Wire welder input
01-29-2003, 12:33 AM
#1
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Car: 86-FireBird
Engine: -MPFI
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3:42
Wire welder input
I am in need of a welder and plan on using it for many mods on my bird and I want to make sure Im not falling for a suckers deal, cause I found a good deal.
http://www.equipmentland.com/product...s/welders.html
Flux Core 85 Amp Electric Wire Feed Welder
WF2010
Wire feed welder provides an instant arc for easy welding
115-Volt Input plug in anywhere and saves you cost of wiring for 230 volt
30-80 Amp Output welds 20g – 3/16” steel, and is easy to match heat to metal
DC output provides a smooth weld bead for increased satisfaction and results
Warranty: 1 Year
Campbell Hausfeld 5-Year warranty, and an 800 hotline to answer any questions.
$219plus $29shipping
Only other welders even close 2 that price are refurbs.
http://www.equipmentland.com/product...s/welders.html
Flux Core 85 Amp Electric Wire Feed Welder
WF2010
Wire feed welder provides an instant arc for easy welding
115-Volt Input plug in anywhere and saves you cost of wiring for 230 volt
30-80 Amp Output welds 20g – 3/16” steel, and is easy to match heat to metal
DC output provides a smooth weld bead for increased satisfaction and results
Warranty: 1 Year
Campbell Hausfeld 5-Year warranty, and an 800 hotline to answer any questions.
$219plus $29shipping
Only other welders even close 2 that price are refurbs.
01-29-2003, 04:29 AM
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Car: '94 Corvette
Engine: LT1
Transmission: 4L60E
Hey 'Gumby', I bought the CH 2000 about two weeks ago, and It's not a bad unit at all...
So far I only used it on my exhaust, and does an excellent job!!!
I've been using it on this very thick exhaust pipe, so I can believe it will do 3/16.
If this is your first time out you'll find it's SO easy to use it's not funny...
Let me give you a couple suggestion if you never welded before. First get the welders hand book, or better yet get a video that actually shows you the proper ways of mig (cough cough) GMAW.
I picked up this guys video for about 25 bucks, and it's excellent. It's about 45 minutes long, and shows how to get started...
http://www.weldingvideos.com/
Get a good helmet! I personally found it hard to see with regular fixed 10 or 11 shades. (guess my garage is not SUPER lit)
I bought a Lincoln auto dimming setup, which is pricey at 100 bucks, but you can see what your doing right before & after without flipping it up and down...
BTW: I bought mine CH2000 at Wal-Mart for $199...and, believe it or not CH offers a MIG conversion for the 2000 up models...
I would love to have a Miller 251, but I realy don't have 1600+ bucks right now!
Ron
So far I only used it on my exhaust, and does an excellent job!!!
I've been using it on this very thick exhaust pipe, so I can believe it will do 3/16.
If this is your first time out you'll find it's SO easy to use it's not funny...
Let me give you a couple suggestion if you never welded before. First get the welders hand book, or better yet get a video that actually shows you the proper ways of mig (cough cough) GMAW.
I picked up this guys video for about 25 bucks, and it's excellent. It's about 45 minutes long, and shows how to get started...
http://www.weldingvideos.com/
Get a good helmet! I personally found it hard to see with regular fixed 10 or 11 shades. (guess my garage is not SUPER lit)
I bought a Lincoln auto dimming setup, which is pricey at 100 bucks, but you can see what your doing right before & after without flipping it up and down...
BTW: I bought mine CH2000 at Wal-Mart for $199...and, believe it or not CH offers a MIG conversion for the 2000 up models...
I would love to have a Miller 251, but I realy don't have 1600+ bucks right now!
Ron
01-29-2003, 09:27 AM
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I've been in the body business for over 6 years and the first welder I've ever used was that flux core CH one from Wal-Mart. It did the job very well for my resto. I now have a 220 volt welder mig welder that I bought from NAPA about 3 years ago. It works awesome. I got it with the cart and mig hook up for about $800.00. I do a lot of frame bracing for truck work and for demo derbies so the extra power comes in handy. If I can recall that little CH model uses like a 2lb spool of wire and I think it is like $20.00 or so. I can get an 11lb spool for my welder for like $30.00, but the mig gas is like $30.00 as well. If you are going to do alot of welding go for the mig gas conversion. You will get better results. Those 2lb spools go fast so make sure you have enough to get the job done. You can check with sears for a good welder. They have lincoln's in their catalog. Those are pretty good. Make sure to get or build a cart for your welder. This will help you out. If you have never welded before I would suggest an auto darking helmet. It lets you see the object before you weld and when the sparks fly the lens goes dark. This helped my welding alot better. Hope this helps.
01-29-2003, 07:11 PM
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Car: 86-FireBird
Engine: -MPFI
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3:42
I took metal shop and Ive been burnt by every kind of welder / tourch out there and i also know cold forging and sand casting.
I just gotta get the best deal so I can afford some other metal tools. chop saw . 4 1/2 grinder, die grinder kit, air compressor [Lowes has a 6HP 20 gallon porter cable $179.00]
I just gotta get the best deal so I can afford some other metal tools. chop saw . 4 1/2 grinder, die grinder kit, air compressor [Lowes has a 6HP 20 gallon porter cable $179.00]
01-30-2003, 04:30 AM
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Car: 86-FireBird
Engine: -MPFI
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3:42
The best deal was right in front of me the whole time 
, check this out, it looks like a CH and its 259.99 Im waiting for more details.
For mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.
Weld with gas or perform flux cored gasless operations.
Features 4 heat settings, variable speed wire-feed regulation and
automatic thermal protector with warning light.
Optional 7-1/2'' reel adapter lets you use 11 lb. wire reels.
Welding current range: 25 to 85 amps
Input: single phase 115 volts, 60 Hz
Open voltage: 19 to 30
Duty cycle: 16% @ 75 amps
Draws 15 amps @ 115 volts
Weldable wires:
.023'' to .035'' steel and stainless steel
.030'' to .035'' aluminum
.030'' flux-cored
, check this out, it looks like a CH and its 259.99 Im waiting for more details.For mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.
Weld with gas or perform flux cored gasless operations.
Features 4 heat settings, variable speed wire-feed regulation and
automatic thermal protector with warning light.
Optional 7-1/2'' reel adapter lets you use 11 lb. wire reels.
Welding current range: 25 to 85 amps
Input: single phase 115 volts, 60 Hz
Open voltage: 19 to 30
Duty cycle: 16% @ 75 amps
Draws 15 amps @ 115 volts
Weldable wires:
.023'' to .035'' steel and stainless steel
.030'' to .035'' aluminum
.030'' flux-cored
02-07-2003, 05:43 PM
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Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
Saw you asking about this from the V6 board, so here's my input:
I have a Lincoln Electric Weld-Pak 100. It comes set up for 0.035" flux core wire (FCAW). 'Fact, that's the only difference between the Weld pak 100 and the Mig Pak 10! Mig Pak 10 is set up for solid-core gasless welding (GMAW).
I scammed Home Depot against Lowe's for the price. Lowes sold it for $10 less, so Home Depot had to beat it by 15%.
Then I bought the FCAW-to-GMAW kit for the WeldPak 100, ran about $100. A year later I picked up the gas bottle from a local welding store for $150 (C25 mix), and a few months after that, I bought a Hornell Speedglas "Utility" auto-dimming helmet for $180. (Got overcharged compared to webprices, but bought it locally- guy said if it EVER breaks, bring it back, they'll replace it right then and there for me!!)
Remember that FCAW needs more amperage to burn the flux in the wire (to create the sheild), so you won't be able to weld sheetmetal. Sounds like you knew that already, though. Another bonus of GMAW is that the welds are SO much cleaner looking! Not only is there no flux to wire-brush off, but the beads look much better. Since gmaw wire is thinner (0.025"), the welds are also more precise.
I recommend finding the Haynes "Welding Techbook", in any car parts store. Got mine from Lowe's Home Improvement. It goes over all the types of welding out there (oxy-acet/arc/fcaw/gmaw/tig/plasma), gives a tool/equipment section, and shows a sample project. It helped me make the "big decision" to go with MIG. It also tells you how to use each type of welder! For MIG, it talks about "reading" the welds, how to tell if there's too much amperage or not enough, if the wire feed speed is too fast, angle of gun to the work metal, "stickout" (i forget the right word)- how far the wire extends from the gun tip before you start, etc. It's invaluable!!
Then came the decision for "which MIG??". Found out Campbell-Hausfeld welders are made by Century, who also makes the Craftsman welders. Lincoln Electric makes their own. Plus, LE's been in business for a lonnnng time, and are well known in the industry. (CH is too, but you don't hear of too many people with CH welders!) That's why I spent the extra for the LE unit. I figure this is the last welder I'll ever buy, so I might as well not skimp on things.
Even http://www.harborfreight.com sells some MIG's, but if they're made by Chicago Electric, that means they're made by a no-name Italian welding company, with a harbor freight name slapped on 'em.
Also consider the gun that comes with the MIG, for consumables (parts that die with age- such as the tips). My gun is a Magnum 100L, which is compatible with Tweco guns. Make sure you can buy your consumables at the local welding store!! Imagine finding out your tip is ruined, and you've gotta wait a week for them to come in the mail, because the local store doesn't stock 'em.
There's other "big names" out there for welders, too, such as Hobart or Miller or HTP America, but they're gonna be even more money than the LE one I have- and even with that one, I had to spend an extra $100 for the GMAW conversion kit. (It fit my finances better to buy the welder for $300 and get the conversion kit a few months later.)
Hmm... what else... oh yeah- it's not a piece of cake to change from flux core to gmaw- unless you have a second gun! You've gotta change the lining and the tip, too.
Some welding tools that you should hit the local welding store for- welding gloves, "real" welding helmet (not the helmet-on-a-stick that comes with welders, that's good for people that want to watch), nozzle dip (if you do GMAW), those helper magnets, and if you can find one, a magnetic ground clamp (helpful for clipping your ground electrode to a car body or exhaust pipe).
Here's a pic of my welding setup, taken before my "emergency weld job" that I've talked about on the body/appearance board!
I have a Lincoln Electric Weld-Pak 100. It comes set up for 0.035" flux core wire (FCAW). 'Fact, that's the only difference between the Weld pak 100 and the Mig Pak 10! Mig Pak 10 is set up for solid-core gasless welding (GMAW).
I scammed Home Depot against Lowe's for the price. Lowes sold it for $10 less, so Home Depot had to beat it by 15%.
Then I bought the FCAW-to-GMAW kit for the WeldPak 100, ran about $100. A year later I picked up the gas bottle from a local welding store for $150 (C25 mix), and a few months after that, I bought a Hornell Speedglas "Utility" auto-dimming helmet for $180. (Got overcharged compared to webprices, but bought it locally- guy said if it EVER breaks, bring it back, they'll replace it right then and there for me!!)
Remember that FCAW needs more amperage to burn the flux in the wire (to create the sheild), so you won't be able to weld sheetmetal. Sounds like you knew that already, though. Another bonus of GMAW is that the welds are SO much cleaner looking! Not only is there no flux to wire-brush off, but the beads look much better. Since gmaw wire is thinner (0.025"), the welds are also more precise.
I recommend finding the Haynes "Welding Techbook", in any car parts store. Got mine from Lowe's Home Improvement. It goes over all the types of welding out there (oxy-acet/arc/fcaw/gmaw/tig/plasma), gives a tool/equipment section, and shows a sample project. It helped me make the "big decision" to go with MIG. It also tells you how to use each type of welder! For MIG, it talks about "reading" the welds, how to tell if there's too much amperage or not enough, if the wire feed speed is too fast, angle of gun to the work metal, "stickout" (i forget the right word)- how far the wire extends from the gun tip before you start, etc. It's invaluable!!
Then came the decision for "which MIG??". Found out Campbell-Hausfeld welders are made by Century, who also makes the Craftsman welders. Lincoln Electric makes their own. Plus, LE's been in business for a lonnnng time, and are well known in the industry. (CH is too, but you don't hear of too many people with CH welders!) That's why I spent the extra for the LE unit. I figure this is the last welder I'll ever buy, so I might as well not skimp on things.
Even http://www.harborfreight.com sells some MIG's, but if they're made by Chicago Electric, that means they're made by a no-name Italian welding company, with a harbor freight name slapped on 'em.
Also consider the gun that comes with the MIG, for consumables (parts that die with age- such as the tips). My gun is a Magnum 100L, which is compatible with Tweco guns. Make sure you can buy your consumables at the local welding store!! Imagine finding out your tip is ruined, and you've gotta wait a week for them to come in the mail, because the local store doesn't stock 'em.
There's other "big names" out there for welders, too, such as Hobart or Miller or HTP America, but they're gonna be even more money than the LE one I have- and even with that one, I had to spend an extra $100 for the GMAW conversion kit. (It fit my finances better to buy the welder for $300 and get the conversion kit a few months later.)
Hmm... what else... oh yeah- it's not a piece of cake to change from flux core to gmaw- unless you have a second gun! You've gotta change the lining and the tip, too.
Some welding tools that you should hit the local welding store for- welding gloves, "real" welding helmet (not the helmet-on-a-stick that comes with welders, that's good for people that want to watch), nozzle dip (if you do GMAW), those helper magnets, and if you can find one, a magnetic ground clamp (helpful for clipping your ground electrode to a car body or exhaust pipe).
Here's a pic of my welding setup, taken before my "emergency weld job" that I've talked about on the body/appearance board!
02-08-2003, 06:44 AM
#7
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what kind of gas you using Tom???
at the TC shop I worked at we used helium on both the auto mig and tig. The auto mig did most of the work and then you had too pressure check the TC and re melt any pin holes with the tig.
can you use propane?
Can you put a tig tip on a mig???
at the TC shop I worked at we used helium on both the auto mig and tig. The auto mig did most of the work and then you had too pressure check the TC and re melt any pin holes with the tig.
can you use propane?
Can you put a tig tip on a mig???
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02-08-2003, 07:18 AM
#8
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Car: 86-FireBird
Engine: -MPFI
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3:42
Well you were also a tad late Tom. I had to order last friday. The welder is here.
85 AMP, 115 VOLT FLUX AND MIG WELDER
115 VOLT!
For mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. Weld with gas or perform flux cored gasless operations. Features 4 heat settings, variable speed wire-feed regulation and automatic thermal protector with warning light. Optional 7-1/2'' reel adapter lets you use 11 lb. wire reels.
Welding current range: 25 to 85 amps
Input: single phase 115 volts, 60 Hz
Open voltage: 19 to 30
Duty cycle: 16% @ 75 amps
Draws 15 amps @ 115 volts
Weldable wires:
.023'' to .035'' steel and stainless steel
.030'' to .035'' aluminum
.030'' flux-cored
Dimensions: 9-7/8'' x 13-1/2'' x 17-3/4''
Shipping weight: 57 lbs.
ITEM 36691-2VGA
$349.99
--------
Thats the price and info off the HF site. I paid 100 less.
HF has an auto dim shield for 69.99
85 AMP, 115 VOLT FLUX AND MIG WELDER
115 VOLT!
For mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. Weld with gas or perform flux cored gasless operations. Features 4 heat settings, variable speed wire-feed regulation and automatic thermal protector with warning light. Optional 7-1/2'' reel adapter lets you use 11 lb. wire reels.
Welding current range: 25 to 85 amps
Input: single phase 115 volts, 60 Hz
Open voltage: 19 to 30
Duty cycle: 16% @ 75 amps
Draws 15 amps @ 115 volts
Weldable wires:
.023'' to .035'' steel and stainless steel
.030'' to .035'' aluminum
.030'' flux-cored
Dimensions: 9-7/8'' x 13-1/2'' x 17-3/4''
Shipping weight: 57 lbs.
ITEM 36691-2VGA
$349.99
--------
Thats the price and info off the HF site. I paid 100 less.
HF has an auto dim shield for 69.99
02-08-2003, 03:49 PM
#9
Supreme Member
I hate fluxcore wire....its really inferior to gas systems, and ther results usually show it.
just get yourself a regular gas shield setup and use 75-25 argon-co2 mix. use straight argon for stainless steel or aluminum...(tig is better for non-ferrous metals though)
just get yourself a regular gas shield setup and use 75-25 argon-co2 mix. use straight argon for stainless steel or aluminum...(tig is better for non-ferrous metals though)
02-11-2003, 10:27 PM
#10
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Car: 86-FireBird
Engine: -MPFI
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3:42
Tom
Did your tank come with the regulator and the hookups for 150 bucks??? I been shopping ofr a tank and saw some on ebay but Im not sure what kind of regulator I need. The gas hose onthe back of the welder is a tiny *** hose.
Is the tank you got a 20 or and 80 cf tank??? on ebay I have found 20, 80 and 244cf tanks all for around 100 buck. Butt shipping would be nuts onthe big one, Im sure.
Is the tank you got a 20 or and 80 cf tank??? on ebay I have found 20, 80 and 244cf tanks all for around 100 buck. Butt shipping would be nuts onthe big one, Im sure.
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