It takes a little practise, and the flux makes it a bit more difficult to see the weld pool. It’s recommended to drag rather push to prevent slag inclusions. Other than that, fiddle with the settings to get it right.

Once you’ve got used to it, it works well, and is invaluable if you’re working outside on a windy day. Also, in a confined space e..g. when car fixing, you can take the gas shroud off the torch (since it’s not doing anything) which improves visibility. Put a bit of heat-shrink tube over the exposed part of the nozzle to stop stuff sticking to it, and prevent it arcing if you knock the side of it on anything grounded.

My welder takes 0.8mm wire, so that’s what I use.

When working on thin material the difference between 0.8 and 0.6 mm is very noticable Thought not sure you could get 0.6mm coated wire ? Noel

On 6 November 2024 at 10:28 Dave Halford Said:

Speedy.

Yes, some gasless is horrible.

That’s interesting, Dave. My welder came with a sample spool of wire, and at first I found it difficult to get a decent result – I put it down to inexperience with the technique, but maybe the wire quality didn’t help.

I’ve subsequently used this and found it satisfactory:

https://tinyurl.com/ymht2hjm

Been reading all the above, never tried gasless. One thing I would check with a “gas guzzling” mig is that the bottle is empty! I have a Clark 100E, the regulator for the gas is not really a regulator at all. The bottle has a tyre-valve in the top and the regulator is just a pin wound onto the pin in the valve. As the pressure drops in the bottle you need to open the valve a little more. That was where I had problem. The regulator pin was not going down far enough, so gas ran out when there was still half a bottle! I took the regulator unit apart and put a bit of packing in to make it travel farther. I think it was something like a 4 or 6BA washer. Now bottles seem everlasting. That’s tempting fate. I spose next time I use it it’ll be empty

Bob

On 6 November 2024 at 14:30 old fool Said:

Been reading all the above, never tried gasless. One thing I would check with a “gas guzzling” mig is that the bottle is empty! I have a Clark 100E, the regulator for the gas is not really a regulator at all. The bottle has a tyre-valve in the top and the regulator is just a pin wound onto the pin in the valve. As the pressure drops in the bottle you need to open the valve a little more. That was where I had problem. The regulator pin was not going down far enough, so gas ran out when there was still half a bottle! I took the regulator unit apart and put a bit of packing in to make it travel farther. I think it was something like a 4 or 6BA washer. Now bottles seem everlasting. That’s tempting fate. I spose next time I use it it’ll be empty

Bob

Some of the big stuff I weld takes a lot of amps and plenty of gas (co2) to get through a job. Some times using the welder for 7 to 8 hrs a day.

When an industrial process gets in to the hands of the ad fellows and then into the domestic market all sorts of interesting terminology will come into play, often not correct or true. The very term MIG, The I is for inert as in the gas. If using Co2 then this is MAG, A = Active gas, and as no gas in the Gasless version we are left with just M, now it’s getting silly ! Wire welding, that makes sense ! What happens in the molten weld pool is of little consequence to the fellow welding up an old car but if said weld is a critical point where failure has consequences then it is different.

A poor quality and under powered machine for the job, used by an untrained or incompetent person is a very dangerous mix. That the weld may look OK just makes the matter worse ! I was on the receiving end of such a mix, that had potentially fatal results !

Peros mention of feed rollers, there are numerous types, at least in part down to how much you pay, then there is the steadyness or not of the drive motor, ranging from cheap small permag motor to high quality flat motors, add stepped controls – Oh what fun !

Sorry ! None of this helps the OP ! I’m sure there will be good and bad wire, but if you can get it in small reels, don’t know. I would try a smaller wire if available then you will need the right feed rollers. It would be better to just pay up one way or another and do the job properly. Good Luck. Noel.