Chapter 9: Understanding the ABCs of Mig Welding 145

Adjusting Mig Equipment to Suit

Your Mig Welding Project
A lot of variables come into play when you’re mig welding. You have to figure out
your electrode wire size, wire feed speed, voltage, and shielding gas type, and all
those factors have to jibe with the thickness of the metal you’re welding.

Table 9-2 helps you to figure out some of those details by listing the wire feed
speed (first number) and voltage (second number) recommended for each
parent metal thickness and wire size combo. Wire feed speed numbers are
in inches per minute, and voltage numbers are in volts. This table applies to
steel parent metals only.

For example, if you’re mig welding on a piece of metal that’s 3⁄16 inch thick and
you’re using a mig electrode wire size of .030 inch, you would want a wire
feed speed of 280 inches per minute and voltage of 19 volts if you were using
a shielding gas mixture of 75 percent argon 25 percent carbon dioxide. If your
shielding gas for that project was 100 percent carbon dioxide, you’d want to
keep your wire feed speed at 280 inches per minute but increase your voltage
to 20 volts.

Table 9-2 Feed Speed and Voltage Settings for Common Mig Welds
Metal Thickness
3 1
Wire Gas Composition 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 ∕16 in. ∕4 in.
Size Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge
.023 in. 75% argon, 25% CO2 70/18 120/15 140/16 190/16 260/17 330/18
100% CO2 n/a 120/18 140/19 190/19 260/20 330/20
.030 in. 75% argon, 25% CO2 80/15 90/16 130/16 180/17 230/18 280/19 330/19
100% CO2 80/18 90/19 130/19 180/20 230/21 280/22 330/21
.035 in. 75% argon, 25% CO2 90/16 120/16 160/16 200/17 240/18 280/18 320/19
100% CO2 90/19 120/19 160/19 200/20 240/21 280/20 320/22
.045 in. 75% argon, 25% CO2 80/16 100/16 120/17 140/18 160/19 180/19 200/20
100% CO2 80/19 100/19 120/20 140/21 160/22 180/22 200/23

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