mobile welder coming tomorrow...quick dumb question

A few years ago, (ok ok lots of them ) I walked into a bar after work and ordered a beer. The barmaid said " sorry sweetie, I don't serve minors " I said " I know what you mean, but I'm not a minor - I'm a welder " that was a fun night.

 

Hotroddon

Exactly, it should not be an issue for most people as very few of the novice welders can weld for 12 inches at a time anyway.

I was just pointing out what duty cycle was as someone made a comment about it being related to weld quality...DOH!!!!!

 

If you don't respect the duty cycle of a small welder (welding machine, power source, whatever...the piece that plugs in the wall....), it has a VERY BIG effect on weld quality. Unless it's a newer, high quality machine; it's unlikely that it's programmed to shut down when the transformer overheats, then the output voltage begins to change, and with it the weld quality.

 

Mirror Mirror on the wall,
Who the biggest, bestest, fastest, welding expert of them all ?

Or would that be MirrEr MirrEr ?

 

My Lincoln will shut off if you go over the Duty Cycle ......
I guess the Ching Chong machines won't

 

I got tired of reading so I don't if it was mentioned except for the post above, but every “portable welder” I know has a heli-arc setup on his rig. This would be better than any of the other suggestions. He should know to weld it with ER-70S2. A 110 volt machine will do the job just fine, but if you’re uncomfortable with the 110 machine have him heli-arc the weld.

 

if you hired a guy to plant some bushes, do you think he should use a 20 ton excavator? [or excavater] as said a good 110 machine is all thats needed, and i would hope a good weldor has one in his arsenal of equipment.
i'm thinking all he needs to use a bunch of zip ties and duct tape.

 

I zip tie all my suspension stuff together, nothing wrong with using zip ties you just have to know which size to use, and the proper zip pressure.

 

As a certified welder in the state of Connecticut my personal feeling is 110 volt is made for sheetmetal and toys, NOT frames that need to save your life in an accident or going down the road at 65 plus MPH !

Ask him to see his certification. Good quality honest welders looking for honest work carry thier state card with them, so they can work and make money anywhere.

You can always have him weld a "fillet" joint on "test" pieces.
Once its cooled cut it in half and check the weld penetration.

A good weld from the outside looks like a row of dimes laying down on a 45 degree angle.

One other thing, if he asks to plug into your house curcuits - SEND HIM PACKING !!

 

So what was the outcome? lets see some pics? surely he has come and gone by now...

 

Wow. This is pretty entertaining. All of our portable trucks carry a 110 mig welder and yes we do structural work with them when it is a proper application. It is all about the operator and a quality machine. I think The posts by Bodi sum up the situation pretty well. As I have stated before, there are alot of lucky car builders out there. I make a pretty good living from fixing bad welds. There is alot of bad info and old wives tales showing up in this thread. Practice will produce good looking welds but knowledge will produce good performing welds. Evan if you are just working in your garage, read a book, take a class and learn the science.

 

Here is the danger in a discussion of if a 110 volt mig is up to the job or not. I agree that a guy who is very proficient in welding skills can take just about any machine and crank out good strong welds. But most of us don't fall into that category. I see this question come up all the time where a newby rodder is thinking of building a frame using a HF 110 mig and he is getting advice that it will do the job for him. In inexperienced hands it probably won't and he will end up with an accident waiting to happen.

I just think a guy who has limited welding experience has a better chance of producing an acceptably strong weld with the extra kick of a 220 volt welder.

Don

 

Whats the outcome??

I would have no problem using my Miller 130 on something that thin

 

My thoughts exactly

 

I don't understand the reasoning that if the guy has a fancy truck loaded with the newest equipment that he is the best man for the job. I am a retired frame and front end man (39 years) we hired a guy with 8 ASE certifications,and a huge Snap on tool box with all the high dollar tools, This guy literally didn't know which way to turn a bolt to loosen it. I wasted plenty of time repairing stuff that he screwed up,before they finally got rid of him. I have been welding for 50+ years,and after I retired I took a welding course at the local career center The instructor(instructer) demonstrated several welds with a 110 Lincoln just to show what could be done. The op is not building a boiler,or a skyscraper,or a bridge for that matter,that crossmember is little more than sheetmetal,and the frame rail is probably less than 3/16 thick. To be traditional it should be oxy-acetylene welded with coat hangers as rod.

 

Abone did my last one with a 110v (Miller 135)

 

So? Did it get done?

 

Bullshit to that. That is NOT a good weld.

A good weld looks far different than that. A good weld is NOT the typical "row of dimes" that everyone seems to think looks so nice.

 

These responses are ridiculous, and I would love to know how many of you guys saying a 110v welder can't weld in a MII crossmember actually weld yourselves. A 140 amp 110v welder will easily weld anything on a car. It can weld up to .250 and usually a frame rail is .125. Also duty cycle doesn't have anything to do with penetration at all. Sheesh.

 

i have to argue with you....i call myself a professional. ive been welding in the industry for 5 yr now. im AWS certified in mutiple processes and positions. are they the ones you need for the application>? porbably not. that is the gimmic. there is 1000's of certifications out there. if you doubt if the guy you hired knows his stuff have him run a test bead. do a basic butt weld and tell him to bend in a vise. if he is a professional he would have one on the back of his truck like i do! if it breaks tell him you will use someone else.


back to the quote at hand.....myself i always ALWAYS have my 110v welder on my truck and a extension cord. when i go to inspect the job ive always got this. if i can do it with just that i will. if not i will run and get my GENERATOR WELDER which is DC AND AC CURRENT. im a small buissness guy. i dont have all that crazy equipment like you mentioned. if i did i kinda doubt i would fit into the guys budget.

keep it simple>keep it cheap

get complicated>you are in debt

doesnt matter how you go about it.....machine and the person behind it both have to be GOOD. you can give a guy the best machine in the industry and still weld chicken poop. you can give a guy a crappy welder that the adjustment is broke and HE will adjust the way he welds inorder to get the job done right.


srry for the rant but thats my opinion

 

hell yea!

everything above is TRUE

 

this is the truck i use to do all my welding jobs in. i use a pull behind RIG with generator and all the other tools i may need. you dont need a huge beast to do anything. please be kind......this is the only picture i could find in a hurry of my truck. could had used a trailer when i picked these stairs up. lol

 

You have got to be kidding me !!!!!!!!!!!
go ahead tell me why thats ok, that should be fun.

 

best drag truck/ bleacher combo i have ever seen!

 

Ok, Holly shit balls guys I didn't intend to open up a can of worms, here is the final update on what went down today.
Fortunately everything worked out. Steve showed up right at 8 a.m. like he said and came with his big welding truck.
He told me after he thought about it more he felt more comfortable using his big stick machine. He only wanted to use his little mig because he felt that it would be a little cheaper in the long run for me instead of driving his big truck over. So he showed up with a Miller 225 bobcat stick machine. He did ask if he could use my little Miller 140 to tack everything in.
So After about 3 hours of work everything turned out better then I ever expected. I asked him what I owed him and he said....." Its going to be about $200 but... take a week and wire wheel everything out and look for any pin holes...if you do, call me and I will come back and take care of it" You don't owe me anything until you are completely happy. I don't think anybody can complain about that kind of a business man. Turns out this guy has spent the last 4years working on welding high pressure lines down at ground zero.
Here some pics




also had hin weld some extensions to the front of my frame because I needed about an extra 1" to mount my sway bar bushings I will trim the excess off later

 

This whole frame was welded with my 140 amp, 110volt Snap-On MIG. I used 2x3, 2x2 .188 wall mild steel tubing... I have a neighbor that welds for a national company. After I fitted and tacked all the joints ,he came down ,inspected it . He made me re-do and clean a few f/ups.. He then fired up my little pea-shooter and proceeded to lay down some awesome welds..I watched him closely and was really impressed with his skill...I have total confidence in his work.. He welded in the frt,mid x-members and the rear kick-up( all the really important ass-savin stuff. !..) The rest he turned over to me.
So, for my $0.02 worth, will a 110 Volt machine do the job??? Myanswer is "yes, in the right hands...."
Stan

 

Looks like he did a good job for a reasonable price.

 

Did you ever make it past page 1?

Yep, gotta agree. way honest too. I'd like to see a close up on the beads just for the sake of it. I used to be pretty good w/ the stick, but after 2 years straight of mig i can only do a "quarter decent" job

 

That's strange. Not stirring any shit here or anything, but, I've been corrected by "weldors" 30 years my senior that a weldor is the man operating the machine. These weren't any new punks, they were some of the best fabricators I've ever met, and they taught me a lot. This must be a regional thing, because I've been told for years that I am a weldor, and not a welder.

 

Cold lap is directly related to amps and volts. You can get cold lap with both stick and mig. In both cases having the parameters set properly will prevent cold lap assuming the operator has the experience to weld properly.

Beveling a joint does allow for more weld metal, you are correct. However it does not change the amount of weld penetration. Weld penetration, the amount the arc penetrates the metal, is a function of amps and volts, not joint design.

Welding experience is a huge factor in a good weld but equipment also plays a role. The best welder in the world cannot make a good weld if his equipment is not up to snuff.

No fights here, just thinking people should be properly informed.