Brian, on my gas/MIG I was having problems with burning though if I would stop moving for a second. I went to .023 wire and low setting it helped a lot. Your Hobart Auto arc is a Flux core wire MIG? Not sure how small of diameter wire you can go on it. (Also what what Don Said). Just keep at it, Practice, practice, practice. Make sure your metal is clean and the two pieces you are welding, are touching. I tac weld to make sure the pieces stay together when welding. I find welding a short length and stop, and move to a different spot to weld on. It let’s the weld cool off. If your keep welding the on the same weld the metal will heat up and you will burn though. Watch some you tube videos on welding thin welds and how they do it. What kind of wire are you using?
Bob
Herb, Tom, you both beat me to it too. I was typing and had to leave for a few minutes.
Bob
I have to retrain every now and then, and I like to use a similar scrap piece, then just run a straight flat bead while using my off hand to adjust the wire feed until I get that angry bee sound. Adjust the heat to get optimal penetration, then repeat. Don’t for get to turn on the gas as recommended. When I was first building I kept a log book of settings for all the different welds as they occurred in the construction. That way I could go back and duplicate the settings anytime with confidence.
Hi all DOW members, is your hopper lid sticking? I have tried grease, silicone, white spray on grease, anti seize, oil, Vaseline. They have one thing in common, messy if you get it on your self or the black truck or what ever the color is, and hard to get off the paint and windows.
I have found this stuff works great and it smells good too.
Just spray it on the lid. If you get it on the truck it just shines it up. I use it, before I light up the gasifier, and when I am shutting it down for the day. No more stuck lid, having to pry it loose and cleaning up the mess I made. Try it you’ll like it. Oh yes, it is a lot cheaper than some of the other products.
Bob
RE: welding thin.
I’m using 0.023 solid wire with C-25 gas (75% argon; 25% CO2); my welder has 4 voltage settings and a single dial for joint wire-feed-speed and amps (10-100%).
Even on minimum settings, it was burning through with just split-second tack welds.
I’ll try making sure the steel is cleaner before I try again.
How thin is that metal Bryan? You don’t want it so thin it can’t be welded… It’ll rust through on you very quickly. Voice of experience here…
Brain, can your welder weld with flex wire also (gasless)? Make sure the wire connections are hooked up correctly for gas welding , my welder came out of the box ready to flex weld and not gas weld. I had to change the positive / negative leads at the wire feed mechanism. Just double check to make sure. Check the manual on your welder. On my lowest setting I can weld thin materials but I have to move fast. And also what Chris said, there is a limit to how thin of material you can weld with a wire feed. Gas weld brazing is used on thin metals also. It has to be clean and no rust, bear clean metal. The type of metal is important too, could be some kind of alloy metal, may be tin mixed in it or some thing else. My dryer barrow was very hard to weld I burned though a lot. It wasn’t pretty welds by the time I finally got it welded up, and I still have more to weld on it for charcoal gasifier. Hope this helps. Bob
Galvanized metal allso posed a problem. Just a thin lair of zinc can pose a problem.
I just checked “like” on the last few posts because everyone is important. The .023 wire should work, I don’t know of any smaller. Galvanize or Tin or even copper must be ground off. That should get rid of those materials and give you a clean surface to work with. I believe Carl suggested you start a weld on a piece of scrap, then while you are welding, use your other hand toe adjust the wire feed. ( the heat should be on the lowest temp). That is very sensitive, so just adjust a little until you get the bacon sizzle or bee bus. Very important. Finally, as just for something to try, hook you welder up to a 50 or 100 foot extension cord. Then do the wire feed trick again. The resistance of the extension cord will have a cooling effect on your welder.TomC
It’s pretty thin stuff… I think that I mic’ed the ammo can to 3/64ths inch, with paint; and the bucket wasn’t much thicker.
I think that the paint might be the issue. I think that almost all mil-spec paint includes zinc for corrosion resistance, and the bucket had a white paint (usually titanium dioxide based, same issue?) with printed graphics. Both turned to a whitish-yellow powdery film when burned and never really came off, even after: burning yellow-hot with a torch; wire-wheeling a lot; wiping with a damp sponge. The metal still has an oily/chalky feel to it.
Yes, it came set up to do flux-core, but I only made it through 1/2 of the included spoil of flux-core before investing in a gas bottle and swapping the power leads orientation. That was years ago and haven’t gone back since! 
Good stuff Tom, Brain also make sure the wire feed is set up correctly. The traction spool has a small Grove in it and larger Grove for larger wire for the tensioner to rest on. Small wire will not work in the big Grove correctly, it causes inconsistent wire flow. Just turn the small spool around and the wire .023 will go in the small Grove. How do I know about this , you guessed it , I change my .030 wire out to a smaller .023 wire forgot to flip the small spool around. Wire just does not feed right. Had a heck of a time welding
Bob
That’s 20 gauge. Too thin to weld well without a really good welder. Yes it must be sparkling clean to even attempt.
If it’s that thin it won’t last long…
Well, crap… That’s what I have (and what I’ve already cut up). I think the cans that I store my actual ammo in are a bit heavier duty, but I have no replacements for them.
The hopper (already welded on) is also one of those buckets… Damned…
My welder says it can take .030 solid wire, using the larger groove on the feed wheel, but always struggled to feed it; always inconsistent feed speed.
The guy at the welding shop trying to help me fix it took one look at the feed wheel, and said:
“Your machine isn’t actually designed to run .030 solid wire. The larger .030/.035 groove is knurled which is only used for flux-core wire. Running solid wire through a knurled wheel makes thousands of jagged gashes in the smooth coating of the wire which tears into your whip liner and causes the excessive binding you’re facing.”
Brain, I know how you feel, my charcoal gasifier hopper is welded on and I am not sure it is going to work. In times like these I just remember how many attempts Thomas Edison may before he got the light bulb to work. It always makes me feel better. You can always find some heavier material. Just cut it off and weld the new material in its place. I have had to do it my self. I would bet you Wayne has had to do it too, and alot of the other members also. Hang in there you get it done. It’s all part of the other 75 % of the learning.
Bob
Okay your welder is a little different than mine, but you are using .023 wire which is good for thin metal welding. So it just must be just to thin of metal to do wire feed meg. welding with your welder. On the number 1 setting and the speed of the wire is touchy to get it to weld properly.
Bob
Not saying it can’t be done… just that it’s not a great idea. Thin metal is hard to weld and will rust quicker.
If it’s all you’ve got, you can make do. Just be aware of the limitations.
Sorry but I do not concur with your shops analysis of the situation. A knurled wheel for .030 wire may get dimpled. But the smaller diameter.023 will not get the dimples and also will probably not get "gripped ’ as tight as it should.
How about a wild ass test??? I have found that to long of an extension cord changes the performance of my weld. How about trying to put a 60 watt bulb in SERIES with the welder and then try setting it up like previously suggested. It may make the adjustments more sensitive. IF ANY ELECTRICAL PERSON SEES A PROBLEM WITH THIS IDEA, PLEASE JUMP IN. I am not very electrically inclined. TomC
The drive wheel has 2 grooves; one flips it over depending on the wire size used: the .023 groove is smooth; the .030/.035 groove is knurled.
Ok That is normal for most welders. I was mis understanding-- sorry.TomC