On Mon, 03 May 2004 22:09:20 -0400, Mike Patterson
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:
remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Harbor Freight has a 90-amp welder, normally $200 for $120.
Uses "self-shielding flux-cored welding wire".

Is this thing suitable for a home hobbyist newbie like me to learn
with? Any gotchas other than that it came from HF?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44567

Thanks folks.


hmmm... My answer is yes and no. Yes it gets you welding. No it will
not last you long, unless you are doing very little and do not expect
to expand.

I bought a "100Amp" MIG welder when I started. Luckily I bought it
secondhand, at a reasonable price.

Let's say it was enough to convince me that I wanted a real Mig
welder, over stick welding.

It was not Flux Cored. FC was hardly known then, and certainly not by
the hobbyist.

I have not used FC except once, to try it out. I use gas shielded
always. Just me.
- The biggest thing for me about MIG was never having to chip
another slag layer, and being able to build welds in multi-passes
without getting slag inclusion!

I _suppose_ that because they do not have to provide regulators, and
gas paths, you would get more welder for your monye than a dual
purpose machine?

But the wire will cost more.

However:

These little welders are not just low current. You can overcome that
in many cases, with a bit of work and smarts.

Problems:
(1) Regulation. They use little transformers and little parts. They
ONLY JUST do their rated current. You will feel this in the
performance. Regulation makes for smoother welds. I can weld thin
steel easier with my 220Amp than I could with the 100Amp.
- Admittedly I am a better welder than I was then. I should haul the
little beastie out and see what I think of it these days.

(2) Duty cycle. This is a percentage (I think usually in any 5 minute
period) that you can actually weld. I was always using mine up! The
welder would simply stop. I think its Duty cycle was about 15-20% at
even 80 Amps of the 100.
- So you had a minute's welding in every 5, welding maybe 2-3mmm
steel, without preparatory grinding. And that was on a cool day! G
- Of course if you ground down and did multi-passes, you needed to
use the machine longer and the duty cycle kicked in G.
- I put a fan in there and that helped to get about 1.5 minutes out
of 5.
- Even that was risky, because it is not going to help the core
temp of the trannie much.

- even with larger welders, watch duty cycle.

(3) Wires. You are likely only going to be able to get little reels.
- IME this means limited types of wire.
- I realise this is not a beginner's problem, usually, but does
limit the machine.
- it also is probably a lot more expensive.
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