Anything welding

i can i would just prefer not to spend a TON of money on one, doesnt need to be some industrial grade one, just something to weld up bumpers and such. also there arent any 230 volt outlets in my house that i could use.

 

Well then you have a problem your not going to get good penetration on 1/4" with a little welder the smallest size welder i would recommend would be a 140 Lincoln, Hobart, Miller pick your color they all work well. And an industrial grade welder would start at $2,500 so were not telling you to start there. For what you want to do a $500 budget is where you should start. New or used you should be looking to spend at least $500 on the welder alone you can make a cart for it later.

 

Im going to get me a lincoln 140 or the 180.. the 180 is 220 and only like 100 more.. but I really dont need the extra power for what im going to be using it for.. so I think im going with the 140..
they start at like $500

 

I borrowed a harbour freight welder from a buddy at work . Just to weld a tire carrier I'm building and its gets the job done but 1/4" is tough to weld with it . ill be buying something bigger when I buy. Listen to Jerry and the other guys they know what there talking about .

 

I bought a Miller 140 Auto-set. I wish I'd gone with at least the 180 and maybe even the 211.

 

But then again the 211 is harder to do really thin stuff. So now you just need a 211 and you will be totally set

I hear you though, I have a Hobart 190 and wish I spent the extra to get one more step up and I would have the multi plug

 

If you are pricing, be sure to go to a welding supply store.

I was shopping at the big box store for the 180 and it comes in 220 only. Also, the big box store models have selectable speed and power, but its not a full sweep (you can click to 1 or 2, but you cant set it to 1.5) and the wire drive is plastic. It was around 700 bucks.


I found this deal..
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-u...atters.aspx?WT.mc_id=slider_home_moneymatters

I went to the local welding supply store and picked up a Lincoln 180 Dual.

With the incentive you get a nice Viking autodark helmet, jacket, mic gloves, and a duffle. ( all stuff you will need to pick up anyway) and the machine is convertable between 110 and 220 for about 200 bucks more than you would pay at Home Depot for an inferior model.

Plus it is the commercial model which has all aluminum drives for the wire feed, stronger casing, and is fully tunable. I have welded 3/16 with it no problem with gas and 1/4 no problem with flux ( I have done some 1/4 parts with gas and it seems to be fine, but I have not cut any welds to inspect the penetration, Lincoln recommend to use flux and/or multi pass for anything over 3/16 with the 180)

Just a suggestion

Justin

 

Ok I'm debating going with the Hobart 140, 210 or waiting for the 190 to be back in stock. I'll mostly be using this in my garage to mess around and eventually build some bumpers with. Any suggestions? I have 220V for my dryer, so I figure I might as well go with that. I'm thinking of buying this weekend as I have a 10% off that ends this weekend and that would make the 210 only 495 shipped or I could get the 140 for 370 and that would allow me to spend the extra money on a gas tank and other supplies.

 

I'd get the 210 for that price. Always better to have a little more power than needed, plus maxing out a smaller welder will give a really low duty cycle vs having the larger machine at the same power.

 

My best advice as a shop owner is if your worried about a 50-100$ difference on a welder now, your really going to stress when you have to buy the other tools to make your welder useful.

Thermal Arc makes a real nice all in one machine. Its about 1100 but does mig tig and arc and is a 180 amp machine.

I'm a Miller guy, my Millermatic 250 is going strong at 22 years old and has never had an issue. I spent 1700 on my 250 and a hypertherm plasma when I was 17 and it was the best investment I ever made.

 

Be careful with "all in one" machines. There's nothing wrong with them but that what they offer might not necessarily be what you want so whether you look at the Hypertherm, Everlast or ESAB, be sure they offer what you want-especially as it relates to the TIG portion.

 

Agree with you here, all fab equipment isnt cheap and adds up quick. Even a simple roll of wire can be $50-100+ and a tank of shielding gas $30+. Grinders, clamps, a welding table, welder/cylinder cart, drill, etc.

I run ThermalArc welders daily. Great machines. I'll be trying the 211i soon, I just got it for $1135. The 181i can be had for under $900 if you look around online.

I wouldnt personally purchase an all in one that does plasma too, nor a cheap chinese welder. ThermalArc or miller 3 in 1 would be my only choice and thermal arc wins with lower cost and previous experience with both brands.

 

Is the roller setup for the size wire you're running? How does the wire feed? Almost seems like either a liner or feeder causing a short.

I've never seen it or even read about it happening.


edit: I was just reading about wire liners and the indication seems to be you need to swap them after 6 months of use (like every day use). But if you burn the wire back to the tip, you might also need to swap it sooner. I'm not sure what the real interval is but it sounds like with heavy use, it needs to be done.

 

The color is indicative of heat. Maybe the wire doesn't melt but it does get hot

 

Had it happen every now and then on a old welder we got from an auction at work. Problem was there was a bare spot on the ground not far out the machine and it was grounding the machine, so the wire hit the steel roller and melted causing it to bind and screw shit up. The welder worked fine until you would pull the ground a certain way and make it arc, after we fixed the ground hasnt had the problem since..

Not sure its the same issue your having but my suggestion is there is a short somewhere in the machine.

 

Alright I need a little help. I am new at welding, and just got my first little baby stick welder. I need to finish up building my bed rack (which I did in a metal fab class) but was using nicer mig welders while building most of it.
I now have a little Proline BX1-100B 110V AC welder (off of Amazon

$80 C.M.T Pitbull Ultra-Portable 100-Amp Electric Arc Welder - 110V

here). I'll only be finishing up some welds on 1/8" thick mild steel.
Should I get 6011 electrodes that are 1/8" diameter?
And What should I set it at? I am a little confused..


Any help would be appreciated!

Oh and here is what I am working on

 

You would need to set the machine between 75-100A with the 1/8" rod. For the 3/32" rod, you would need between 45-55A.

6011 is a good general purpose rod.

 

ok that sounds great! just what I needed to know. Thank you for helping the newb!

 

Once you get good at running the 6011, give some 7018 a shot. Much prettier welds produced.

 

would 7018 work with a 110v?