welder questions from a new guy

i picked up a little 110V welder (free) from my dad (he said take it , i never use it anymore) but i havent messed with welders since metal shop classes in H.S (16 years ago) . I dont plan on doing any major fabbing or anything , just filling some holes and body work kinda stuff . anyways my question is what kind of wire should get? someone at work said flux-core? , the welder is a lincolin weld-pak 100 (maybe 10-12? years old) . Any tips would help

Thanks , FINK

 

Does this welder use gas for the arc shield or does it use flux core wire? I'm assuming you will want to use gas as you end up with a nicer weld in the end. Please give some more info on your welder! For body work I would set it up with the gas and use .025-.030 size wire. Just my opinion.

 

I had a Weld Pak 100... great little welder but I would get the MIG gas conversion kit... about $60.00 when I bought mine. Some guys swear by flux core but the guy I bought the welder from didn't like it and neither did I. After I converted it I have to say it welded much better than my old Miller 35S wirefeed...

 

Yea like he said ^^^^^ Find out what type of welder it is meaning if it takes gas or just fluxcore. Then convert it if needed. If you doing body work or any other type of welding on a hot rod or classic car I would say hell no to flux core since it doesnt come out as nice as gas welding with a mig nor is the flux core as easy to learn on and use. So you will want to run a gas mig welder and for bodywork once again like stated above you could use .024-.030. Mainly the smaller the wire the better it would be for you sheetmetal but not heavy fabrication.

 

If it is gas-less ,with no gas hookup avail. You can pick up Flux core .30 wire at most hardware stores .I think the (weld pak ) is gas-less only ,but not real sure ,I'm a MILLER guy ! Any ways ,here is a tip ,if you have to use a ex. cord ,make sure it is made of a heavy gauge wire ,other wise you can melt down a cord !!! And make sure your are on at least a 30 amp. breaker !!To help make a flux weld look good make sure you clean your work (parts to be welded) very well ,and then chip away the slag when you are done laying your beads . I had a small flux wire welder years back and almost miss that little dude !!! Hope this helps ! Good Luck !!!!

 

HAHAHA key word in there is ALMOST
Ohh yea that ex. cord safty is a smart move most people dont think of that, well until its to late.

 

To small of extention cord will burn your welder up. All tools
Will burn up when under sized cords are used. I have no cords
smaller then 12 awg. Give your small cords away and save a tool.
Voltage drop is the culprit. As in example small cord, 120 volts
in, 100 volts at the tool = heat = fire = smoked coils. This is
also what burns brushes in tools. You should never need to replace
brushes.

 

100% correct ^^^^ I would give my small cords away but they still work for lead lights haha.

 

hey thanks for the tips guys , im an electrican so i know all about voltage drop......plus i can make my own heavy duty cords out of "donated" material. hopefully im going to practice on some scrap metal tommarow

FINK

 

.030 wire gass shielded argon / co2 mix 70/30 mix. Carl

 

Ive been screwin around with an Old school buzzbox arc welder. Making lots of holes LOL

 

search

 

Just a thought.

 

wow , thanks for telling me to "search" on a thread thats over 2 years old ! what a tool.....

 

just a thought

 

if your doing sheetmetal try .023 or .025 wire..less heat...argon mix...25/75...maybe change the liner in the gun if its that old..it will help the wire feed..

 

Leave 'em alone. It took him that long to figure out how to make big red letters!

 

ahhahahahahaa