Mig Welding Copper

When welding thick copper with preheats of over 250 c and welding currents of more than 350 amps then the health and safety of the welder and personnel working in the vicinity must be considered.

Mig welding copper.

Using mig equipment and silicon bronze welding wire makes joining copper an easier more repeatable quality process. Silicon bronze is a kind of hybrid mig welding brazing technique. Mig brazing may not be a familiar process to many but it is no stranger in the welding world. It is often necessary to raise the temperature level of the sheet in an area 6 0 to 12 0 in.

I ordered a two pound spool just to try it. Depending on if you are using tig tungsten inert gas or mig metal inert gas and the thickness of your copper you will need to adjust the ratio of your gas and temperature. Mig welding uses an arc of electricity to create a short circuit between a continuously fed anode the wire fed welding gun and a cathode the metal being welded. 100 de ox copper wire is available but pricey.

If the copper is thicker you will need to adjust the gas and amp by applying helium and upping the. Lagging the item being welded with thermal blankets is essential as is the provision of adequate screening from the very powerful tig or mig arc. Use the proper gas ratio. Mig brazing is a welding process that has been around for years and is gaining popularity with professionals and hobbyists alike due to the benefits it can offer especially with silicon bronze filler metal.

I might buy some silicon bronze wire to try that. Safe for our use the mds sheet shows it is 96 copper 2 silicon 1 manganese 1 nickel. The silicon bronze wire heating requirements aren t enough to melt the copper base. As a general rule of thumb copper under 2 mm should have argon gas and up to 160 a applied.

You can use a mig welder and gun to essentially braze the materials together. He said most guys mig welding copper use silicon bronze wire but the color doesn t match. It looks kind of yellow.