Do mig welders hate magnets?

232mako · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 266

Howdy all, I have a 110, 140 amp 100 % duty cycle snap-on mig welder that I have owned for over ten years and it welds like a dream up to � inch metal, my question is when I use welding magnets to hold something in place the welder will spit sputter and the weld will only puddle on top of the metal, I did not make the connection until recently always thinking it was dirty metal or some snafu, but last week I was welding up a propane tank mount on the front of a friends trailer and every time I put the magnet to hold something the welder would start spitting and when it is removed it welded fine, just curious if anybody else has seen or experienced this perplexing phenomenon.

Hell Fire Grill · Posted: Nov 10 2010 Post subject:

Sounds like the magnet could be causing arc blow. Theres lots of information on google about it.

232mako · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 266

tacklebox · Posted: Nov 10 2010 Post subject:

232mako · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 266

TrailerBuilder · Posted: Nov 10 2010 Post subject:

I did a welding job for a buddy once that has a winery. He has some conveyors with powerful magnets that were ceramic coated. You could not get within 12 to 16 inches of it and the welds would start getting crazy. Just something with the magnetic field I figured. Key was, stay away from the magnets when welding!
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tiznutbrnt · BBQ Fan Joined: 12 Aug 2010 Posts: 315 Location: Wisconsin

Change polarity ??
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evil16v · BBQ Fan Joined: 25 Sep 2009 Posts: 154 Location: Kansas

YES!!! they do hate magnets. do enought to get a tack, remove your magnet, and weld. I had the issue with my slides for my racks. i just tacked and then moved the magnet and all was well.
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232mako · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 266

232mako · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 266

Teleking · Posted: Nov 11 2010 Post subject:

232mako · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 266

daddywoofdawg · Posted: Nov 11 2010 Post subject:

Magnet stick to metal,welding rod is metal rod wants to go to the magnet.
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wnkt · Posted: Nov 12 2010 Post subject:

Electricity and magnetism are closely related...think ElectroMagnets
when electricity flows in a wire there is a magnetic field...so a stronger magnetic field can influence electric flow
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killswitch505 · Posted: Nov 12 2010 Post subject:

we build a lot of fences out of drill stem around here (and its only slightly magnetized) and it is way hard to weld probably the hardest thing I've ever had to weld
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ggarner · Posted: Nov 12 2010 Post subject:

I dont think changing the polarity will do anything, because you are running a DC machine. As was suggested earlier remove the magnets after you are done tacking.

Machines which run on DC current are pretty notorious for being subject to arc blow from either magnetized material or magnets near the welding site. AC machines do not experience arc blow nearly to the same extent, so if you have to weld near a magnet or on magnetized material the easiest way to overcome this is to AC stick weld it.

Another way to demagnetize material is to heat it up with a torch until its red hot and when it cools the atoms will reorient themselves in a more random fashion usually getting rid of the magnetism.