Powering a welder

[oldspark]

I had my stick welder temporaryily hooked up to a 30 amp service and set on 100 amps it would weld fine but if you stuck the rod (do not want to hear about it) it would trip the circuit unless you could get the rod unstuck quickly.

I can see that happening. The best is surely a dedicated 50 amp breaker, installed by an electrician.

It is now I was just useing that as a reference for the OP in his choice of welders. I am an electrician.

 

[madrone]

I hear you Elder. You can call them both "wire feed" but fluxcore is not the same as MIG. Also, "arc" welding describes more than just SMAW, or stick.

 

[maverick06]

I have that MIG welder! its great, people complain about it, but its wonderful! Works off of 120v and does a great job. HIGHLY suggest it.

I have heard that if you replace the wire with some good lincoln wire, you will be better.... but i am ok with the existing stuff, so all is good!

Get the autodarkening hood.

Probably too much power for sheet metal work, but its great!

 

[nate379]

The Lincoln and Miller MIGs in the 175-180 area draw about 25amps all the way up.

I ran my Lincoln 175 off a 30 amp dryer outlet for several years and not one had a problem with it.

There hasn't been anything I have worked on that I felt my welder wasn't large enough, though I don't normally weld over 1/4" steel. Once in a while 3/8".

 

[madrone]

Had a lincoln 120v and it was nice, 220 is wayyyyy better. I have a lincoln 170 and a lincoln ac/dc stick welder. I am looking for a miller 251 or 252 to replace both. Go bigger and you will be happy. My 220 is fine but bigger is better. You will be suprised at all the crap you fix once your proficient and confident enough to try...

That Miller is a niiiice machine. Welds anything you want.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

Because I don't have enough on my plate....

I'm kicking around getting a cheapo Harbor Freight welder. 1) I've always wanted to weld, 2) I have a few projects (albeit very small ones) in my head I'd like to do.

I was talking with buddy who used to be into off-roading and had a rig he worked on. He was using a small welder plugged into a household outlet. He said it never got hot enough. He mentioned something about using the 220 plug for your dryer, with some type of adapter/stepdown. Anyone heard of this? I tried googling, but I didn't come up with much. I don't think I'm using the correct terminology.

Here's what I'd be looking at for a welder:
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/mig-flux-welders/90-amp-flux-wire-welder-98871.html

Plan B:
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/arc-welders/80-amp-inverter-arc-welder-91110.html



And I know this will come up: "Skier, what do you want to weld?"

I want to tack some nuts to my mower deck and fix a small crack on the deck.

I'd also like to fab up a custom hitch for my ATV; taking an existing ATV square hitch, and weld some channels to the bottom so I can bolt it to the rear diff.

Fixing your mower deck sounds fine with that light duty welder, I'm not sure about that ATV hitch though. My 2 cents worth is if you can't or don't want a larger wire welder then buy a stick welder. Used Lincoln tombstones are all over as are some Millers. I had a Century 110 wire that had more welding power than it had any right to, it still would not weld plate like a tombstone would though, Randy

 

[Skier76]

I have that MIG welder! its great, people complain about it, but its wonderful! Works off of 120v and does a great job. HIGHLY suggest it.

I have heard that if you replace the wire with some good lincoln wire, you will be better.... but i am ok with the existing stuff, so all is good!

Get the autodarkening hood.

Probably too much power for sheet metal work, but its great!

Great to hear from someone who has one! Thanks for the insight.

There's a lot of good info in this thread; I appreciate all the insight. Good stuff!

 

[Joe Matthews]

Fixing your mower deck sounds fine with that light duty welder, I’m not sure about that ATV hitch though. My 2 cents worth is if you can’t or don’t want a larger wire welder then buy a stick welder. Used Lincoln tombstones are all over as are some Millers. I had a Century 110 wire that had more welding power than it had any right to, it still would not weld plate like a tombstone would though, Randy

Good advise there... I personally do not like the gasless wire welders because they will not do as nice of a job and are not as easy to use, especially with fine work. I suppose for someone wanting to start out and learn it is ok, to see if it is something you will use. Being able to weld is a very handy thing and I will never be without a welding machine again. About the breaker, you can run those 110 welders on a lighter breaker, but you will be limited in the time and thickness you will be able to weld because the breaker will trip. Not a big deal, but can be a pain to deal with and is somewhat limiting. If your breaker box is in the garage though it is simple enough to run a new appropriately sized line and breaker.

 

[Skier76]

Thanks Joe. The breaker box is in the utility room...which is a ways away from the grage. So running a new line would be a minor PITA. However, I did check and it's a 15 amp breaker that powers the plug in the garage. So in theory, it should have enough juice for the 110 unit.

 

[Skier76]

I had a coupon and picked up the HF 90 amp flux for $89. Scored and auto darkening helmet on sale with a 20% off coupon for $27. So we'll see how this works! Good, bad or indifferent, I'll post up the results.

 

[burntime]

skier, I had a 100 amp lincoln, it sucked to say the least. I got the 140 and it was worlds better. I would return it and at least get the largest they have. Lincoln actually makes a generic version you can buy off of ebay for something like 250. I would go that route. My friend has a HF and it was nothing more then a glorified battery charger. Just saying, if your going to spend the money you should at least enjoy the purchase...

 

[Battenkiller]

I see a dial for the wire feed speed, but how do you adjust the juice on that machine? You need to be able to adjust both for different gauges of metal.

My Lincoln 125 only has a 20% duty cycle at 60 amps, I find it hard to believe that little thing has 45% at 60A.

I there an option to add a shielding gas? Using gas makes the welding IMO. Flux core bites. Expensive, too.

Like the auto-darkening helmet, though. Wish they had them when I was learning. Never really did learn how to drop the mask without flashing myself.

 

[Skier76]

I'll be sure to post up when I finally use it. I need to get some scrap metal to practice on. I figure I'm into this for a tick over $100...so it's worth a shot. If I get good or want to expand my horizons, I'll look for a good MIG unit down the road.