110 MIG Welding Outside Advice -Gas vs. Fluxcore?

[tobycat]

For all the welding wizards here. I am going to be buying a welder to do my builds and I will  be doing all the welding on 110v outside with occasional light to moderate winds. Everything is 3/16" for now, I know MIG welding with gas and solid wire is better than fluxcore wire but how much wind will it take create a problem with MIG w/gas ?    

  Also if anybody has experience with the 140 units from Lincoln, Miller, or Hobart  whats the best bang for my buck?  -Tobycat.

 

[choupic]

The hard wire isn't as bad but if your having problems with porosity you can simply build a wind block , like with a blanket or cardboard , as long as you don't start a fire . You could use fire blanket ...

I weld for a living but never have used the little small welding machines . My guess is any of the name brands would work just fine . Lincoln or miller has been building machines forever .

 

[boykjo]

It wont take much wind to blow your sheilding gas away... You really dont notice how much wind blows until you are welding. Miller and hobart are now the same company and parts are interchangable. lincoln is readily available at your local hardware. Their all good units and I would stay with one of them. Do not buy an off brand and buy the largest 110v you can. I personally recommend a 220v unit...... An old saying goes, You drive a Lincoln, Drink a Miller and weld with a Hobart.........................LOLGood luckJoe

 

[daveomak]

..............

............. but I drink and weld Miller and weld Lincoln and cut Hyper-therm... The only difference is in the beer... 

 

[dummy que]

tobycat who told you mig was better than intershield i am a retired union IRON WORKER upon my retirement i had ODOT bridge papers and 6G stuc. wire papers a flux-core wire will work better outdoors than mig since you will most likely be using a mild steel of about .25 inch i would suggest using  211 wire [low hydrogen] in a roll it has low splatter and is easy to run 211 is a all position wire Lincoln makes several high quality welders that run on 125 amp. you can find these at several big box stores [i got mine at Lowe's] go for as much amp. as possible good luck and happy hunting

 

[damnthatsgood]

Did you ever buy a welder?

I have a Lincoln 140.  I love it.  Not much use on thick metal, but it will weld the crap out of everything else.  It is a 110v.

 

[boykjo]

Did you ever buy a welder?





I have a Lincoln 140.  I love it.  Not much use on thick metal, but it will weld the crap out of everything else.  It is a 110v.

When I was at tech school my welding intructor said household aluminum foil was considered thln. Everything larger than that was considered thick in the weldiing world... LOL

 

[mrmoomer]

I have a hobart handler 140 110v it will weld 3/16" is a single pass. The mig machines will run both wires as long as you buy a machine that has a gas feature. Just leave the gas turned off when you use flux core. Flux core is the same except it is a little more work to clean up the splatter.

 

[randy k]

I have a Hobart, and use the flux core wire. I didn't want to hassle with the tank (refills, exchange, and regulator). Works great!
I'd suggest the first thing you build is a good cart.
Good luck!

 

[tobycat]

Apologies for not updating this post. I bought a little used Lincoln Weld-Pak 100 for I think it was $75  It has worked well on my mini build, I got a cart and tank with it. I know I would prefer to be running gas and solid wire because cleaning welding slag is a pain in the rear even though it was a very small build. I went through a little bit of a learning curve but part of my difficulty were the issues I've stated below.  I did a couple things that I believe helped a lot and would probably benefit most used wire feed welders.

1. Replaced the cheap tin ground clamp with a thicker stronger clamp, cleaned all wire leads and connectors - I could see immediate improvement

2. replaced the feed roller

3. cleaned the trigger contacts and replaced the liner

I love this little welder and unless it breaks beyond repair I will probably keep it forever.  It would be really nice to have something bigger that would single pass thick plate but I only have 110v anyways, plus I get more practice having to learn to double pass and make my welds really count. Still, the welding slag kinda sucks!

 

[mrmoomer]

Nice job! Lincoln makes a good welder. There are all sorts of splatter block sprays you can pick up at any welding supply store or Acklands. They come in spray or brush on. the splatter just wipes off! you will never go without again! best brand I have used is Walter. below is the Acklands info. google it, works great.

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