Wire Size For Welding 20 Ga Sheet Metal

Holding the tip too far from the surface will cause the wire to have to come out too far to touch the metal.

Wire size for welding 20 ga sheet metal.

To weld mild steel choose an american welding society classification wire such as er70s 6 which has a weld puddle that wets out nicely. So if you are welding 12 gauge mild steel with a thickness of 0 100 you would set the machine at 100 amps. Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of metal but especially sheet metal. Wire size amperage range.

Try going for a wire of 023 inches when welding sheet metal. However if you are dealing with materials that are 18 gauge or thicker one should be able to use 030 inch welding wire. As a rule when mig welding sheet metal never use a body filler metal that is thicker than the base metal. Most of the light gauge sheet metal work will require the use of 023 or 24 inch while if you have a sheet metal having a gauge of more than 18 gauge then a 030 inch wire would be the most ideal.

Short bursts or tacks will help. Move the torch faster and or reduce the amp setting of the welder and the lower the wire speed. For thinner gauge sheet metal like 18 or 20 gauge we suggest 023 6mm wire in your mig welder. When the material is 18 gauge and thicker you may be able to use a 030 inch wire.

The following sheet metal gauge size reference chart gives the weight and thickness of sheet metal given as a gauge sometimes spelled gage and indicates the standard thickness of sheet metal and wire for most materials as the gauge number increases the material thickness decreases. Using a thinner wire 0 30 instead of 0 35 will also help. Problems with welding sheet metal. It s recommended to use a 023 or 024 inch wire for most light gauge sheet metal work.

If you are burning through the metal you re not moving the torch fast enough and or your welder is set too high. It is recommended that a welder should use 023 or 024 inch wire for light gauge sheet metal work. This may help you standardize on one or 2 wire sizes for most of your work. A er70s 6 wire would be most ideal for welding mild steel.