Mig Welding Procedures DIYMig welding procedures DIY starts here. Lets get everything in order, find your stuff. Plus mig welding safety is important too. So go grab your welding helmet, gloves, safety glasses, C-clamps, stainless steel wire brushes, scrap aluminum get everything within your reach. This is good boat building information or just your next DIY welding project. 
Grab those metal scraps, make sure they have the same thickness your going to weld.
Key: Use these scraps to adjust adjust the machine. Everything plays apart in the final outcome on your weld. Set machine from 1-10, look in the manual for how many amps for number to equal 160-170 amps. 80 percent of 200 amps is 160 amps next set the argon gas flow on your tank, around 25-30. How fast the aluminum welding wire comes out is important so lets set the wire feed, Set it for what you want to do. Set the speed of wire at the middle range -scale of 1-5 or 1- 100, what ever yours has set it in the middle. I know this is going to sound strange but by the sound. 
- place your ground lead clamp on the object your welding (practice metal)
- turn machine on - hold the tip of the gun at a 45 degree angle to your weld. Do not actually touch the tip on the aluminum. - pull trigger on spool gun, the wire will start feeding out and
will start the arc welding.
- keep trying and turning the spool adjustment down till a steady hum, buzz comes out of the weld. * if at any time wire welds itself to the tip, the feed is to slow, change tip and adjust feed. * you may want to start out to fast, adjust down to save money on replacing tips * figure on replacing tips every 4 or 5 spools of wire from normal welding use
Key: if weld is high and looks like a snowball - the weld is too cold - amp too low Key: if weld is flat and edge under cut -means too hot -adjust downward slightly A good weld should be raised slightly above base metal with no under cutting -it should be even with base metal.
Make sure you pay attention to the amount of wire left on spool. Stop welding when you have two or three feet of wire left. If you run out of wire while welding you have burn back
* Improper adjustment for the cone can cause burn back. Cone is suppose to be in front of tip. - tips are made out of copper - copper is expensive
- bad contamination makes weld weaker - don't weld if you have any sign of moisture - tighter leather gloves make it easier to pick objects up - don't over-heat an area, it will cause it to warp and bend - if you had a lot of splattering, popping while your welding
regrind area or weld back out and re-weld area
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