Collection: Welding Wire

MIG welding wires supply the metal and determine bead quality as much as the machine settings. A badly chosen or badly stored wire gives spatter, porosity and an irregular bead, whatever the equipment.

The 2 references in the catalogue

• ESAB AristoRod 12.50, MIG wire for unalloyed steels.
• ESAB Autrod 12.51, copper-coated MIG wire.

See also our welding electrodes, our welding machines and our welding helmets.

Copper-coated or uncoated

Copper coating a wire improves electrical contact in the contact tip and protects the wire from corrosion in storage. It is the proven and cheapest solution.

Its drawback is well known: copper flakes off by friction in the liner and contact tip. It builds up there, degrades electrical contact, causes unstable arcs and eventually forces a tip change.

An uncoated wire with advanced surface treatment removes this deposit. The contact tip lasts much longer, fumes decrease, and arc strike stays stable over long runs. It costs more per kilo and pays off on machines that run constantly.

Diameter is chosen by thickness

A thin wire deposits little and allows thin material to be welded without burning through. A thick wire deposits fast but needs a current that thin sheet cannot take.

Changing diameter means changing the contact tip and often the liner. Working with a tip larger than the wire gives intermittent contact, so a sputtering arc: a common defect cause, and easy to rule out.

Storage, often the real cause of porosity

A wire that has absorbed moisture introduces hydrogen into the weld pool. The result is porosity, sometimes invisible on the surface and always detrimental mechanically.

An opened spool left on the feeder in an unheated workshop picks up ambient moisture within a few days. Putting it back in its bag or in a dry cabinet between runs costs less than reworking a bead.