welding with gasless mig

[axam102]

Just brought myself a gasless mig welder to sort my step out. quick question for those that have used one, did you do anything to protect the van electronics? I see with a conventional Mig people suggest taking the earth off the battery, taking both terminals off and clamping them together etc etc and people that do just nothing and call the afore mentioned precautions meaningless. but with gasless mig you have a + on the clamp and a - on the tip.... that's what is worrying me... clamping on a high voltage high amp lead that i suspect will try to find ground while the welder isn't welding I suspect it will be heading for the negative terminal of the battery. as a newb to welding it's all murky water to me and could do with some clarifications on best practice from anyone that has done it.

[knobby1]

I think you're wasting your time with a "gasless" mig...any half decent welder will tell you that.

Just disconnect the battery....no circuit means no problem.

Lord Knobrot

[dumper]

I was welding the top plate on mk1 escot years ago battery disconnected and blow up must have been gasing lukealy head shield saved me getting a face full of acid now I always remove batteries from van all together and put them out of the way

[Jim Archer]

I've always disconnected batteries, alternators, and ECU/control boxes when welding.

Jim

[Punto443]

Defo disconnect, remove if you can

[axam102]

Knobby1 I would agree if it was a restoration job but this is "will it do the job" work. I will be stitch welding a plate into the step so as long as it gets good penetration it will do the job. I will be grinding the welds down anyway and the plastic step cover will go over the lot of it, weighing up the costs of welding outside the gas less system won hands down as I am not a pro, and it will only be used once in a blue moon (hopefully ) and best of all it has cost me £160 all in for welder and mask etc over the 5+ hours quoted at £60 per hour.

I think I will err on the safe side and disconnect as much as I can... will my tape player still work? had just ordered some cassette tapes to record the top 30 on

[grumpygramps-2007]

I use gasless many times and more than happy with the results. make sure you use good wire like sif or you,ll be struggling. practice on some scrap first and good luck. gramps.

[gotgcoalman]

I use gasless out of necessity.
If I have to make a repair in "less than ideal conditions" it works.

Welds are dry looking and spattery
BUT
The angle grinder is your best friend in these circumstances.
Iv'e used gassed in the past and under ideal conditions it wins hands down.

If your welding either under cover or on a perfectly still day use gas.
Otherwise gasless is a compromise for "sticking metal together"

[Big_Baz]

I've had good results from gasless MIG, simply using a cheapie MechPro unit from 'RepCo' (the big barn motoring accessories place down-under).

A bit of practice with an old washine machine panel and my mate (a qualified welder) holding my hand* , and even working outside on what was admittedly a fairly still day, I was pleasantly surprised by its ease of use and minimal splatter. Like any welding, get your settings right and go slow and you'll get there.

I've now invested in the optional gas pack but haven't tried it yet. Probably a game-changer but what we achieved simply with gasless was not too bad at all. And a flapper disc will clean things up anyway.

For big jobs, I'd still favour trad. oxy. welding (I've never tried TIG) but gas / gasless MIG has its place.

* Not literally holding my hand cos that would be a bit weird

[axam102]

Thanks guys, have been using the gassless welder for a few weeks now and it is the nuts. by no means a pro welder but by spotting then grinding and seaming over the top and grinding down it makes a great weld. thing i found with gassless is keep it clean and splatter is a minimum if you wire brush all the areas. last weekend welded 1mm to 1mm mild Steele. next option is the step itself

[Brains_transit]

I was useless with gas less then first try of a proper gas on I was tacking stuff on and it was making the right sound and excellent penatration I just didn't want to blow through all the pieces I made so let my mate who's a expert welder finish it off

[ned]

Gas is good but there's a CO2 shortage and I need some gas. N