Which welding wire is the right one?

A MIG welding wire is indispensable for arc welding because it is inserted into the construction during welding and thus creates a strong connection. MIG welding wires are located on wire rolls and are differentiated depending on the material, roll and wire diameter. When choosing the right MIG welding wire, you must consider the material composition, the quality, and the suitable wire diameter for the welding current. As a rule, the thicker the welding wire, the stronger the materials that can be welded with it. However, the material composition, which depends on the application, is particularly important when making the selection. The right choice depends on the material and material thickness that you want to weld. The rule applies that the additional material is the same as the material of the workpiece. You can choose from the following types of welding wire:

Solid wire

– Solid wire refers to welding wires such as steel and stainless steel, which require a protective gas to prevent oxidation during the welding process. The shielding gas guarantees a stable arc and protects the liquid weld pool from the ingress of air from the atmosphere. This variant is used by more than 80% of users because it produces less spatter, and the seams are of better quality than those produced by welding without gas. Solid wires are also gentler on the wire feed in the device due to their higher column cross-section strength, they are also stiffer and do not bend as easily. A gas cylinder, a manometer, and a wire feed roller with a V-groove are used for welding with solid wire. The protective gas used for steel (82% argon and 18% CO2) and stainless steel (97.5% argon and 2.5% CO2).

Solid Wire
FLUX-Cored Wire

Cored Wire / FLUX / Gasless Wire

– These wires consist of a thin metallic jacket that is filled with powder and layered with metal compounds and then rolled into a cylinder to shape the finished wire. At high temperatures, the FLUX wire creates an atmosphere with protective gas, which means that you do not need a gas cylinder or manometer for use. The cored wire is softer than the solid wire and behaves in a similar way to the aluminum wire when it is fed to the workpiece, which can mean less safety in feeding and possible crushing of the wire when it exits the drive. For cored wire, you will find special knurled wire feed rollers which have small teeth in the groove so that the wire is better gripped and thus a better feed is created, but over time the surface of the welding wire will slowly erode, which can lead to blockages in the wire guide A V-groove roller for cored wire can also be used, thanks to which one can avoid a blockage at the price of lower feed quality. Compared to solid wire, cored wire welding has the advantage that you do not need any accessories for gas, you can also do work outside, but there are also disadvantages because this method creates more spatter, the slag must be removed, and the quality of the seams is poorer than with inert gas welding. Shielding gas is not used for cored wire.

Soft wire/aluminium wire

– Aluminium welding is considered to be a more demanding welding process because it has the disadvantage that the material is softer and can therefore easily deform or bend and get caught when the wire is fed into MIG MAG welding machines. On the other hand, it has the advantage, compared to steel, that it is a very light material, which is durable, weather-resistant and has very high strength. In contrast to cored wire or solid wire, a wire feed roller with a U-shaped groove is used for aluminium. Since aluminium is softer and easy to bend, the U-groove creates more grip and stability, thanks to which the feeding of the soft wire is made easier without kinking or deforming. In addition to the U-groove wire roll, a Teflon core with a brass spiral must also be used for aluminium; this is built into the torch so that the wire is perfectly guided through the torch to the gas nozzle. The devices are often equipped with a metal core, which is why you must replace this with a Teflon core when welding aluminium. The best shielding gas for aluminium welding is argon.

Aluminium Wire