Harbor freight mig welder.

I spend the winter time 1200 miles from home and I just can not bring all my shop equipment with me. I have a small restoration business and I recently received a job that requires to fill 2 small holes approx. 3/16 in. in diameter. I have a Lincoln 110 with gas back home. Harbor freight has a 110 mig with flux core on sale for $79. Anyone out there have any comments good or bad? Will it do in a pinch I would leave here.

 

I have been told to never use flux core wire on sheet metal as it will contaminate the paint. There are more experienced body men on here.

 

RUN the other direction.
buy another hobart, miller or lincoln. You can sell it and recoup your cost later, or you can not weld it very well at all.

 

I had one. My experience was not positive, It had feed problems, and wore through parts due to cheap materials. I would buy a cheap lincoln wire feed and a piece of copper at home depotto fill those holes. The way mine was working, I think those two holes would have been too much.

 

buy the hf gas torch, great for sheet metal ...

 

for a couple of small welds the is always a local mobile welder who will probably be $50 minimum charge...see if one is around

 

You can get the baby Hobart Handler for around $400. That HF machine will be AT LEAST $321 in headaches.

 

I wouldn't use flux core,,,don't do it. HRP

 

I didn't read anywhere that he was doing sheet metal work, but, if you ARE doing sheet metal work that is going to be pretty and nice with paint over it in the end, NO, I wouldn't do it.

 

I have very negative thoughts about anything HF sells in the way of welding equipment . I would buy a small Miller-Hobart-Lincoln that will run with CO2 . and hard wire. You won't have any regrets . I'm not a novice at welding , been at it for 50+years.

 

Coworker tried the HF mig and also had feed problems as described a few posts above.

 

If your filling holes wouldn't that be considered sheet metal work?,,it is here in the South. HRP

 

The holes could be in a frame, or something else. Seeing that he's talking 3/16", I'd guess it's sheet metal, but, you never know. I've used flux core to fill unused/misdrilled holes in steel frame buildings where a clean look was desired. I could see doing the same on an exposed frame rail or something else. In that case, flux core would be fine.

 

I have one of the HF migs and havent had a problem with it (3+ years). Then again I am a poor college student so I have to make it work

 

According to several sites some folks used the Harbor Freight welders with Lincoln or Miller wire and had better results,the big issue with a cheap welder is the limited duty cycle,the Campbell Hausfelds seem to be a better choice for an economy unit.

 

Or you could just buy a torch.

 

Our local Cee Kay supplier rents nice MIG welders with the gas and a full roll of whatever wire you need in 4 hour blocks for a decent price.

 

I've used BOTH gas and flux welders...as well as oxy welding. I hate using flux core welders. For me, you don't get the same quality weld as you do with a gas welder. You can get by with a flux core...DEPENDING on how big the job is! I definitely WOULD NOT do anything structural, using flux welders. With flux core, you must clean that garbage off, after every single weld. Often times, people weld ontop of that garbage..without cleaning it with a wire brush. If you don't clean it, your just asking for trouble! Again....I'd just get the gas welder and cut out all that nonsense, that goes with the flux!

 

I had a job that needed an inexpensive, small HOT manuverable mig welder. So I looked around and HF beat everybody on a 200 amp unit. Not made in China!Thought it would save money on this job..NOT.. First one didn't work out of the box. Second one worked a week and amp controll went away. Third one finished out the job but lost amp controll also.

I was pissed from having to take the thing back. They didn't have another to replace it with anyways. So I took the cover off and did some research. The thing has a primative rectifier system (russian) and several diodes were fried. Ordered new ones from a supplier (less than $2.00 each). Replaced any that were burned and a couple more.
It works great now. But i'm gunshy on the unit ,so it sets, while I use a good machine (an ancient Linde) in the shop.

Cheap welder not good welder

 

I have the cheap flux core model. It's great for a beginner to get their feet wet. I wouldn't even attempt body work with it, the splatter is awful even using good name brand wire. I did loan it out to a friend and he actually used it for body work but it's an old beater truck. I don't know how he didn't go insane having to brush the flux off constantly.

 

I'm not a fan of HF stuff either. My brother just bought one against my advise. He said it works great...but he never owned a welder before. You only get what you pay for. It won't last long before you have problems with it. If you do get one, throw away the wire and use good stuff.
I'll stick with my Miller.

 

I've had a cheap flux core welder for years.. Does everything I need it to do.. For $79 buy it and use it.. If you don't like it throw it away....

 

Flux core is for building fences in 25 mph wind. It has no place anywhere else.

 

A good portion of todays buildings are built with flux core welding in some portion of them. I've put down many many feet of flux core beads on things I would consider highly structural, all of them within the earthquake prone "Ring of Fire". Flux core welding is a tool devised for a specific task, but, that job IS NOT hot rodding. Flux core wire is fantastic when you are welding on the 6th story of a building, need the speed of wire feed, and portability of stick welding. That's what they've designed it for, and it works great for that purpose. It just doesn't meet the asthetic we are trying to achieve in hot rodding.

That being said, if you look inside a HF welder at the drive system you will see that they are barely capable of pushing water down hill.

And as Alex so eloquently said: flux core really hasn't much use in hot rodding, unless you're stuck somewhere or have no other option to put something back together.

 

Run away from HF as fast as you can.

Instead, buy a used name brand (Lincoln, Miller, Hobart) 110 MIG and a CO2/Argon gas bottle off Craigslist. Do the work, then either keep the welder as a backup or resell it on Craigslist.

 

About five years ago, I did this with one & so far no rust is bleeding out. In fact, I just used the thing today for some unrelated non-car stuff. Yes, sheet metal is a little touchy, but you learn techniques along the line to get the job done (like backing the welds & thoughtful grinding..ha--ha). I really have had no feed problems after numerous spools. Do I like the expensive welders? Yes, I really do. Is this worth $79? Yes, it certainly is.

 

thx Guys.
I'll find a local body shop and see if he can do it for me. Yes it's sheetmetal.

 

Man, Listen! I Ain't going to use a flux core welder, on anything structural -like my frame that I will be driving in!! I don't need a flux core 101 lesson!! I know about both gas and flux! Just like everyone has there own opinion..with the vast majority ruling with the MIG welder. It's a no-brainer! To the original thread poster..do yourself a favor, and skip the flux crap! Nuff said..

 

torch it! atleast you would be buying something worth buying. torches are way more universal than a flux core welder.

 

Bingo or the local rental outfit might have a torch that they will rent out.

If I had just two holes to weld up I'd pay someone to come over and do it or pay someone to bring their welder over so I could do it.