Welder: good or no?

[XJ_ranger]

Plus, I like to be a little different. But seriously if you have ever done or seen it I'd be willing to work out a price with yuh.

You should think about why everyone runs a linked style suspension, and all the guys with YJ's anc CJ's 'upgrade' to links...

Being different isnt always the best thing in the world...

 

[tommyboy]

I've already made up my mind and committed myself by buying all the parts. I had a toyota with leaves of course and it did great. So I look at it as, if links are soooo. Ad ass why are there still leaf sprung yotas...

 

[BenDiesel]

i got a millermatic 200. its a bit old but works well

and came with a few extras

 

[MaxxXJ]

Now for the fun part...



jdbwrx: Dont let it bother you. He's just trying to compensate for having a short welding rod or a weak arc. Its the "big watch" syndrome.

John

no nosigma, if we were to use those little peanut welders out in the oilfields they would burn up in a less than a week those machines are only capabile of a max of 3/16 steel, the metal we weld on is a minimum of .22" thick and we seldom ever use schedule 40 3 inch pipe anymore, most of the time we weld on sched. 80 which is .3, and earlier this year we welded some schedule 160 3 inch which is almost a 1/2 inch thick... and we will do 21-42 inches an 8 hour day (3-4 passes around the pipe = one 3" weld)

so no short rod or weak arc... its what has to be used for the work we do, its just those little 90 amp welders are kinda cute after you get used to a 300 amp welder... we weld between 90-140 amps on schedule 80 pipe and more depending on the application.

its kind of like this... how much more reliable will a motor be if you ran it at half its maximum power vs full power all day long... the lincoln 300D classic we use will be good for 10+ years running 5 days a week prolly 4-6 hours out of the day... what can you say for those pocket welders that put out a m ax of 90 amps with 120 volt plugs?... further more, when your power goes out in your house... these welders could drop 9000 watts no problem and power everything in your house until the power came back on...

either way im done trying to explain why we use 300 amp welders vs ur little 90 amp pocket welders.

 

[greenmachine74]

These cheepy welders can cause you all kinds of greef. They don't have a fine adjustability on the heat range and the have a hard time heating the material to run the weld. If you are going to use this kind of welder preheat the work first and it will help the machine to run a decent penitrating weld.

 

[88xjlover]

no nosigma, if we were to use those little peanut welders out in the oilfields they would burn up in a less than a week those machines are only capabile of a max of 3/16 steel, the metal we weld on is a minimum of .22" thick and we seldom ever use schedule 40 3 inch pipe anymore, most of the time we weld on sched. 80 which is .3, and earlier this year we welded some schedule 160 3 inch which is almost a 1/2 inch thick... and we will do 21-42 inches an 8 hour day (3-4 passes around the pipe = one 3" weld)

so no short rod or weak arc... its what has to be used for the work we do, its just those little 90 amp welders are kinda cute after you get used to a 300 amp welder... we weld between 90-140 amps on schedule 80 pipe and more depending on the application.

its kind of like this... how much more reliable will a motor be if you ran it at half its maximum power vs full power all day long... the lincoln 300D classic we use will be good for 10+ years running 5 days a week prolly 4-6 hours out of the day... what can you say for those pocket welders that put out a m ax of 90 amps with 120 volt plugs?... further more, when your power goes out in your house... these welders could drop 9000 watts no problem and power everything in your house until the power came back on...


either way im done trying to explain why we use 300 amp welders vs ur little 90 amp pocket welders.

You guys are getting away from the point of this post. This is a guy who's just starting welding and you are turning it into a personal pissing match. This is why I hate Pirate....:nono:

 

[tommyboy]

You guys are getting away from the point of this post. This is a guy who's just starting welding and you are turning it into a personal pissing match. This is why I hate Pirate....:nono:

Lol thank you 88, i was just about to say that. But i have already heard some good info from this thread and i thank you guys. But im always willing to learn more! And they are pretty brutal at pirate.

 

[dakineJ]

I saw one these HF welders for $75 recently and am temted.Seems,like stated before,it would be good for sheet metal and exhaust.

 

[MaxxXJ]

Lol thank you 88, i was just about to say that. But i have already heard some good info from this thread and i thank you guys. But im always willing to learn more! And they are pretty brutal at pirate.

i apoligize for getting off thread, lol i didnt mean to honest =/

for my personal opinion, if your going to do light duty with it, not try and make a living out of using it and dont plan on penetrating material 1/4" or better, sure the HF welder will do its job intended, but if your wanting a little more out of it, i would look for a gas powered job like what we use out where i work... for the price you can weld pretty much anything under the sun, from stainless to aluminum to mild steel, you get the idea, my opinion " you get what you pay for " so to each his own.

 

[tommyboy]

well i am, as stated previously, am just gonna learn to weld with the HF welder and when i am worthy enough, will step up to a real manly welder. lol plus i didnt buy it.

 

[MaxxXJ]

well i am, as stated previously, am just gonna learn to weld with the HF welder and when i am worthy enough, will step up to a real manly welder. lol plus i didnt buy it.

hey think on the bright side =) if you become good enough at a full size welder like we use and you can pass X-Ray... you can make $50+ per hour like our welders do... just something to think about

 

[dr7966]

I bought the HF 120v Mig 100 a few weeks ago online for 96 buks shipped. HF sent me an 80 dollar coupon so I picked up the 120v plasma cutter at the store.
My first few attempts with the welder were splatter. Did some reading online and tried some different settings and I can get a pretty good bead down on 1/8th now. 3/16th is still a challange but I need to work on tip technique and wire feed.
There is no comparison to a 220v Lincoln or Hobart 300 amp professional welder or similar plasma cutter but I am willing to take longer and redo if necessary. I cant justify the cost of those welders when I dont know how much I am gonna weld.

 

[tommyboy]

hey think on the bright side =) if you become good enough at a full size welder like we use and you can pass X-Ray... you can make $50+ per hour like our welders do... just something to think about

Damn man if I could get that good by the time I'm out of the police academy I wouldn't mind that pay at all!!

 

[MaxxXJ]

Damn man if I could get that good by the time I'm out of the police academy I wouldn't mind that pay at all!!

i think its about equal to a cops pay... so your not missing out on anything. we have to work in the extreme heat and extreme cold wind rain snow, it dont matter were out there

 

[Jeepm@n]

i think its about equal to a cops pay... so your not missing out on anything. we have to work in the extreme heat and extreme cold wind rain snow, it dont matter were out there

Either that or skip the welding and work on x-ray's and other imaging equipment like I do. Nice A/C or heated offices. :gag:

Nice thread though. Taught me some on what to start with for equipment. I'm jealous of you guy's having the training on welding. That is one trait I'd love to know and learn, as I could have used it hundred's of times by now.

 

[tommyboy]

Either that or skip the welding and work on x-ray's and other imaging equipment like I do. Nice A/C or heated offices. :gag:

Nice thread though. Taught me some on what to start with for equipment. I'm jealous of you guy's having the training on welding. That is one trait I'd love to know and learn, as I could have used it hundred's of times by now.

LOL I get jealous every time I read a build thread!

 

[Markos]

To answer the original question... I have the 90amp HF welder, and I like it. I suck at welding and this pos doesn't help. It has a 10% duty cycle which means you can weld for 1 minute and let the welder cool for another 10. This isn't that bad with the small projects that I use it for. You get a lot of spatter with flux-core. You'll want to pickup a HF grinder as well. In fact, pickup two or even three. On the first, put a flap disk. The second use a grinding wheel, and the third, a cutter. You are looking at about another $20-$30 for gloves, a cheap face mask, some magnets, and some clamps. Overall, I'm happy with the cheapo welder, but I find myself wanting to weld bigger stuff. I think it's a good thing that the welder is the limiting factor because like I said, I suck at welding.

Here are some of my HF flux-core projects...

 

[tommyboy]

hey i want head rests on my rear seats!!! but anyway...are you serious that you can only weld for one minute?

 

[Markos]

hey i want head rests on my rear seats!!! but anyway...are you serious that you can only weld for one minute?

Yep that's right. I typically only weld for 15 seconds or so at a time, so it's not a huge problem. If I was building a bumper, that would be really annoying. If you have the money, invest in a better welder. If you are looking for something to tinker around with, you can't go wrong with the HF unit.

 

[sp4mike]

What about a ready welder? 100% duty cycle and can weld 1/2 inch stainless or aluminum. And they are pretty cheap. Even for in the shop work it seems like a good deal, and you can weld on the trail too.