Newbie needs an answer,,,,,

[Doobro]

Newbie here ..... Question
Can you give me an idiots answer to the differnce between Gasless wire and Flux Cored Wire ? Arent both used without gas ? IF I am wrong , then What shielding gas do I use ? What is the reason I would use gassless VS Gas Shielded
What is the part number / maker of an Actual GASLESS wire .
What situation is best for a Fluxcored wire and a Shielding gas ?

Thank you

[K.C. Brashear]

I don't know of any gasless wires that are not also flux cored wire. ESAB makes my favorite flux core (gasless) wire. The part number for the wire is "core shield 15" they basically identify wire the same way that welding rods are... ie 6010 welding rods the "60" idenifys the rod having a tensile strength of 60,000psi the 1 means it is an all position rod and the 0 is the chemical composition of the rod. Flux cored wire would be something like GS-er71t meaning it is a gasless wire, in this case the "7" means that it has a tensile strength of 70,000 psi the 1.. all position and the t means that it is a tubular wire.
There are flux cored wires which require shielding gas as well and this process is commonly refered to as dual shield. A part number for ESAB would be dual shield 111B this paticular wire uses 100% CO2. Basically to find out what kind of gas to use on any dual shield wire is to check with the manufacturer.. there are ways to identify what kind of gas you need based on what type of wire you are using but I am not familiar with those. I hope this all makes since

[MMW]

Generally any wire with a shielding gas is not very good to use outdoors due to wind being able to blow the shielding gas away from the weld. Again just a generalization.

Fluxcore just describes any wire that is tubular & has flux on the inside. Some wires require a shielding gas & some don't.

[cruizer]

There is innershield which doesn't use a gas, requires straight polarity

And fluxcore dual shield which needs a gas overlay, usually CO2 inside or a heavier gas like C25 outside. This is standard reverse polarity.

[Sandy]

This is the long answer. Lesson seven is what you are looking for, the rest also apply in their own way.

http://www.esabna.com/euweb/awtc/lesson7_1.htm