Anything welding

Leaving the wire in.

It all depends how long it might be till you weld again. Then just where the welding machine is stored

If it was going to be sometime before using I removed the wire spool and it lived in the house in a clear plastic bag

It is a personal choice

 

Thanks for the link! That's cheaper than the vulcan spools, too. I did buy a spool of the vulcan wire, but figured I'd burn through the crap stuff that came with it while I was still crap at it. Waste the bad stuff first, y'know. I may run to HF after dinner and grab extra tips, nozzles, and a liner with the 30% off under $10 sale ending this weekend. Might as well get them and have on hand, plus harbor freight is literally 1000' from my house

Good call. It's not that hard to remove and re-thread if I'm not using it for a while. I figure I'll be trying to practice every weekend the next month or two, so yolo leave it in. Our garage is pretty temp stable and dry humidity wise, hopefully it won't get gross on me.

 

Have you tried 030 yet? I found when I was welding on 120 that the 030 burned cleaner.

 

I keep meaning to, since 035 is a bit thick for some thinner stuff. The blue demon wire that I've found to really like only comes in 035, but I'm about to finish a roll of it, so I'll pick up some 030 for experimenting

 

Flux core has a longer shelf time than solid core.

With that said, both can stay in the machine a long time.

The easiest way to tell is to look at the spool before you start welding. If it looks rusty, pull the trigger and unwind enough until you get to shiny wire.

I've gone 3 years between uses on my welders and have had no issues.

I use solid wire and have little issues with humidity rusting my wire, so your experience may vary.

 

Really? I would have thought it would be the other way around. Does flux-core have the risk of absorbing moisture like some rods do?

 

Ive always used Lincoln wire $$. But Ive found it to be the best. Vulcan wire inst bad either.

 

I wouldn’t think so since the flux is “shielded” inside the wire. Rods have the flux as an outer coating so they’re exposed.

 

Exactly what I was going to say

 

I bought some lincoln flux wire at the home depot in a pinch, and it was $16 for only a 1lb roll and I wasn't super impressed compared to the blue demon at $13 for 2lb. Possibly a home center isn't the best place to buy that stuff haha, do you get it for a better price somewhere?

 

Strange, ive always had very good luck with it. No i buy it locally at a supply shop.

 

might have been product that was sitting around for a while, since home depot isn't the ideal place to buy welding wire? I used to work there, and never saw anyone buy the flux wire. I'm always open to give it a spin though, so maybe I'll try to get some online

 

The Lincoln wire and machines sold at Home Depot etc unless things changed can not be bought by Welding Distributors through Lincoln

Quite possible your getting a lower end product.

With the way prices are going who knows about prices Last wire I bought was 3 years ago $2.20 per pound then the small spools are always more expensive

 

Makes sense. I have never actually run flux core so I am a newb when it comes to it.

 

Flux on the outside is fun though IE stick welding

 

That's what I am used to lol and started with in my home garage. So glad I don't need to deal with slag pockets anymore on what I was using it on (awkward thin brackets etc)

 

Finished bin 3 today and about 75% done with bin 4 of 4. Excited to see what they look like when they come back from powder coat

 

You do have sometime Still Cheaper then buying or are these sized to your gear?

 

These are specific to our gear. Not sure of any companies that you can purchase the bins from.

 

Since the Vulcan ProTig 205 has an inverter does this mean I can safely run it off a generator?

Have a generator that'll support 6.5kw running so will have to watch the amps.