Small fluxcore welder

[Old Doug]

I used a 110 welder years ago with flux core to weld patch pannels on a pickup but i dont remember how ir worked. I have some work Now i could use a cheap light welder to weld some sheet metal and exhaust pipe. Their is enough welding that it will be worth spending the money to buy some thing rather than haul my big welder and tank or would it be worth geting a small mig and small bottle?

 

[oceanobob]

The years old 120vac transformer style machine I paid $800 does either hard wire or flux core....it is now relegated to flux core only for misc fabs such as form work brackets, jigs, etc and other tomfoolery as it has been [gladly] replaced by a three process machine w an inverter that runs on 120 or 240vac ....new machine is hard wire, flux core, or even stick if ya want it...cost $1050. Have friends that tried no or lesser name brand machines to their dissatisfaction.

 

[Hobbytime]

dont laugh but for the cheapest harbor freight migs are not bad,next up, northern tools has their house brand mig and if you have a few bucks to spend hobart makes some great 110 migs that can do both flux core or wire n gas..

 

[check]

I've had cheap Harbor Freight, cheap Lincoln and now cheap Hobart flux core welders and very dissatisfied with all of them. Unless you pay $1000 or more for one, you'll spend more time working on them than welding with them. The main problem is feeding.

 

[kenh]

A few years ago I bought a Lincoln 175 plus, does both.
Very good welder for around $850, (IIRC)
I have never used flux core though.

 

[farmerlund]

We have a small miller that we use for repairs on grain legs and dryer setup. Only ever used fluxcore in it. nice and light to throw in man basket and go up to weld something. works good up to about 1/4" material. Handy little machine.

 

[Hobbytime]

I've had cheap Harbor Freight, cheap Lincoln and now cheap Hobart flux core welders and very dissatisfied with all of them. Unless you pay $1000 or more for one, you'll spend more time working on them than welding with them. The main problem is feeding.

well maybe its you..LOL..just kidding..I have had a hobart 140 for 5-6 years flux core and used the crap out of it and it has not given me any problems, also a lincoln weld pac 100 about 25 years old and no problems...just an FYI for you, you need special feed rollers for flux core, they are not smooth like the rollers for steel wire and gas..

 

[Ronsii]

I'll kinda say what others are saying... I started with cheepy 110 buzboxes then moved up to more expensive noname buzboxes then cheepy wirefeeds...While they can weld you really have to know how to weld proper to usually get anything decent out of them.. and even then they can be unstable or burn up when pushed to the limits... Lately I've been buying miller 211's for a small 120/240 portable welder that you can just throw anywhere and weld, they last about a year or so... (To be honest they get pretty rough treatment) but they do work great! when they are alive. All I can say is they just don't build things like they used to.

Most of what we do is field repair with about 15 percent new fab work, I'll go through about 3-4 hundred pounds of fluxcore 30/35 wire in a year more or less, will replace the torch usually at least once in it's life along with liners, tips and various drive parts. Also had lincoln 180's/125's?? for a few years but burned out the diode boards on those a few times and feed motors... the millers have been pretty good electronic wise just issues with the drive feed(right rollers), torch's, and cheap bits. I do really like the latest 211 inverter based wire feed, it's a lot lighter and still got a fairly smooth arc.. even I can get decent welds out of it, a higher duty cycle would be nice but I guess that's what the more expensive models are for .

So basically it comes down to what you want to spend and how reliable/bulletproof you need a welder to be... I could take an 80$ harbor freight welder to a job but there is a good chance I won't get the job done very good or at all for that matter...now if you just need it for a small repair/fab welder now and then in your garage or workshop it'd probably be the best 80 bucks you ever spent!!!

 

[Old Doug]

. I was thinking about a miller because their is a place to buy one close by but i was told by a guy that has one and has done alot of stick welding that it was worthless.

 

[92U 3406]

I made the mistake of buying a 110 volt MIG. Garbage IMO. A nice 220 volt with gas is 20x the machine IMO.

 

[Ronsii]

@92U 3406, That's one of the reasons I bought my first miller 211 because it came with two plugs for the end of the cord... a 110v and a 220v, takes all of 15 seconds to switch ends and you go from a 110volt welder that can do 1/4 inch in one pass to a 220volt that I have welded 1/2inch one pass... I have welded a lot thicker but the duty cycle really kills you if you have more than a couple feet of welding to do.

 

[crane operator]

I used to have a small lincoln 110/220 mig, when I was building steel grain bins/ mill work. I think most of its feeding issues were directly related to throwing it in and out of the service truck, and having other things on top of it and beside it. What happens is you eventually kink the liner. We used flux core, it welds mild steel okay, but not a pretty weld like gas shielding. I never welded 1/2" with it, mostly just up to 3/16". Try not to run a bunch of extension cord, and it will run on 220 much better than 110.

I wasn't very impressed with it when the boss first bought it, I was used to large stick welding, but once you get used to its limitations, they are a very handy tool.

 

[Birken Vogt]

I use mine for tacking things together off a generator so I can get it in range of the stick welder for proper welds.

That or really small stuff that the stick would be too much heat and melt through.

It is just a tool in the tool box.

 

[check]

well maybe its you..LOL..just kidding..I have had a hobart 140 for 5-6 years flux core and used the crap out of it and it has not given me any problems, also a lincoln weld pac 100 about 25 years old and no problems...just an FYI for you, you need special feed rollers for flux core, they are not smooth like the rollers for steel wire and gas..

My Hobart is a 125. Maybe the 140 is much better. My 125 does have knurled feed rollers, but it doesn't seem to be enough to overcome the friction of going thru the feed tube much of the time. Replaced the feed tube once and that helped a little. Problem is, the tube is too delicate.

 

[92U 3406]

I had a hard time transitioning to MIG. I originally wanted to be a welder so I used to burn a box of welding rods every couple weeks practicing running beads. Never ran a MIG until a couple years ago. Kept feeding the tip into weld out of habit lol.

 

[Hobbytime]

My Hobart is a 125. Maybe the 140 is much better. My 125 does have knurled feed rollers, but it doesn't seem to be enough to overcome the friction of going thru the feed tube much of the time. Replaced the feed tube once and that helped a little. Problem is, the tube is too delicate.

did you try to adjust the tension on the rollers?also did you have the correct size tip for the wire being used? and was the tip in good condition? the actual gun on my hobart is a miller came from the factory that way, so buying a miller gets you the same....both hobart and miller are basically the same machine, different color..

 

[check]

did you try to adjust the tension on the rollers?also did you have the correct size tip for the wire being used? and was the tip in good condition? the actual gun on my hobart is a miller came from the factory that way, so buying a miller gets you the same....both hobart and miller are basically the same machine, different color..

Yes to all 3. Roller tension is always maxed out. The slightest kink in the delicate feed tube causes enough friction to slow down the feeding of the wire. Often wire backs up between the rollers and the tube inlet. I suppose solid wire would be less prone to back up since it's stiffer.

 

[Ronsii]

The guns in all these are pretty cheesy and the liners don't last long in a mobile environment or if you push 20 or more pounds a week through em... I usually keep spares around to keep things running. had the feed roll bearings go on the first miller, it had started bird nesting a lot and couldn't figure it out for a while after changing about every other part I finally noticed the excessive slop.

 

[Hobbytime]

Yes to all 3. Roller tension is always maxed out. The slightest kink in the delicate feed tube causes enough friction to slow down the feeding of the wire. Often wire backs up between the rollers and the tube inlet. I suppose solid wire would be less prone to back up since it's stiffer.

did you use the same brand flux core in all the welders that gave you a problem? I have not had any feed issues in my lincoln weldpack 100 or hobar 140 handler and I have the hobart iron man 230..I try to use lincoln flux core, but have used off brands without issue too...is your wire new and not rusted or have any corrosion on the surface?

 

[kshansen]

I'm thinking these problems with the light wire feed welders is in part the result of using a machine beyond it's designed limits. Some what like using a F-150 pickup with a 300 cubic inch inline six to pull a large camping trailer. Sure it will manage to do it for a time but you are bound to have some major problems in short order.

Now if you use this same truck to run to Home Depot to pick up a few sheets of plywood or haul the lawn mower to the shop for service a couple times a year and other light duty that truck and little 300 six will be going strong for many years.

I think the welders like the Lincoln Weld pack 100 were made for people like me. Need something able to do some basic welding repairs a few times a year. Like the job I did this morning, skid on my Woods mower had worn thin and developed a crack just behind the mounting bracket. Pull crack shut and clamped and welded it from both sides then used a piece of scrap steel rod to reinforce the outside edge. Not pretty and none of the real welders here need worry about me taking their jobs. As they say I'm much better with a 4 inch grinder and b*****d file that I am with a welding gun!

I've had this little welder for around 25 years and just a couple years back converted to gas and it has never given me any trouble in all that time. Would I recommend it for someone who was going to use it in a production type application or be bounced around in a service truck day in and day out? That would be NO! But if someone needed/wanted something for the occasional repair job around the home shop that would be a YES.