Welding woes...frustrating!!

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1973Barracuda said:
I don’t necessarily condone this, but you can get 220 from two 110 plugs. Pros will tell you not to do this, but other dudes will tell you they have been doing it for decades.

I would never want to learn MIG with flux. Yes, I know and understand budget sometimes trumps quality.

I am on board with save up for a better Miller, Hobart, Lincoln etc and going from there. 220 if possible. Gas. Craigslist has bargains sometimes.
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There is a GRAVE danger to doing this, and I HAVE done so (I live alone!!!)

FIRST you must have a 220V service, and find two outlets that are on opposite sides of the buss.

DANGER!!!! If one plug somehow comes out of the outlet, THAT MALE PLUG IS NOW HOT with 120V to other grounded objects, as well as across the progs of the plug. This is not only a danger to the "perpetrator" but to pets, kids, other family and friends.

If you don't have "handy" 220, it's usually far far easier to "rig" a temporary connection at the box. Get the necessary dual breakers and install in the box. Buy some "big" romex (a 4 wire welder needs 3 conductors + ground) (a 3 wire welder needs 2 hots and ground)

Just make up a temporary extension cord with your romex and don't drag it around, snag it, or leave it out more than necessary to get the welding done.
 
dogbreath said:
Don´t waste any more time with the flux core. Tractor supply has the Hobart 140 on sale for $499 buy one and never look back.
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Dont take this the wrong way but if I could afford a 500 dollar welder I would have never bought a 99 dollar one. Lol I would love to get a Hobart or Lincoln but it isnt affordable for me at the moment. I gotta learn to use what I have I know alot of it is me and poor technique.
 
MerlinsMopar said:
Check your polarity also. Some welders have to have the + and - reversed if using flux core or reg wire. Try some thicker metal 1st and keep the tip close. Wind or fans will have an effect on it. I would grab the speed knob while attempting a bead then adjust speed until it starts running smoothest. I use 1 hand to hold the other steady and the same distance. A good auto helmet helps too. Look close at the tip and metal and make small c shaped moves as the puddle forms. A high end welder, lincoln etc will pay you back as they work like butter compared to cheap ones. Keep the tip clean. Flux core wire makes stronger welds than reg wire. Good luck. You'll get better the more you practice. I sucked when i first started but can weld my @$$ off now. Oh yea and dont forget duty cycle. Probably 20% on that 1. Weld 2 min and wait 8 min before starting again. Caps have to store up power.
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I think you are right about the duty cycle because I noticed the longer that bead the worse it got. I have a question about the duty cycle while I'm waiting should i power it off? Or leave it running?
 
dartfreak75 said:
Mine is a 125 but it may not be pulling that much it may not be enough welder.
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You need to ditch the flux core and get yourself a small bottle of Argon/ Co2, 25/75, possibly called Stargon . . to shield your welds.

Talk with your welding supplier to get the right gas for what you are doing. Different gas mixes burn at different temperatures, some are designed for dirty lightly rusted steel, others for clean steel. Get the right gas, use the right heat setting on the welder.

Then you aren't dealing with all that slag getting into your bead. Fulx core is for welding old plow shares.

Welding Technique consists of the 4 key points of welding:

Heat
Angle
Distance (from work)
Speed (of travel)

Practice, Practice on clean scrap stock.
 
dartfreak75 said:
I think you are right about the duty cycle because I noticed the longer that bead the worse it got. I have a question about the duty cycle while I'm waiting should i power it off? Or leave it running?
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Leave it on. And as far as duty cycle if you're just using it for hobby type work, two minutes of welding is a long time. Weld for 30 seconds, rest for two minutes works out to weld for two minutes and rest for eight minutes.
Practice, practice, practice.
You're machine should do the job. Steve
 
dartfreak75 said:
Dont take this the wrong way but if I could afford a 500 dollar welder I would have never bought a 99 dollar one. Lol I would love to get a Hobart or Lincoln but it isnt affordable for me at the moment. I gotta learn to use what I have I know alot of it is me and poor technique.
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Dang, why do you have to live so dang far away
 
My brother started with a Farm Hand (Tractor Supply house brand IIRC) brand 110v true MIG welder and it performed just fine for a budget first setup.

Check pawn shops, too. I've seen some really good deals.
You could trade yours in on a MIG setup.

I got my Hobart 140 from craigslist for $250 including a bottle and the bottle kit.
 
dartfreak75 said:
I think you are right about the duty cycle because I noticed the longer that bead the worse it got. I have a question about the duty cycle while I'm waiting should i power it off? Or leave it running?
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Let it run. I would turn it on and let it run on the heat setting for 8-10 min before starting. It should weld sheet metal pretty good if you keep the time schedule. Small welders are all like that
 
YY1 said:
My brother started with a Farm Hand (Tractor Supply house brand IIRC) brand 110v true MIG welder and it performed just fine for a budget first setup.

Check pawn shops, too. I've seen some really good deals.
You could trade yours in on a MIG setup.

I got my Hobart 140 from craigslist for $250 including a bottle and the bottle kit.
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Thanks that's a great idea the local pawn shop here rarely ever has good deals everything is more expensive than new. Idk how they stay in business.
 
I found this on CL, 200 bucks for the works. Even had a brand new gas kit with it that had never been hooked up. I got the welder, gas kit, hood and an almost full roll of wire on the welder and another full unopened one. The guy had the original box, paperwork etc. Gas kit alone is around 130.00 bucks. The guy was downsizing and was selling a bunch of stuff as he didn't have room where he was moving.

All I had to do was install the gas kit, reversed the polarity and bought a tank of Argon.



welder.jpg
 
Nice Hobart Handler 140
110v Unit gas wire feed

Good for 1/8" and thinner material.
3/16" is a stretch unless you preheat with a torch so it will burn in better.

Mixed Gas, Argon/Co2 works well.

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Can always borrow, rent or buy a basic
220 volt Buzz Box Stick Welder for weling the thicker plate steel and angle iron.
 
Bad Sport said:
I found this on CL, 200 bucks for the works. Even had a brand new gas kit with it that had never been hooked up. I got the welder, gas kit, hood and an almost full roll of wire on the welder and another full unopened one. The guy had the original box, paperwork etc. Gas kit alone is around 130.00 bucks. The guy was downsizing and was selling a bunch of stuff as he didn't have room where he was moving.

All I had to do was install the gas kit, reversed the polarity and bought a tank of Argon.



View attachment 1715477850
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Yes reversing the popularity is a good thing to do.
 
You are fighting an uphill battle trying to work with the welder you have. As others have said there is a definite difference in what equipment you set yourself up with. I have also found the Harbor Freight wire can be hit or miss on the quality. I have had many customers come in with better welders but using cheap wire. Switching the wire helps. Fluxcore is very particular about the stick out of the wire ( the distance between tip and metal) You want to bring it in close enough that the crack and pop becomes very consistent in sound.
Also the duty cycle will not effect the quality of the weld as in dropping off. It will shut off the drive motor when you exceed it. A consistent drop off of the output while you are running longer welds gets into one thing- voltage drop off. Whether it is the incoming voltage due to a poor extension cord or a loose connection where the cable connects to the ground clamp (run into this alot) or a bad /weak ground clamp. As the weld time increases the connection gets worse due to heat which causes your output to drop off.
An inexpensive but decently made 110v mig welder is the Eastwood one. I think it runs under $400. The only part of it I don't care for is the drive roll setup but it is consistent now to what Lincoln and Miller are putting in their welders now.
 
Thomas Dennis said:
If your budget allows I would get a non flux core mig welder I have a mig 175 from eastwood. I run .023 to .025 wire on a 220 outlet. I had a problem when using the thinner wire. It wouldn't feed properly I needed to get a knurled roller. Maybe the machine isn't feeding the wire properly or not at proper tension Just a suggestion
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Check your roller, the retaining nut may be too tight,and it wont align with the wire. My esab was giving me fits until i figured out what was wrong. If i tightened the nut, wire wouldnt run in groove and it would slip.
Also, two groove rollers,the number on outside of roller depicts the groove on inside. Hope this makes sense.
 
You need to step up with your welder. Flux is good for filling holes and gaps but wouldn’t use it for much of anything. Looks like your vertical bead is pretty good considering it’s flux. Also, when using a flux the area to be welded needs to be really clean
 
Beg, Borrow, or Steal:

An Oxygen Acetylene Torch
and
A Good Welder

are 2 of the most basic survival tools you can use though out your lifetime.

Saving yourself money on fixing your own things and doing it on your time frames not waiting on others so you can move your life forward.

Build all kinds of essential things and fun things too.

Here are a set of 4 x 4 Pickup entry steps that I made up for the 95 Ford plow truck last Fall, with the wire welder and raw steel tubing.

Very functional and a lot of fun to make. Added a nice style factor to the truck too.

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Used the hydraulic wood splitter setup for bending the new steel tubing.

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Good Times, that's what this is all about . .
 
One thing I have found is not to use the little 4" spools of wire, use the larger diameter spools, the little spools bounce the wire too much.
Which makes the wire feed erratic.
 
@dartfreak75

A young gentleman demonstrates a how to video I call "The Perfect Weld"

How to video on the techniques of a good weld. The T-Joint he has set up is excellent for practice as it helps cradle the molten weld puddle.
Nice Weld that looks like a stack of dimes when you are done.

Enjoy !

 
sireland67 said:
One thing I have found is not to use the little 4" spools of wire, use the larger diameter spools, the little spools bounce the wire too much.
Which makes the wire feed erratic.
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I'm running .035 Lincoln wire it's a 2lb roll I believe I will have to double check on that. I'm thinking maybe going back down to .030 and trying it in Lincoln I have some blue devil. 030 but the splatter is crazy bad.
 
dartfreak75 said:
I'm considering buying a better welder I like this little welder for small stuff it has helped alot on small projects like fixing my lawn mower deck welding washers to remove my lca bushings etc but it doesnt seem to like to run a bead longer than an inch or so my puddle just disappears. The reason I didn't get a bigger one to start with is I dont have a 220 hook up at my house I'm considering getting a generator then I can run 220 with it.
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I had a Miller-matic 110 unit I used to weld my Roll Cage in my Bracket Racer. It worked very well. I can't remember model number but it cost about $800 in the mid 90's.As stated the difference between solid core and flux core is day and night. I tried to find a you tube video but most of those guys can't weld for ****.
 
Also a good auto-dark hemet helps alot to see what you are doing.
Dont cheap out here, you only have one set of eyes.
 
dartfreak75 said:
I'm running .035 Lincoln wire it's a 2lb roll I believe I will have to double check on that. I'm thinking maybe going back down to .030 and trying it in Lincoln I have some blue devil. 030 but the splatter is crazy bad.
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Yes drop down to the .030 wire for the lower voltage machine, melts and makes a puddle easier. The weld burns in easier too.

.030 wire that is all I use at my main shop with the shop 220v wire welder. All thicknesses of steel, all the way to 1/4" plate steel, have enough power with the welder to burn it in.

Argon/Co2 gas mix, not the straight Co2.

Thin auto body exterior skins, can drop down to the.024 wire and turn the heat way way down. I find the.024 wire is harder to push through the welding sleeve and it will kink at the machine spools easily if it does not have a straight run. The .030 wire pushes well for all uses.
 
sireland67 said:
Also a good auto-dark hemet helps alot to see what you are doing.
Dont cheap out here, you only have one set of eyes.
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A question about the helmet. What is the lowest number I can run shade wise and still be safe mine goes from 1-13 I usally run it on 9or10 but I'm having trouble seeing my puddle is that too dark?
 
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