth strap for the battery as the earth as i was welding behind the rear drivers arch, just had far too much power going thru it! as soon as it was touching the car it was overcharging it and making all the wire twist! turned the power down a bit and away i've gone! :D only prob came when i pulled the outer sill out to find most of the inner sill missing! ah well! at least i've found were the water was coming from :(

[Gr4H4m]

thanks! sorted it now, was using the earth strap for the battery as the earth as i was welding behind the rear drivers arch, just had far too much power going thru it! as soon as it was touching the car it was overcharging it and making all the wire twist! turned the power down a bit and away i've gone! :D only prob came when i pulled the outer sill out to find most of the inner sill missing! ah well! at least i've found were the water was coming from :(

:eek:
holy moly... some serious repairs..... good luck mate

[charlie_mini]

cheers! about halfway thru now. done the half of the boot were there was a hole the size of a tennis ball! and the outer sill went on today! also repaired part of the rear quarter where the rust had set in but not too badly, wire brushed it out, treated it and now fillered and painted! only prob was that the paint was an exact match, untill it reacted with the laquer and put white stripes down it!!! :(
got the inner sill being picked up tomorrow mornin, hopefully that should be straight forward! re-paint that rear quarter and patch up my front panel ready for mot time wednesday hopefully!! have got a front sat here but dont thing i'm gonna have time!!! back to work on thursday :(
dont think i'm doin too bad seen i've never welded before! its not upto deano standard by a long shot but its holding and thats what counts!!
and if i find any more filller and gause patching up holes that rusted years ago i'll go mad!!:mad:

[TONYELF]

Welcome to miniworld!! LOL I don't think you'll ever stop finding holes mate! but good luck all the same:)

[charlie_mini]

well so far the front panel came off no problem! angle grinder, Big Reciprocating saw and a hammer only took about 20 mins once i'd un bolted it from the subframe! thats nearly all the work done that needed doin! shame i've ran out of days off! looks like its goin to be saturday before i get the dreaded MOT!! :(

[TONYELF]

Don,t despair Eric, sometimes peeps do too much to the car before MOT. A mate of mine never touches his motor and just does whats wrong on the failed slip, once it failed on wiper blades and he didn't think it would pass at all (he had at least 10 items that he thought would fail and they all passed!!!)
Having said that , it's in your own interests that everything is ok, so good luck with the test.:)

[charlie_mini]

Having said that , it's in your own interests that everything is ok, so good luck with the test.:)

cheers, the other thing these last 5 days have taught me...
1. welding isnt hard.
2. making your welding look professional is...!
3. minis rust (far too much)
4. Mini's at some point in their life go to a garage staffed by monkeys with less mechanical know how that an egg whisk!
5. I cant fit an outer sill, inner sill, whole front end, wheel bearing, boot repair pannel, fix the rear arch leaking, sort out the rear quarter above the sill rot, paint all the new panels, re-fit all the seats and electrics and make it look like nothing happened! in 5 days!!!!
(but i've come quite close!!)
this gives me plenty of hope for my next project.... :D
how do you solve a problem like maria.....?

[Gr4H4m]

cricky... been busy then:) get some pics so we can see your hard work.

[charlie_mini]

cricky... been busy then:) get some pics so we can see your hard work.
http://www.miniaddicts.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=5818#post5818
:D