Stainless 304 welding 16 ga

by MIKE
(Naperville IL)

Hi Jody,
Have a borrowed a V205, owner is no help(he hasn't used it yet). Bought the Kobalt $130 helmet seems very good. The tank says Argon gas but I have no idea how pure it is. How do you tell?

Anyway need to weld 16 ga 304SS, 400 inches of curved welds. Mostly butt welds, 50 inches of fillet, 10 inches of lap.
Please recommend the following to help me out.

I bought some 1/16 gold tipped lanthenum electrodes OK?: yep, i like either 2% thor or lanth.
Filler rod size and type: I bought .042 304L OK?:
Gas type: argon
Gas flow rate:15-20 cfh
Gas lens cup/nozzle size: gas lens #7 = 7/16
How far should electrode stick out past cup/nozzle: around 7/16"
pulsed? duration on/off: off
amps:set machine on 70 but only use what you need to get bead about .200 wide
post amps:low
ramp up: off or low
post flow seconds: 7 sec
Anything else you can think of?:

I did the first 15" of fusion (no rod) butt weld, essentially like seeming a pipe for which I had acceptable results except when I got to the end, I had a 1/4" of burn through. I used 32A non-pulsed for this. But now for the rest of the project, a round tank float, I tried to put down a single tack and it warped on me. I stopped, ground off the weld since the joint separated. It cooled and is flat again and now I really need your help, before I attempt it again. I'm thinking the rod I bought might be too thick(.042).

Another frustrating thing, the torch won't always start. With the pipe part of the project, I did it in several steps(2" long) after first tacking the two ends with rod. I did 2", then waited a few minutes, go to do another 2" and it won't start, hold the electrode 1/16" away nothing. The gas comes on, but I don't see the spark jumping. After 5,6 ,7..10 pedal presses, it finally starts. For times when it starts I can usually see healthy half inch long spark before the arc flames. Its so intermittant its driving me crazy. Have you heard of this happeneing before?


Thank you,

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these machines have a preflow setting that will drived you nuts if its set wrong.

I got a phone call the other day from a friend who was using a dynasty 200dx and it would not start. preflow was set to 10 seconds.

you only need like .2 sec of preflow, and you really dont even need it on at all for most stuff. but these inverters have all kinds of settings that are in hidden menus.

if you verify that the preflow is not a problem, then make sure your electrode is really sharp and ground with a fine grit.

if prob is still there, you will probably have to live with it for this job.

as far as filler metal goes, .042 sounds great for 16 ga.

for lap joints, you may have to hold the joint down right next to where you tack weld and hit it quick with amperage to make it fuse before it warps or spreads open, you may have to tack weld lap joints every inch or 2.