[oldred]

Originally Posted by silentpoet

I didn't realize it was shielded flux core.

It's not.

Twenty gauge is a gas shielded cored wire but it is not flux core, it has a powdered metal core that is entirely different than gas shielded flux core wires (duel shield). It does not leave a slag over the weld bead and it welds much more like solid wire than duel shield wires.


BTW, those duel shield wires are fantastic stuff and would probably be as good or better than Twenty gauge if they were small enough but .035 is as small as I have found and that is just not quite small enough for body work, like .035 solid it could be made to work but .023 solid works better. My favorite is Hobart ExcellArc 71 which is available from .035 up to 3/32" in size, most of my welding is done with ExcellArc in 1/16". It will bridge a gap better than anything I have ever used and will weld overhead almost as easily as welding flat, something most other duel shield wires will not do. You guys who have a MIG welder big enough to burn .035 or even .045 might want to try some of the ExcellArc for general welding, I think you will really like it! It produce an excellent low hydrogen weld that can be used for welding alloy steels or mild steels, basically anything you would use E7018 for.

[jonahb]

Originally Posted by oldred

My favorite is Hobart ExcellArc 71 which is available from .035 up to 3/32" in size, most of my welding is done with ExcellArc in 1/16". It will bridge a gap better than anything I have ever used and will weld overhead almost as easily as welding flat, something most other duel shield wires will not do. You guys who have a MIG welder big enough to burn .035 or even .045 might want to try some of the ExcellArc for general welding, I think you will really like it! It produce an excellent low hydrogen weld that can be used for welding alloy steels or mild steels, basically anything you would use E7018 for.

Oldred, Have you used 71 Elite from lincoln? If you have, which do you like better?

[oldred]

Originally Posted by jonahb

Oldred, Have you used 71 Elite from lincoln? If you have, which do you like better?

No I have not used Elite (yet) but from what I hear it is much the same as the ExcellArc and and by all accounts is an excellent wire. I suppose the difficulty of forming these flux containing wires may make anything less than the .035 size impractical but who knows maybe soon?

[silentpoet]

Well if it is gas shielded what is the advantage over smaller mig wire?

[oldred]

Originally Posted by silentpoet

Well if it is gas shielded what is the advantage over smaller mig wire?

The advantage is that due to the powder core it actually has less mass than a comparable diameter solid wire and thus takes less current to burn. It is without a doubt the easiest to use of ANY wire I have ever tried for welding body panels, much less likely to burn through than even .023 solid and less problems with warpage also.


Finding that stuff in stock really got my interest and I thought maybe it is back in production but apparently that's not the case, I Googled it and that appears to be the only dealer that has any. I hope I'm wrong about that but if it is back in production I can't find any evidence of it, don't know how much they have on hand but it very well may be the last left anywhere. I grabbed a bunch of it from Ebay (payed dearly for it too! ) some time back and I suppose I will not need anymore but still I would like to see it back in production.

[OneMoreTime]

I have some and compared to the 0.23 I normally use the 20 gauge welds like maybe an 0.15 wire..less heat and makes really nice welds in sheet metal..

Sam

[russ69coupe]

Originally Posted by silentpoet

I know this is thread necromancy, but I found this link after reading this thread. Don't know if the company is good to deal with or not, but was considering the wire for working on my caddy. I just don't have the money to buy the conversion kit for my lincoln welder right now, and all the related expenses like a tank etc.

http://www.crumptonws.com/default.as...emcode=HW+TGE5

has any one tried to register there that doesn't have a business? You have to have a customer code, and it seems you have to have a business to get one from the looks of things to me.
Thanks,
Russ