Tried welding with straight flux-core on a project last month in Phoenix

I was working on a fence gate and ran out of gas for my MIG. Switched to flux-core wire and honestly the weld penetration was way better. No wind issues either which is huge in Phoenix. Anyone else notice flux-core beats solid wire for outdoor work?

2 comments

2 Comments

taragrant28d ago

yeah but were you running the polarity right? I see so many guys just swap the wire and leave it on DC positive for solid wire and then wonder why flux core spits all over. That might be part of why you saw better penetration. What thickness metal were you on?

ramirez.caleb28d ago

16ga mild steel, flux core on DCEN like it should be. Switched to DCEP once just to see and it looked like garbage, porosity everywhere. Flux core needs that negative terminal for clean penetration on anything under 1/4 inch.