I am welding some patch panels in a 67 mustang and am having trouble getting a good weld. I am using .030 steel wire and Argon/CO2 mix gas. It will weld good for a few seconds then starts popping and sputtering and even burn holes.. Is .030 wire too much for an 85 amp welder. I have my heat setting half way and my speed is also about half way. I am butt welding cowl patch panels and I think they are 18 guage. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I use .023 wire with a century 85 amp welder with very good results, i tried the heaver wire and it did not weld thin sheetmetal as well as .023. I use argon co2 mix gas. Your welder should handle that wire size, try it on a .125 thick steel and see if it welds consistent, if it starts acting up after a few seconds then somethings is wrong, wire feed,gas flow, dirty nozzle.

I use .023 wire with a century 85 amp welder with very good results, i tried the heaver wire and it did not weld thin sheetmetal as well as .023. I use argon co2 mix gas. Your welder should handle that wire size, try it on a .125 thick steel and see if it welds consistent, if it starts acting up after a few seconds then somethings is wrong, wire feed,gas flow, dirty nozzle.

and I will add the possibility of mis-assembly or bad diodes.
These are handy little machines but it took me awhile to figure it out. It kicked my chubby little butt for about a year. I was almost ready to admit I wasn't capable of using one.

These things use a pair of spiders, each containing 6 "bullet diodes" some of mine had been installed upside down during manufacture. They quickly vented their magic smoke and those remaining alive and correct felt compelled to limit the already limited power even more. Once you look into one of these things, it is easy to see how this could happen. The diodes are about the size and configuration of a thick button cell camera battery. Only a small dot of paint tells you which side is which.

Since that time, I have encountered 2 more of these machines with dead diodes. Since Lincoln bought Century, parts aren't always easy to find. EBay, however, always seems to have a cheap selection of huge diodes just begging for conversion use. So far, it seems to be a viable fix.

WDSmith