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is it possible to weld stainless steel with my licoln 135plus mig welder. im using the solid wire, and argon//co2 gas. is it possible? i remember hearing somewhere that welding stainless will give off bad fumes that will make you sick. did i hear that wrong or is it true? if it is, what can i do to change that so that i can weld it. thanks in advance

you can weld stainless with a regular mig welder, it's just not as pretty as tig welding. it welds just like mild steel. you might be thinking of galvanized steel giving off the fumes. that stuff is nasty!

thats probably what i was thinking about. then ill have no problems with welding stainless? thanks for the help

i've done it before and i'm still alive! practice on some scrap first just to make sure you have the settings right, but it should be a piece of cake.

cool. i can get lots of scrap as i have a friend that works with the stuff and he can get all the stuff he wants for me. thanks for the help

You need a different type of spools of wire though, and maybe differnt type of gas also. They have spools for stainless welding, I doubt the regualr wires won't stick or work correctly as is.

you can use your regular steel wire. they do it at muffler shops all day long with the same welder they use on mild steel.

i havent gotten a chance to try it yet but im excited to. ill let you know how it turns out with my current wire and gas

Regular wire will work but you will get rusting from the carbon steel at the joint. Muffler shops usually use a grade of stainless that is a trade-off between affordability and durability - it will rust and eventually wear out anyway. Lotta shops torch and braze too.

I've done a bit of work on food, beverage and pharmaceutical plumbing installs that use 316 stainless. Always tig that stuff with 100% argon cover and then micropolish with 220 grit.

In those installs we are anal about never using carbon steel anywhere. Even the wire brushes we clean with, the hammers we pound with - everything is stainless so we don't get carbon steel contamination.

Only other thing you need to worry about is chromium depletion. If you get it too hot for too long the chromium will run out of the welded area and you will get localized rust.

If you are building a custom exhaust and don't mind cleaning up the welds occasionally, go nuts - it'll stick it together. For mig with carbon steel wire and stainless try C25 as a cover gas. With stainless wire go for 100% argon.

Check out Burns Stainless Exshaust. They talk about what kinds of mild an stainless combos can work. When I build my stainless exhasut, it's gonna be 100% from flanges and tube to the wire. This way I'll never have to worry about corrosion.

warrenbaity wrote:is it possible to weld stainless steel with my licoln 135plus mig welder. im using the solid wire, and argon//co2 gas. is it possible? i remember hearing somewhere that welding stainless will give off bad fumes that will make you sick. did i hear that wrong or is it true? if it is, what can i do to change that so that i can weld it. thanks in advance

you should get the proper spool of wire for it .As far as toxic fumes I know if you are (stick welding with 316 stainless rods) there are
some very toxic fumes given off not to be confused with galvinized.also argon is just an inert gas to shield away oxygen fom the weld it will work.

To weld stainless with a MIG properly you need to use stainless wire and Tri-mix gas ( A argon, CO2,Helium mixture ) If you just want to weld it together the mild steel wire will work but will rust.

I've welded stainless with my Lincoln 100. I use stainless wire and 100% argon. Works fine.

I've also welded aluminum with the same MIG. Requires a bit more set up, but works well.

Welded 316L , used stailess 316L wire and 100% argon, contrary to belief the exaust will turn brown from heat, it will not retain the shinny stainless look.