MIG Welder Settings: MIG Welding Basics for Beginners

How to set wire feed speed and voltage on a MIG welder.

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The wire speed on a MIG welder will be based on material thickness. The wire feed speed and voltage for 1/8 inch thick steel will be lower than for 1/4 inch thick steel. In this video I will walk you through the process of adjusting your MIG welding settings to get a quality weld. This is part of a series on how to MIG weld for beginners. ****Affiliate Notice****
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[maustinau]

You taught me more about Mig welding in 5 minutes than I've learned from 6 months of poring over YouTube, you legend! Thanks Tim, keep up the amazing work!

[cephasmartin]

I'm an old, old stick welder, but I have always wanted a mig welder, so at 72 I bought a good one. Luckily, it came with a thickness gauge and inside of the cover to the wire storage and drive mechanism is a chart for the recommended settings. The little welding that I've done with it, the recommended settings give me excellent results. I've chosen to use flux core wire because I don't do enough welding to justify the hassle of using gas. My welder is dual voltage, but thus far I've only welded with 110 volts, but I have a project pending where I'll need 220 volts because of the thickness of the metal I'll be welding. I appreciate these welding videos because there are differences between stick and mig welding. I wish I could have afforded a mig welder when I was young. Being a farmer, it seemed like there was always something that needed to be welded.

[MBwelding]

I’ve been welding for a living almost 20 years all with smaw . Every time I touched a mig it was just a fight, and since my work is outside 99% of the time I just never really learned. This helped so much thank you for sharing your experience. I’m looking forward to doing more shop work with my mig set up.

[queuerious]

Tim, thanks for this short lesson. Directly from your teaching, I’ve made more sense of wire welding (the curious relationship of wire speed and ultimately heat into the work piece) than a lot of readings on the web. Thanks!

[deanford]

Best description I’ve seen of what the arc is doing in short circuit and why voltage affects the transfer process.

[GodlessArtist]

Thank you for making these videos. Truly.
I am a theatre carpenter and I'm starting to be asked to fabricate some things which need steel structure. I learned stick welding 20 years ago and have never had the opportunity to use mig. Now that I have access to a welder, I'm starting fresh and your tutorials are going to keep me safe and shorten my learning curve a lot!

[mnkb]

Really nice video and explained well. With not a bunch of talking. Straight to the point. Thank you!

[bud]

Tim, I watched this 6 months ago, and still keep referring to it. Thanks you gain love these type videos.

[nicholascrosby]

This is a tremendous help. I hadn't welded in a LONG time and forgot all the basics. This and the technique video are a must for anyone how wants to start with mig welding.

[davidgates]

I was taught to weld with a torch and stick in high school metal shop class. I was taught to TIG weld in college during exam week right before I graduated (perks of having a job working for the Physics department -- this was not part of any curriculum). My gift for my first father's day was a MIG. I had to teach myself. Now we have YouTube (YouTube did not come out until my first born was almost 10). Some of the videos have helped a little. This is the first one to explain what is actually going on. I have been setting the voltage first and have nearly always had to set it at the highest. I know that can't be right. I am going to try it your way, and perhaps I will be able to get decent welds all the time instead of having my "good days and bad days" like I do now.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video and actually explain how the welding process works. For those of us with an educational background in Physics, we learn better when we understand the how and why in addition to the what.

[stuartlloyd]

Perfectly explained with no silly music or nonsense, just the useful stuff explained in a sensible way.

[nryme]

Thank you for this no-nonsense, easy-to-follow and clearly explained video!

I recently started welding (DIY) and I keep struggling with figuring out the right settings on my machine. Turns out I went the other way around and started with setting the voltage and trying to match the wire speed.

Now... on to your other videos! I hope they are as informative as this one.

[powerwagon]

Thanks! I have been using a flux core Lincoln for 20 years and I got pretty good at it for a part timer but now I just got a Millermatic 200 and It is like starting over the learning curve. Just subscribed.

[MadQuixote]

Thank you! Getting back into welding after 10+ years and this is exactly what I forgot. A lot of useful info in such a short vid, you're awesome!

[carthius]

I love the sound of a Mig running smooth theres something soothing about that hiss it gives. It drives me insane when im watching something like Forged in Fire when they are trying to mig metal together and its just popping like a firecracker and you just see bird nest all over it

[chrisseitz]

That was one of the biggest helps that I have heard on understanding the settings. I had it completely backwards. Thank you for your explanation.

[Choober]

THE BEST MIG welding tutorial I have seen on the internet. Subbed, liked. EXCELLENT.

[jku]

And thank you for addressing the problems- all of which I experienced and didn’t understand why. Excellent

[totalplacementstaffing]

I have been trying to learn Mig. You gave SUPER info that is exactly what I needed to hear. Specifically, the sound we need to be listing for and just as important, how to adjust for problems, too cold or too hot. SUPER vid. Keep it up!

[dannydalton]

Great video to explain how to set up any machine! Needed a lil brush up before this weld test/job interview, thanks man!