Thread: Kemppi MiniArc 180 Observations. Advice Needed.

Yeah Justin, I think the computer is probably setup for 0.8 wire or something other than 0.6.
My Kemppi although a different model seems to run well with the wire it set up for so that's what I run in it and keeps it simpler.
You should however be able to run your machine in manual settings and get a good result with 0.6.
Try some 0.8 and turn it right down to the weld the panel material, it should handle it Ok.

Well I spent a few hours on Sunday playing with my MIG on the manual setting.

I'll grab some pictures and post this evening.

The aim was to get a feel for the settings and then try and relate that to my old MIG roughly as a starting point. My old MIG had only 4 power settings and wire speed.

The Kemppi has a range of wire speed from: 1mm/min to 12mm/min
and Voltage from: 12.0 Volts to 23.0 Volts.

I was welding on some 2mm sheet were i ground off so it was nice and clean. I found that it would weld ok from wire speed 5.0mm/min to 8.0mm/min all at 18 Volts. (in 0.5mm/min increments)

It basically sounded fine and the different wire speeds gave more penetration as they got higher.

The welds looked "OK" but not as clean as I have come to expect and not with the little bit of copper on top at one end. Penetration was fine spatter was quite low.

The pictures will no doubt help.

I think part of the issue is that I need to get used to the settings as I have gone from 4 fixed settings to 120 odd voltage settings.

I down loaded a wire speed/volatge calculator BUT it doesn't cover 0.6 wire and is not in metric.

Don't suppose anyone knows of any metric speed/voltage calculators?

Cheers

Justin

The correct volt/speed combinations for MIG is something I've searched high and low for. People point at the Miller calculator, but it's in imperial and the numbers it spits out don't make sense.

As for frying bacon and all that, you can get that sound at a number of different wire and volt combos - doesn't mean you're getting good penetration, just a nice-looking bead.

The figures I've come up with are partially derived from that Miller calculator, another calculator I found, and a Youtube video of a fancy-arsed welder made by "Kemppi" in auto mode where the operator dials in the section thickness and desired weld profile - you could see the corresponding volt and speed settings, and the machine was set to CO2, which suits my beer gas setup.

1.6mm: 18v 6.5m/min
2mm: 20v 8m/min
3mm: 24v 12m/min

Originally Posted by RustyArc

The correct volt/speed combinations for MIG is something I've searched high and low for. People point at the Miller calculator, but it's in imperial and the numbers it spits out don't make sense.

As for frying bacon and all that, you can get that sound at a number of different wire and volt combos - doesn't mean you're getting good penetration, just a nice-looking bead.

The figures I've come up with are partially derived from that Miller calculator, another calculator I found, and a Youtube video of a fancy-arsed welder made by "Kemppi" in auto mode where the operator dials in the section thickness and desired weld profile - you could see the corresponding volt and speed settings, and the machine was set to CO2, which suits my beer gas setup.

1.6mm: 18v 6.5m/min
2mm: 20v 8m/min
3mm: 24v 12m/min

Mine has the fancy screen!

But though it says it can handle 0.6mm wire it just doesn't seem quite right when welding. That's why I have been trying the manual setting.

Thing is with 0.8mm SS the fancy screen is brilliant and adjustments to fine tune is dead easy with good welds in terms of appearance and penetration.

Your higher settings on my welder would result in as much weld on the bottom as there is on top. But I'll give your settings a go anyway.

Cheers

Justin

Originally Posted by Jarh73

Your higher settings on my welder would result in as much weld on the bottom as there is on top. But I'll give your settings a go anyway.

Whoops. Those numbers are for 0.8mm! I had read earlier that you were using 0.6 but I forgot when I posted this

I tried 0.9mm wire in mine to start with and I honestly thought the machine was broken, tried 0.8mm wire and could understand why people like the machine so much.
talk about chalk and cheese

Originally Posted by bowseruni

I tried 0.9mm wire in mine to start with and I honestly thought the machine was broken, tried 0.8mm wire and could understand why people like the machine so much.
talk about chalk and cheese

Very very interesting! Kinda confirming my gut feeling.

Like I said 0.8mm stainless it did everything I required of it. I only adjusted material thickness. I found that material thickness of say 1.5mm meant penetration right through 1.5mm in fact you had almost equal weld above and below. (and yes I was was controlling the torch at the correct speed and not going to slow in fact it kinda forces you to weld quite quickly in terms of travel speed)

Starting to think I need to get me some 0.8mm wire.

Cheers

Justin

Did you swap the rollers around/over to suit the 0.6 wire and adjust the wire tension ?

Originally Posted by Dobre

Did you swap the rollers around/over to suit the 0.6 wire and adjust the wire tension ?

Absolutely!

Cheers

Justin

Well time for an update.

I had two wins today with the Kemppi:

1) Found MIG wire that easily fits in the cover! Boss brand wire.
2) I tried 0.8mm wire and all is well! Welds look great feels right and much better control over the weld quality it terms of settings.

So I'm a very happy camper now.

Cheers

Justin

surprising how much better they work with 0.8mm wire, I could have sworn mine was broken when using 0.9mm wire

Originally Posted by bowseruni

surprising how much better they work with 0.8mm wire, I could have sworn mine was broken when using 0.9mm wire

Just have to try on 1mm steel now. That's the thickness I use for most vehicle rust repairs.

I was welding 1.6 RHS today and had it set to 1.3mm and it worked perfectly.

I have a lot more confidence in the Kemppi now.

Just wish someone could explain exactly why other wire sizes don't work.

Cheers

Justin