Lincoln SP-135T question

wit2003 · Jun 17, 2013

Hey everyone, so I have this Lincoln sp-135t mig welder. .030 wire and shielding gas. In trying to weld up my exhaust and was wondering if anyone had some pointers on the heat and wire speed settings.

Speed is 1-10
Voltage is A-D

Any tips would be appreciated

Fordman7795 · Jun 17, 2013

I would start at heat C and speed between 2-3. Try on a scrap piece and if it blows thru turn it down to B

fgl123 · Jun 17, 2013

I weld similar thickness as exhaust on a regular basis. I use flux core so I'm not real sure of the difference in heat. I use A and about 2-3. I hold it for a small puddle then it's ready. Hope this helps.

zkling · Jun 18, 2013

I don't have or haven't run that machine.

Personally I would pick 0.023 wire for thin exhaust tubing, 030 will be a bit more touchy. Are you running straight Co2 or 75/25?

Off the top of my head I would run ~B or C and 2-3. Try out on some scrap of the same thickness first. When welding tubing, I like to turn the machine down a little and take my time.

drmarkr · Jun 18, 2013

wit2003 said:
Hey everyone, so I have this Lincoln sp-135t mig welder. .030 wire and shielding gas. In trying to weld up my exhaust and was wondering if anyone had some pointers on the heat and wire speed settings.

Speed is 1-10
Voltage is A-D

Any tips would be appreciated

Your polarity is correct for using gas, right??

wit2003 · Jun 18, 2013

Yea polarity is right.

I'm running an argon mix.

I'm not really having trouble with blowing through....mainly just trying to get the settings right.

I will try these different settings on the scrap pieces I cut.

Thanks!!

Fordman7795 · Jun 18, 2013

If you are not blowing through then you just need to fine tune the wire speed. If you have some scrap just start laying a bead and turn the wire up or down until you find the zone.

SVE Performance · Jun 18, 2013

According to Lincoln B-3 . If you look in the owners manual there is a very handy chart for wire speed and power settings for different thicknesses of metal for that machine . If you don't have the manual it is available online from Lincoln. Bill

kazlx · Jun 18, 2013

Posting some pictures would help.

wit2003 · Jun 18, 2013

Try to hold back the laughter.... :scared:

I played with the settings a little bit (B-3, B-4, C-3 in no order).

It seemed as though B-3 was spot on, but then I think i just got worse.

I can usuaooy lay a halfway decent bead on flat material...but as you can tell im not very good on round.

I gotta say, im pretty discouraged even though this is still a new skill to me.... :eyecrazy:

kazlx · Jun 18, 2013

Your biggest problem is prep. Clean all the joints to bare metal. That being said, that looks like galvanized, which you really don't want to weld...with no fume extraction/protection.

The welds are cold. It's piling up, which is not enough heat/too much wire speed. The galvanizing will keep you from creating a good circuit though which is the majority of your problem.

wit2003 · Jun 18, 2013

So there is hope for me yet? Lol

So if I grind down everywhere I plan to weld I should be able to put down a good bead?

I'll have to bring the tubing to work and grind everything down.

Edit: I believe the tubes are aluminized and not galvanized....

kazlx · Jun 18, 2013

Since you own a welder, you need a 4.5" angle grinder. You can build a lot of stuff with just those two things.

Technique might need some work, but getting to clean metal will help quite a bit. Paint with a high temp paint when you're done.

wit2003 · Jun 18, 2013

I do have a grinder. I foolishly thought that since the tubing was new it was clean.

kazlx · Jun 18, 2013

There's a big difference between being clean of dirt and oil and being clean in the sense of ready to weld.

Even brand new raw materials aren't 'clean'.

wit2003 · Jun 19, 2013

Lesson learned.

Thanks for the help!!

sberry · Jun 19, 2013

And,, that is really a 023 machine.

wit2003 · Jun 19, 2013

sberry said:
And,, that is really a 023 machine.

meaning i should run .023 wire max?

It came with a spool of the .030(at least i thinks its .030, ill have to double check).

kazlx · Jun 19, 2013

You would be better off running 0.023 in that. Wire is cheap.

sberry · Jun 19, 2013

Its just a matter of only so much power comes out of that recept.

kazlx · Jun 19, 2013

There should be no issue welding exhaust with 110V and 0.023 wire.

wit2003 · Jun 19, 2013

it turns out i have .023 wire, i just checked tonight.

So i decided to take another stab at welding tonight and try some flat scrap pieces....I get everything set up, I ground the pieces down to bare metal and got my machine ready.....

Go to open the gas......ZERO pressure in the tank :headscrat

I had the tank filled last summer and have not welded much the past year....

I always shut the tank off and purge the lines before calling it a day....Im gonna guess that my regulator may be leaking or there is a slight chance i had a brain fart and didnt close the tank last night....If there is a leak and it ran out during my welds last night it could explain the epic fail of welds i posted

Looks like im gonna need to have the tank filled and then check the connections with some soapy water to make sure its all tight...

kazlx · Jun 19, 2013

You're either out of gas or you didn't close the valve all the way and you have a leak somewhere.

Fwiw, being out of gas can create the same problems you were having.

wit2003 · Jun 19, 2013

yea im gonna assume i was out of gas(it'll help my ego

)

I plan on getting the tank filled friday and getting some practice welds in over the weekend.

I was lucky enough to take the exhaust to work and grind the hell out of it and have one of the guys on the manufacturing floor TIG it up for me

drmarkr · Jun 20, 2013

Those pics looked like no/too little gas.....I wondered about your flow rate when I saw them. Even if it was galvanized, they should've looked better than they did.

ilovevocs · Jun 20, 2013

^ I agree. Given the lack of consistency I would venture to guess your welding outside or next to fan. Looks like gusting wind is blowing away the shielding gas.

wit2003 · Jun 20, 2013

You guys are just about spot on....I was welding with no gas(unknown to me, i must have a leak).

kazlx · Jun 20, 2013

Sometimes I forget to mention the obvious to the noobs

. We've all been there!

wit2003 · Jun 20, 2013

any recommendations for trying to weld over or repair or anything to finish what i started once i get the gas refilled tomorrow?

kazlx · Jun 20, 2013

Grind it off. Good as new.

wit2003 · Jun 20, 2013

sounds good....Gonna put my angle grinder to work!!

ilovevocs · Jun 20, 2013

I had a 135 t and it drove me nuts. While I don't like to blame poor welds on machine performance that thing is a turd at best. It has sweet spots where it will weld ok, but having a tapped power source creates allot of limitation in terms of adjustability. If your going to be doing allot of welding in the future and you want to produce consistent, quality welds on a diverse range of materials I would plan to replace that machine with something that had a better power supply. Not slamming your equipment, just sharing my personal experience / frustrations with the same model. It isn't good for anything other than gauge work IMHO, and it doesn't even do that well. As previously stated your best bet is with .025 wire. Found mine welded best at c 3 and often had to pulse weld to compensate on thinner thicknesses. It's not right but its what worked for me.

Best of luck.

PugetDude · Jun 20, 2013

ilovevocs said:
I had a 135 t and it drove me nuts. While I don't like to blame poor welds on machine performance that thing is a turd at best. It has sweet spots where it will weld ok, but having a tapped power source creates allot of limitation in terms of adjustability. If your going to be doing allot of welding in the future and you want to produce consistent, quality welds on a diverse range of materials I would plan to replace that machine with something that had a better power supply. Not slamming your equipment, just sharing my personal experience / frustrations with the same model. It isn't good for anything other than gauge work IMHO, and it doesn't even do that well. As previously stated your best bet is with .025 wire. Found mine welded best at c 3 and often had to pulse weld to compensate on thinner thicknesses. It's not right but its what worked for me.

Best of luck.

I've had good luck with my 135T... I've welded quite a bit of ornamental, some sheet metal, and a bit of heavier plate... no major issues. Only thing I had to learn was to remember to take the pressure off the wire drive wheels when I'm putting it away for a while... The glass-filled nylon pressure wheel yoke would defrom a bit over time under pressure. Just flip the yoke to the right, off the wire when you're not using it- this keeps it feeding smooth without loping during use- might well have been a differential wire feed instead of a fluctuating power supply that another poster was referring to.

I'd start with B/3 for your application-play with feed rate a bit to get to a sweet spot from there. Good Luck, and post pics of the finished product!

wit2003 · Jun 20, 2013

ilovevocs said:
I had a 135 t and it drove me nuts. While I don't like to blame poor welds on machine performance that thing is a turd at best. It has sweet spots where it will weld ok, but having a tapped power source creates allot of limitation in terms of adjustability. If your going to be doing allot of welding in the future and you want to produce consistent, quality welds on a diverse range of materials I would plan to replace that machine with something that had a better power supply. Not slamming your equipment, just sharing my personal experience / frustrations with the same model. It isn't good for anything other than gauge work IMHO, and it doesn't even do that well. As previously stated your best bet is with .025 wire. Found mine welded best at c 3 and often had to pulse weld to compensate on thinner thicknesses. It's not right but its what worked for me.

Best of luck.

I do plan on getting a different welder in time...I got this lincoln brand new with regulator, and wire etc for $75 from a good friend. Couldnt pass it up to get into welding.

garboui · Jun 20, 2013

I think just moving up to a welder eventually thats not tapped will be beneficial. I have the sp-135 plus which is essentially the same machine but with a infinite heat control. It does make it easier to dial in for most sub 1/8" work compared to some other friends machines ive used.

Though the 135T you already have and its a capable machine. Im always impressed at how well mine does with heavier stock when I throw a spool of .035 flux core in. Its good practice now to get some technique down to be able to manage a slightly hot setting with varying trigger duty and wire speed.

wit2003 · Jun 22, 2013

It's amazing what a full tank of gas will do for your welds lol.

Forgot to take pictures but everything went much smoother once I had the shielding gas.

drmarkr · Jun 22, 2013

wit2003 said:
It's amazing what a full tank of gas will do for your welds lol.

Forgot to take pictures but everything went much smoother once I had the shielding gas.

Good deal.....I'm no longer embarrassed for you....... :beer:

kazlx · Jun 25, 2013

Pics?

aka Larry · Jun 25, 2013

BTDT with the empty tank. I usually ALWAYS close the valve, forgot, and that little lesson cost me $80.

I have a Lincoln 140-Pro and it has never missed a beat.

Let's see the pics now that you have the shielding gas once again.

wit2003 · Jun 26, 2013

i'll try and get some pics once i get the car back on the lift.

Still not pretty but much better :lol:

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