Welder question

[eastcoastcivil]

I have a truck that needs some floor patches and I am going to use it to practice welding. I have never welded before and I was wondering if someone could tell me if this is a good welder for me and what I want to do...I am looking at a 90 amp wire feed welder with 115v, 20 amp input. duty cycle; 90 amps @10% and 60 amps AC @ 15%. welds up to 1/8 thick steel in a single pass, auto thermal shut down protection, 2 heat settings, variable wire speed and live wire trigger. flux core wire use, does not require gas or regulator.

Hope someone can help me.

[heavy71chevy]

what brand is it and remeber not to use cheap extension cords on it

[cstm68]

sounds like it will work.

but if i were you i would get one that uses gass, the welds are a LOT cleaner and not as hare to grind!
just my $.02

[wibilly]

i picked up a small flux core wire feed at a swapmeet real cheap (70 amp centry for $50 with a new spool of wire )it welds but i'm not happy with it at all since i used one with gas. if you think you will ever use it again sped a little more you will be glad you did

[Rollie396]

Can you weld patch panels in with fluxcore? Yes
Do you want to? Noooooo
Especially not if you're just learning to weld.
I would really recommend saving up for something like a small miller or lincoln machine.You really do get what you pay for when buying a welder and this is one case where brand name does make a difference.
Another name to consider would be hobart (rebranded miller) and I hear esab machines are good as well though I have no personal experience with them.
No matter what you decide I strongly suggest going with a gas setup.

welcome to the board btw!

[cstm68]

my miller 140 works great !!!!!

[heavy71chevy]

yea miller is my personal fave..the beat up one i had never let me down

[cdowns]

sounds like a basic welder that will give you marginal at best welds will probally do more damage to the cab than actual repairing anything pretty much a waste of money

[GREASEMONKEY72]

are gas welds stronger than fluxcore welds?? yes
enough to make a dramatic difference?? no
are gas welds prettier to look at than fluxcore?? yes but only before you clean the flux off the other

we use a mig that is gas capeable but we use the fluxcore wire because it is easier to weld and yes you do have to clean them up with a wire wheel on a grinder but who really cares, its all about the end result anyway

btw, fwiw, what i say is coming from my dad that has 30+ years of welding expierence and has done it for a living most of his life

[Tmiller]

I'm in the middle of body work and using a Lincoln 110v welder with That came with the mig kit. I'm running .035 wire and argon mix gas it seems to fill nice and clean.

[albertarose]

flux core is a bit of a pain but gets the job done I welded in a home made floor panel ..you dont get the good continuous flat welds as a gas mig gives
but i does get the job done if you are patiant ..and you dont want a lot of heat in one area so you are jumping around stich welding any way..
i also agree thatfor learning it wont be easy because its kind of fighting you all the time as far as nice flow and blowing holes .it doesnt want to fill open spots as well meaning cant handle gaps but if you can get good fittment and the metal is very clean you can get ok results.....if you go gas always close the bottle when not using or you risk losing it all if you have any leaks ..expensive!

[bandit1]

Originally Posted by GREASEMONKEY72

are gas welds prettier to look at than fluxcore?? yes but only before you clean the flux off the other

I wouldn't say fluxcore isn't as strong as welds with gas, Fluxcores main advantage is that it penetrates deeper than welding with gas like C-25. Fluxcore also is better outdoors because the shielding doesnt blow away as easilly

[mbgmike]

Originally Posted by bandit1

I wouldn't say fluxcore isn't as strong as welds with gas, Fluxcores main advantage is that it penetrates deeper than welding with gas like C-25. Fluxcore also is better outdoors because the shielding doesnt blow away as easilly

Its one of many methods used in pipeline work also, not just sheetmetal

[72chevy327]

I bought a welder with the same specs and it sucked never could get a good looking tack/weld. get something thats of good quality and it will pay off. i recently got a esab migmaster 173 and it welds very very good, as of the same quality of as the welders at work (miller 251s). The bigger the internals and more adjustments you have the better. Gas is worth it if you want your protect to work out with a professional quality, unlike the PO of my truck riveted everything new in place.

[albertarose]

hey mister I Aint a real welder! I jus found this here welding helmet an by the way I dont climb , I dont grind ,and I hope you dont mind . ..now about that skyhook operator ...

[albertarose]

the weld with the fewest inclusions (stuff that isnt weld) using wire flux core or solid wire . the best filler material for welding is always the one that most closly matces the orig material you are welding ie harness brittleness. The small flux core machine I have is struggling to make a good steady arc..so in my case there were slag inclusions which are basicly gaps in the weld where it did not catch both edges ..this is a 100 dollar mig talking here the cool part though is they make suck a nice tiny tack so you can stich weld fairly quickly with it despite its weakness ..again mine is not is not working awesome but handy for what it can do

[old Chevy guy]

I like a gas wire feed mig. I run a lincoln sp 100 for about 17 years or so and have never been disapointed with the results The heat setting on my welder is fully adjustable that is to say no clicks just smooth like a volume knob on your radio.Two heat setting make it hard to fine tune. I can tune this machine in so nice and so easy. I already knew how to weld when I got this machine but have tought other people who never weled at all in a couple of hours on this.

[Jim_PA]

Look at a FirePower FP120 ~ $400 from www.thetoolwarehouse.net (shipping is free too)

Uses a Tweco gun, and works well for smaller things.

[corn]

The biggest problem from what Ive heard & read, is flux core welders are a lot harder to dial in correctly & get a bad rap from that. Most people are used to gas & its also more forgiving. Flux will work okay as long as you are willing to learn the correct methods. Practice, practice, practice...

[BarryB]

We use Millers at work. But we also have a 110v Lincoln from lowes. It does good for little stuff. but we have it set up for gas.
Just the key thing here is if you get a 110v welder. DO NOT use a cheap extension cord. At least a 12 awg cord.

[passthebuck]

i love my lincoln sp135. i can weld heavier things than i thought & lays nice welds. & ya, go gas. it looks way nicer.

[albertarose]

yeah about the cord..good chance that was what mine was doing..doesnt trip breaker though with 75 ft cord! amazing.. should have had these years ago...the little welder with a big heart..

[albertarose]

this is my hundredth post? what should I say? thanks for the right to belong to such a cool site !

[albertarose]

as far as welders goes ..anything that works is better than trying to do major body work with fibre glass and bondo..metal is what you want and with an elcheapo mig, a hammer, a car hood for material, vice, clamps, ..and a small grinder with zip cut fluxcore gotter done for me floor work is a good place to start because its not in your eyes so much as exterior.
the money you save is great but its fun to do because you can only get better at it not worse ..talking about welding again..