Are you looking for the best MIG wire to weld sheet metal? It is crucial to ensure a consistent setting while doing vertical up welding.
After in-depth market research, our expert team has chosen a few top-quality Mig wires for welding sheet metal. Keep scrolling to learn about them and how to use them.
Comparison Table OF Best Mig Wire For Sheet Metal
| Image | Product | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Inefil ER70S-6 | Check Price |
| Welding City MIG Wire | Check Price |
| Hy-Weld ER70S-6 | Check Price |
| YESWELDER E71TGS | Check Price |
| ARCRAFT ER70S-6 | Check Price |
Can You Use A MIG Welder For Sheet Metal?
You can use a MIG welder for sheet metal. However, it is necessary to weld consciously, mainly when you use wire spools.
MIG welding is simple to handle than TIG welding. But it isn’t that simple to control. Following the wrong method will result in messy issues. Make sure to use thinner wires for sheet metal. Choosing the correct amperage is important too.
Detailed Review Of Mig Wires For Sheet Metal
01. INEFIL ER70S-6 Mig wire
Are you struggling to find a dedicated quality welding wire that offers minimal spatter and fewer impurities?
This Mig wire can help you achieve more productive welding. The unit takes less heat to weld and lays excellent tacks or a bead.
Features
- Best bead profile
- Suitable for high quality weld with low spatter
- Argon & carbon-di-oxide gas is required
- Can be used in all position welding
Your Mig welding task will be easy going due to its increased feed-ability and no porosity issues. Using an 80% argon and 20% carbon dioxide mixture for the Shielding gas is best. You can use the Mig wire for single and multi-pass welding.
NEFIL ER70S-6 is certified by RINA, ABS, DB, LRS, TUV, GL, and DN to ensure the product’s reliability.
What Is It Best For?
INEFIL ER70S is ideal for sheet metals made from carbon and carbon-manganese steels. You can be better at welding just by spending a little extra time.
Good Sides
- Simple to weld
- High feed-ability
- Minimal spatters
- A decent bead appearance
Downside
- A few complained about wire tangling or binding
02. Welding City MIG Wire ER70S-6
When it comes to sheet metal or carbon steel, copper-coated welding wires are the best choice.
Their high-grade copper coating ensures a tight adherence to wire and no or minimal copper flaking issues.
Features
- Copper coated gas shielded mig wire
- AWS A5.18 certified and approved mig wire
- Diameter: 0.023″ 0.030″, 0.035″ and 0.045″
The welding system will ensure practical contact with current-conducting items. Also, it will protect the sheet metal from unwanted corrosion. You can use the welding wire for the GMAW welding process.
The MIG wire is available in four sizes that have international standards. You don’t have to worry about the product quality because a moisture-resistant plastic film covers the entire spool.
What Is It Best For?
Welding City ER70S-6 is an excellent choice for sheet metal and carbon steels to achieve precise control in the welding process. Even if any restriction occasionally occurs in the feed system, you will not experience any tangle issues due to its increased tensile strength.
Good Sides
- Four sizing options
- Affordable
- AWS and SF standard
Downside
- Bad packaging by Amazon
- Not the best quality wire
03. Hy-Weld ER70S-6 Mig Wire
Features
- Mild steel mig wire
- AWS A5.18-05 certified and approved mig wire
- Diameter: 0.023″ 0.030″ 0.035″ & 0.045″
- Wire type: ER70S-6
Can’t wait to produce high-quality welds? You may become a fan of Hy-Weld ER70S-6. The Mig wire has triple de-oxidized components to prevent the unwanted formation of harmful oxides and porosity
In addition, it has an increased amount of silicon and manganese than typical MIG wires. This makes the welding less prone to cracking. Also, it ensures better fluidity of your welding pool.
The inclusion of manganese components will improve the metallurgical properties, hardness, stiffness, and strength of the sheet metal. This MIG wire is available in three sizes: .023″, .030″, and 035″. It has AWS A5.18-0 standards for the reliability of the product.
What Is It Best For?
Hy-Weld ER70S-6 is an excellent choice for sheet metal. Welds will come out smoothly without any issues. It offers unbeatable value for the price point.
Good Sides
- Clean burning
- Smooth flow
- Decent penetration
- Better stiffness and strength welds
Downside
- A few complained about the corrosion in the outer part
04. YESWELDER E71TGS (Flux Core Mig Wire)
Features
- Flux core mig wire
- AWS A5.20 certified and approved mig wire
- Diameter: 0.030″
- Wire type: E71TGS
Do you prefer more portability? You might be thinking of using a MIG wire that doesn’t require using any Shielding gas, right?
YESWELDER E71TGS is a Gasless flux cored welding wire. This option appears more practical and forgiving if you haven’t prepared the sheet metal perfectly. It comes in handy to produce a high-quality and robust weld.
You will get a full slag coverage that will cause minimal loss of the welding elements. This will ensure better protection for the arc. Welders can expect to have excellent directional control over the weld pool with the least amount of spatter. The overall appearance of the bead will be improved too.
What Is It Best For?
YESWELDER E71TGS is the best choice for windy outdoor conditions where you don’t want to use a shielding gas. It appears to be a convenient option for achieving medium penetration for sheet metal.
Good Sides
- Better slag coverage and convenient removal
- Increased feed-ability
- Minimal spatter
- No burn-through issues
Downside
- Not ideal for interior conditions
05. ARCRAFT ER70S-6 (Solid Mig Wire)
Features
- Solid Mig wire
- AWS A5.18 certified and approved mig wire
- Diameter: 0.023″
- Wire type: ER70S-6
How about experiencing the smoothest running wire? ARCRAFT ER70S-6 can exceed your expectation in many ways. The MIG wire comes with additional deoxidizers for precise and neat welding. Achieving a flatter bead seems simple. Also, it minimizes the chance of developing unwanted oxides and porosity.
The MIG wire ensures increased feed-ability and better arc control. You don’t have to worry about a decent wedge wetting and contour because it has AWS A5.18 ER70S-6 certification.
Other advantages of this MIG wire is increased deposition efficiency, a small amount of smoke and spatter consistent arc and simple restrike.
What Is It Best For?
This option appears to be a perfect pick if you prefer a good-performing solid MIG wire at a reasonable price.
You can use the product for both single and multi-pass welding in all positions.
Good Sides
- High-quality and neat welding
- Smooth arc
- Easy restrike
- A decent, flatter bead
Downside
- Package quality could be better
How to Weld Sheet Metal With Mig Wire
Welding sheet metal with Mig wire requires you to consider the following essential factors.
- Use a Correct Mig Wire Size for Different Gauge Sheet Metal
If you are welding light gauge sheet metal, a .023- or .024-inch wire is the best option. But if the gauge sheet metal is slightly thicker, you can use a .030-inch Mig wire.
- Higher Argon Gas for Mig Welding Sheet Metal
It is a solid rule of thumb to use an increased amount of argon for the shielding gas. The argon gas should be between 75 to 95 percent. And keep the carbon dioxide between 5 to 25 percent. You will see a minimal amount of spatter because argon does not carry as much heat as carbon dioxide. It also helps achieve excellent penetration and arc stability.
- Different Sheet Metals Compatibility
You can use various MIG wires for 304 stainless steel, such as ER308LSI, ER308L, and ER308.
The wire needs to be resistant to corrosion and oxidation. But, when it comes to welding 316L stainless, a 316L wire is necessary. The wire has chromium-nickel-molybdenum properties to ensure greater ductility after hardening and increased protection against corrosion.
- Light-duty Mig guns for sheet metals
Light-duty Mig guns are the best choice when it comes to welding sheet metals. Due to thin metals, it requires using short arc-on times.
Usually, Mig guns with 100 to 300 amperages are enough for sheet metals. Welders will get more portability due to their compact design with a small handle.
- Choose Small-diameter Tips For Sheet Metals
It is always better to choose small-diameter tips for sheet metals. But it needs to be compatible with the welding item.
Tips for Mig Welding Sheet Metal
- Instead of running a single continuous head across the welding joint, go for several sessions to avoid increased heat input.
- To ensure better penetration, follow a straight line to move the torch at a quick speed.
- Avoid moving too slowly. Otherwise, it will cause increased heat issues.
- Use several tack welds to reduce unwanted distortion.
- If you need additional penetration, raise the amps a little more.
- Use a backing bar for faster heat dissipation.
- Before attaching both metal pieces, measure them twice to ensure no gap between the welded parts after welding.
- Make sure to use smaller electrodes than the primary metal. Aim at using lower than ⅛ inch electrodes for better and consistent results.
Guide to Choose Right Mig Wire
Consider the following factors before choosing mig wire for your sheet metal welding project. Lets go through the factors-
1. Use a Correct Mig Wire Size for Different Gauge Sheet Metal
If you are welding light gauge sheet metal, a .023- or .024-inch wire is the best option. But if the gauge sheet metal is slightly thicker, you can use a .030-inch Mig wire.
2. Higher Argon Gas for Mig Welding Sheet Metal
It is a solid rule of thumb to use an increased amount of argon for the shielding gas. The argon gas should be between 75 to 95 percent. And keep the carbon dioxide between 5 to 25 percent.
You will see a minimal amount of spatter because argon does not carry as much heat as carbon dioxide. It also helps achieve excellent penetration and arc stability.
3. Different Sheet Metals Compatibility
You can use various MIG wires for 304 stainless steel, such as ER308LSI, ER308L, and ER308. The wire needs to be resistant to corrosion and oxidation.
But, when it comes to welding 316L stainless, a 316L wire is necessary. The wire has chromium-nickel-molybdenum properties to ensure greater ductility after hardening and increased protection against corrosion.
4. Light-duty Mig guns for sheet metals
Light-duty Mig guns are the best choice when it comes to welding sheet metals. Due to thin metals, it requires using short arc-on times. Usually, Mig guns with 100 to 300 amperages are enough for sheet metals. Welders will get more portability due to their compact design with a small handle.
5. Choose Small-diameter Tips For Sheet Metals
It is always better to choose small-diameter tips for sheet metals. But it needs to be compatible with the welding item.
The Benefits and Shortcomings of Mig Welding Sheet Metal
Benefits
The key benefit of Mig welding a sheet metal is a cost-effectiveness. You don’t need to use any vast, powerful, expensive MIG unit to weld these thin metals.
Additionally, no thicker weld is necessary for joining or welding sheet metal when you choose mig. This will save you money.
Plus, it is not necessary to practice coordination as much as you need to do in TIG welding. After all, MIG welding is a beginner-friendly method.
Problems
One of the main issues with Mig welding sheet metal is controlling the heat input. Make sure to keep the heat lower due to the thin metals. Otherwise, it will blow out or warp.
You may need to spend extra time welding the sheet metal because of the lower heat. But, a few practices will help you find a balanced heat to avoid wasting time.
They are-
- Use pulsed mig welding to avoid burn through of the metal and make the sheet metal welding easier
- You should choose filler metal carefully considering temperature of the service area, base alloy and formability. It will help you to ease the process while reducing the risk of overheating the metal during the process. Use .035 inch ER70S-6 filler metal for welding aluminum sheet metal and .023-.025 inch wire for other metals.
- Put special attention to the possibility of warpage. Properly put the base and sheet metal to be welded tightly so that the gap between the metals is not large.
- Keep the travel speed high enough to reduce the risk of burn-through the metal. But to what extend? As fastest as possible consistent to the bead profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the best Mig wire for automotive sheet metal?
.023 Mig wire is the best choice for automotive sheet metal. They ensure a decent weld penetration with no chance of burning through.
2. How do you weld sheet metal without distortion?
You can weld sheet metal without distortion by using a set of tack welds to cover the entire joint. Make sure to put both pieces of metal closely together to ensure no burning issues.
3. What is the thinnest size metal that can be Mig welded?
You can use MIG weld for 1mm thick steel sheet metal or higher. But keeping the wire size less than the metal thickness is crucial.
Final Thoughts
So, which option seemed to be the best Mig wire for sheet metal? Choosing a particular option requires considering different welding conditions and skills.
Make sure to take precise measurements to avoid having any holes or gaps after welding two pieces of metal. Also, follow the tips mentioned above for a better welding result.
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