millermatic 35 questions

Date 11-23-2007 06:03

Hello jesusno2, the Millermatic 35 you have is a great machine for the home application. The main difference in how your machine welds versus the one at your work is the combination of different wire diameter and shielding gas, especially the shielding gas. The output of this machine is somewhere around 200 amps I believe. It is certainly easier to "burn" the .030 wire than the .035, but not that much more difficult. Now the shielding gases are another matter. The 100% CO2 doesn't provide the type of arc energy transfer that the 90/10 gas mixture will. The short of this explanation, is that the argon/co2 mix runs "hotter", if you were to use the same gas at home that you use at work you would see a similar type of arc and weld puddle and bead result. The .030 wire might possibly be better suited to your machine, but if you have .035 wire on it currently I certainly wouldn't get rid of it. Even the CO2 gas isn't something that won't work, it just won't work the same as the other gas at your work. The type of welding that can be done with your machine at home currently would be classed in two category s, short-circuiting transfer and globular transfer because of the CO2 shielding gas. If you were to switch to 90/10, 95/5, 98/2, or some other higher argon percentage type of shielding gas(there are many others, including various tri-mix gases) you would be able to possibly bring your machines capabilities up to include a third type of arc transfer called spray-transfer. Simply put: short-circuiting transfer is on the low end of the energy output of a GMAW machine, globular transfer is in the middle(this one is not a desirable type of transfer), and spray-transfer is on the high end and is generally used when heavier materials are going to be welded, or in some instances where very high-speed welding is going to be done on certain thinner materials or configurations. See about doing some research on the net or read some welding instruction manuals about the various transfer modes for GMAW, you will better understand what is happening and why. Best regards, aevald

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 11-23-2007 06:32

I hate to bring confusion to the discussion but the Millermatic 35 is a Multi Tap mig (without a voltage control knob) with a true voltage sensing feeder and will not produce spray transfer no matter what wire or gas you use.

Secondly... Carbon Dioxide 100% is the highest energy shield gas in the short circuiting transfer mode (The only mode the Millermatic 35 can produce). Deeper penetration with a slightly higher probability for spatter, although spatter free welds are quite common.

Under the "Hood" of your Millermatic 35 should be a Tap/Gas/Wire diameter/wire fees speed/Sheet Thickness Gauge chart... You will see exactly what Miller recommends for the best combinations of wire and gas. These recommendations are very accurate.

The Millermatic 35 was designed to run both C02 100% and 75/25 Your C02 will work fine, The argon mixes will produce slightly less penetration (which is good in the sheet metal arena) The 90/10 at work is probably targeted to minimize burn thru on sheet metal, or could just be a good versatile Short Circuit/Spray choice all around.

Allan is correct that the 0.030 wire tends to run a little better with the Millermatic 35 but it is designed to run 0.035 wire as well.

Bodyshops would wrestle in the streets to get their hands on your 1970s eara multi tap mig.

Millermatic 35
Check Table 6.1
http://millerwelds.com/om/o1301q_mil.pdf

Millermatic 35S
http://millerwelds.com/om/o1301b_mil.pdf

By aevald

Date 11-23-2007 07:20

Hello Lawrence, thanks for educating me! It's truly been one of those nights, I just got done (at least I thought so) replying to another post for someone else on a different topic and hit a wrong button on the keyboard and lost the whole post. Sometimes I would like to back up and regroup and have a better go at it. Best regards, Allan

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 11-23-2007 07:18

You can view the owners manual for the 35 on the Miller website. There is a table for duty cycle and volt amper curve, as well as one showing voltage settings for various material thickness. My guess is that that machine was designed for short circut transfer. CO2 was the commonly used shielding gas in the '60s '70s and early '80s. Argon with 25% CO2 was developed for short circut transfer to maximumize short circut frequency and has become the standard gas for machines used only for short circut transfer on steel. As Allen mentioned there are a lot of available mixtures, a website You might find helpfull is WeldReality .com. If You do mostly light sheetmetal You might benifit from the .030 wire.

By KSellon (****)

Date 11-23-2007 14:03

http://millerwelds.com/service/ownersmanuals.php

By jesusno2 (*)

Date 11-23-2007 22:17

I like the welder for it's all pourpose use but i like to weld heavyer stuff such as 1/4 3/8 and i have done it with the 35 but it requires a little technique sometimes a little pre heat action. so I have pretty much gone to just tig welding everthing i do for strength. mainly my question was if the 90/10 gas and 0.35 will give the 35 some more punch to successfully weld 1/4 to 3/8 th's in one pass. I keep staring at the miller 252 and I may end up having to retire the old 35 maybe?

By 357max

Date 11-26-2007 18:39

The CO2 will provide more "punch" with short circuit metal transfer. For the same amperage for a given thickness of material it will take 2-4 more volts to achieve the short circuit transfer versus the argon CO2 mixes. ie argon/co2 would be about 18 volts. CO2 would be about 20 volts. Too much voltage will bring either gas to a globular transfer.
The wire feed speed determines the amperage and amperage determines/controls the penetration. Voltage controls the bead profile; height & width of weld deposit. Set the wire feed speed for the amperage/penetration and fine tune the arc with the voltage control.

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 11-26-2007 21:22 Edited 11-26-2007 21:25

Hey Max

I know your a guru on this kind of stuff but i'm kinda perplexed

How do you fine tune the Voltage with a Millermatic 35 ?

The only dial is wire feed speed speed.

The multi taps are Volt/Amp Ranges.... The Owners Manual calls the taps Voltage control but they really control amperage ranges with the wire feed dial only providing fine tuning for current...

I see no way to hit, fine tune or even know when you hit a specified voltage....

I clipped the chart from the owners manual because I'm not sure I'm communicating this clearly...

They give specific numbers for Current (bottom line) but the top line for Voltage is simply numbered 1-6

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 11-27-2007 03:14

Lawrence. I am sure Max will have a response, but I find it makes sense to view the tap settings as OCV on the volt / amper curve shown on page 13 of the owner's manual. Load voltage is an unknown, but You know how to make it go up or down, if in bigger steps than You might want. Those of us working to the "farm code" just play with the only 2 controlls 'till We get it right.

By 357max

Date 11-27-2007 03:40

You are correct; with the machine turned on, wire feed pressure adjustment arm released (no wire feeding) and the gun trigger closed. Measured dc voltage (across the positive & negative terminals) is the open circuit voltage. When welding the voltage at the same two points as the ocv will now be the load voltage. If the voltmeter has a hold function use it, if not use a helper. There will be a large voltage step between tap settings with these machine designs. Fine tuning the arc with a set wire feed speed with the corresponding amperage and penetration and using the voltage tap may require an increase or decrease in the tap setting to control the weld bead profile. If the bead is high and ropey; increase the tap setting. If the bead is flat; decrease the tap setting.
If the multi-meter has an amp meter with the "clamp on tongs" an amp reading can be made and used for reference to a specific wire feed speed.