I have a cheap Harbor Freight 110V "MIG" flux core welder I picked up for $40 last year. I would like to buy a new, real, MIG welder but I just don't have enough money to spare. I've heard it is possible to switch them over to using shield gas but I can't find any information on actually doing it other than switching the polarity. Do any of you know how to do this? I googled it with no luck. Thanks, Ryland
I have never heard of a conversion, then again, I am not familiar with HF welders. I am surprised that there is no existing hose attachment anyway. I have a Hobart and the hose runs out the back. Look inside the cabinet and see if there is anything there, if not just save the scratch for a used one like I did.
Yeah, if its setup to be converted you will have a brass fitting in the back of the machine for your gas. Once thats hooked up switch your polarity and wire and your done.
depends on the welder. HF welders i think its not possible. i got the lincon from home depot and later went to convert. Arcet (local welding store and lincon dealer) said it wasn't the proper type to use the conversion kit (wich is avalable) on this welder. Something about it being a cheaper version for the non professional. so i had to get a new unit ( wich i find doesn't work as well, very spotty). i was told the conversion includes plumbing hook up for gas, switching polarity, different liner to be installed, and a different tip to alow the gas to come out. And of course a bottle of mixed gas.
might be 3rd world engineering but you could always just switch the polarity, run solid wire and use a torch hooked to a co2 tank to flood the weld with co2 or argon and keep the oxygen out...
contact Daytona Mig Daytona Florida a lot of these cheap 110 migs are made in Italy by 1 company and just badged as a certain brand I think Astro is the Mfg. I have a Mac tools 110 they helped me with they will for sure have the answers you need and most likely every part you'd need as well
I guess I can re-allocate some cash. Whats a good price for a used one? $300 seem like about the cheapest they come new/refurbished. How's this look? http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/tls/1371496521.html All I need to get is a tank and new wire, right? Do I need new tips as well? Thanks, Ryland
Get a bondo welder, yeah, just being funny but it would be fun if bondo came in tubes like caulk but I wasn't joking about using a torch and a co2 bottle. actually you only need the co2 and a hose with some sort of valve to let just a little gas out. the co2 shields the weld puddle from oxygen getting to the molten iron. theres no reason why it has to come through the welder it just needs to be at the puddle and it doesn't take much. it would require 2 hands unless you could pipe it out next to the welding tip. having it run through the gun switching on and off when you pull the trigger is a convenience , no effect on function
I assume this is some sort of joke at my expense. If not please correct me. I'm 17 with a part time job, just starting my senior year in higschool, and I do gymnastics 20 hours a week. Sorry If money is a little tight for me and I'd like to use what I already have. I just want to build a hot rod. Ryland
Yes, it works. I can never get a very nice weld but I can stick metal together. A good welder seems to be a very important part of building a car so I I'd like to have one up for the task, will give me good welds, and last for a long time. I've pretty much made up my mind I'm going to buy that welder off craigslist tomorrow. Unless anyone has any better suggestions. The structure of the car is not a place I want to be cheap. Thanks, Ryland
SleeperStang a word of caution do you know what "duty cycle" means? your better off talking your parents into lending you the money for a new one than buying a used welder you know nothing about. a good friend that used to repair lincoln welders had a way to test a welder to see if the "duty cycle" had been exceeded multiple times. he used to charge me $20 bucks and most of the time i could just give him model and serial #. that was usually enough to warrant even spending the $20 bucks to check it out. he had also worked for hobart,powcon..... so he wasn't biased towards lincoln. i eventually just ended up buying a new welder, something i should have done in the first place. burned up the first welder i had a solar 110v piece of shit with 10% duty cycle melted the IC board out of it.
Ryland, the ad looks ok, but take some time and shop around... welding with flux core vs. shielding gas is more than just the equipment, it's also about practise... there are plenty of threads on here about taking the time to work on technique with scrap steel regardless of whether or not you are using mig, stick or oxy/ace... equipment alone won't give you a better weld... for a young guy starting out mig is probably your best choice, and money spent on a GOOD welder is never money wasted... see if you can't locate a good used 220V mig which will work with both flux core wire and shielding gas and will provide sufficient aperage and a long enough duty cycle to handle most all of your needs for years to come... after that, practise and ask questions... chris
you're not planning on doing heavy structural welding with this thing are you? Most little welder can't handle much more than 3/16". I wouldn't do anything structural until you're absolutely sure you're making solid welds. Also, remember if you are welding heavier steel, flux burns a little hotter. So that will give you a little better penetration on the heavier stuff vs mig. Not to insult you but are you sure your settings are correct? Do you have much practice with a "good" machine to know if it's the machine or you? Finally, my buddy has a hf welder that's mig/flux but I don't know which model it is. I can ask tomorrow which it is and how the gas routes. Usually if a welder is meant to be either/or it will say "mig ready" or something like that. If the gun is ready and there's is a gas line, you'll need a tank, regulator, some gas line and maybe some new tips.
This was about as much as my miller 135 could tackle. word of not... the miller is a hd unit. A metal stud construction company I worked for started out with the cheapest and tried everything from the bottom up and only the millers lasted. This is from when I subframed my 76 f250 2x supercab with 4x4 suspension from my 77 f150 4x4 The penetration on up to 1/4" is excellent after a half inch of bead but to get started with good penetration, I opted to preheat with the torch just to be safe. I used the miller 135 to weld the mount for my 6,000 lb winch to the nose of my car trailer and also used it to install new suspension by the side of the road on the trailer after the original failed. The miller was $550 about 12 years ago and I've gone through about a dozen spools of wire on it. it's even survived being loaned out to friends with no failure or bad remarks. I don't know how good yours is but I would say it'd be best for sheetmetal and pickup a used 220 stick welder for 50-100 bucks. don't buy a 110 stick welder. I've never seen one that worked. If your bothered by the spatter get a tub og spatter shield from your welding supply place. It's made to keep the spatter from sticking to the gun but wipe a little on the metal where you dont want spatter to stick, it helps a little so does heavy foil taped on
I don't plan on doing much structural work, more body work but I'm sure at one point I will want to weld something load bearing. I have never heard anything good about the harbor freight welder other than its cheap. As for settings it has a high and low heat and adjustable wire speeds. So not much to choose from. I'll try to get some 18ga sheet metal and see how well it works with that. I haven't done much sheet metal welding yet. Ryland
You're going to have a real hard time welding sheet with that thing. Flux core anything will probably burn right through it and the spatter will drive you nuts. Trust me, I tried! There is a certain technique to doing sheetmetal with mig that will keep it from warping though. You should search around for it and practice much before you do it on anything you care about. It's a long laborious process but it can be done, I mig welded my door bottom on with very minimal distortion. Basically, the process involves hammering your welds flat after every one. It can be done, but you're going to go crazy trying to do it with a flux core welder. See if you can convert this one or buy another mig..
Don't know anything about the hf welders, but general info make sure the ground clamp is on very clean clean clean solid metal. These little units have a hard time overcoming rust, grease, paint at the ground. The nozzle end is a little more forgiving because the heat helps burn away the contaminants. If you must use an extention cord for power, keep it short and as heavy gauge as possible. A little voltage drop going into the welder = much less output at the torch.
i have used my friends harbor freight welder when it was flux and after he converted and to mig and it was junk either way as you stated with the high and low setting only its pretty hard to get the heat you need im not sure what model his is but everything to convert (except gas) came in the box with the welder i am not an experienced welder but with a quality machine i can do a decent job
put a welder wanted ad on craigslist,put what you"re willing to pay in ad and you will be surprised how many people out there need money so they have to make ends meet,needed a car hauler,did this and 2 days later I"m pulling a nice ex-u-haul car trailer,ramps,straps jack,brakes new straps,got it for $1000,just an idea,good luck . But as my old man told me along time ago,if thats all you got,make it work.!
I had a trick, if I couldn't get the mig turned down low enough to weld up some thin metal without blowing it out, I'd cut off some wire and feed it into the puddle as I was migging to stabilize the heat and help fill. It works. I never tried it with my flux core. I forgot I used to do it with the mig on metal thinned by corrosion and too much grinding. Like filling in pinholes on a mildly rusted quarter bottom. ... you just reminded me
Low duty cycle welders only quit at the worst time (like in the middle of your best work) HB welders or any brand welder with only a Hi Low setting you should stay away from, I have an old sears mig welder that can weld circles around the Hi $ welders and you can use it with gas or with out. I like to use 0.35 wire non gas for thicker metals and 0.25 with an argon mix for sheet metal, it only has a medium duty cycle but I only paid 200.00 for it and it welds like a mfer just my 2 cents.
My first MIG was a cheap from Canadian Tire . But an upgrade to gas was possible , I did it later . The wire coming with it was also cheap , I had many problem using it at begin . I bought some Lincoln Electric wire , and welding was far much easy . I managed to rebuilt my first car with it . So .... I don t know which wire you use , but a good one can make a BIG difference . Later I bough an expensive Miller 211 , and I don t regret it , but its cost a lot ...
The Jalopy Journal
