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May 15, 2009 9:39 p.m. mith612 New Reader

I'm considering picking up an inexpensive welder for light duty use around the house and on the Opel challenge car. On the car, the most it would be doing is sheetmetal work on the body, fabbing motor mounts and other light work. Now I know HF doesn't always carry the greatest quality equipment, but the price is sure hard to beat. I'm thinking one of the $130 flux core MIG units such as this one.

Any direct experience with these welders? From what I've gathered they aren't that bad especially for the little use it'll see.
May 15, 2009 9:52 p.m. RedS13Coupe Reader

Hmmm I am not sure if the one I used recently was the HF mig... but it sure looked like it. We had a lot of trouble with it on thinner sheet metal. I really haven't used it much but it didn't seem like the feed would go slow enough when you had it cold enough to do thin sheets.

Plus flux core should be avoided where ever possible
May 15, 2009 10:10 p.m. vazbmw New Reader

I have one of their welders. Consider it a one project welder that you will be mostly fixing on during the project.

Anyway, for the price it can melt metal together. I don't know if it will work well on sheet metal. It is a pretty rough arc

If I had to do it over, I would save and save and get a better welder, but I did finish a turbo project with the HF welder

So I found a guy selling a Miller 250
May 16, 2009 12:04 a.m. ww SuperDork

Check craigslist and look for a Hobart, Miller or Lincoln MIG welder. They can be had for only a little more and you'll never get back the time you'll waste on the cheap chinese crap that won't EVER work right.

All of these are name brand and were $400 or less:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/tls/1173251070.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/tls/1168228169.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/tls/1163025837.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/tls/1161558373.html
May 16, 2009 10:11 a.m. cwh Dork

=1 on find a decent used one from the Big Three. The 130 amp / 110vac model will give a better arc, can be used with gas for a far superior weld, and will not drive you nuts. I had a bad experience with a cheapo welder a few years ago. The feed wire was always "hot", meaning that setting up to start a weld, you had to make sure you didn't touch your project or you would get a flash, even though you hadn't pulled the trigger. Made using that thing miserable. Arc burn is no fun. I'm not sure, but I think the HF unit has this problem.
May 16, 2009 10:48 a.m. WLB New Reader

Save yourself time and money and pass on the HF flux core welder.
I needed to weld some window frames in a shipping container I was converting into a hunting lodge and bought the exact flux core welder you asked about. I was trying to get away from carrying the gas bottle for my Lincoln Mig 600 miles to do a 3 hour job. Plus I could have used our smaller generator. The weld quality was so poor I took the thing back and carried the gas bottle and larger generator.
May 16, 2009 1:08 p.m. MadScientistMatt HalfDork

We welded the turbo Miata's exhaust together at work using a cheap Harbor Freight 220 volt welder. It works OK but not great; we've since upgraded to a large Miller. Oh, and the HF welder's wire spool mount was broken when it arrived, right out of the box.
May 16, 2009 2:34 p.m. cwh Dork

Six months after I bought my Miller 180 I dropped it off a work bench. The circuit board came loose and shorted out, frying it. I had moved 300 miles from where I bought it. Called Miller, they referred me to a local repair shop. It was fixed in one day, no charge under warranty. My fault that I dropped it, but absolutly no hassle. Buy a good one, you will be happy.
May 16, 2009 6:48 p.m. porksboy Dork

I used a H/F unit for some exhaust work. It was new tubing but kept burning thru the tube even on the lowes and slowest setting. My solution was to use 300' of extension cord, tack it in place, take the H/F unit back to whom i borrowed it from while taking the tube to the local welding shop. They charged me $10.00 to weld about 6 joints and answered a ton of questions.
May 16, 2009 7:31 p.m. mith612 New Reader

The reason I ask is that I've just about gotten to the point where a welder will be needed to do the bodywork on the Opel. Since I've had the car (just about a month) I've been checking craigslist and the local for sale ads for a name brand welder on the cheap and they just don't seem to exist around here.
May 16, 2009 7:49 p.m. bamalama Reader

I've got a similar welder (I want to say it's a Campbell Hausfeld), and doing sheetmetal work with it is just maddening. There's not enough adjustment, so it's either too cold or too hot.
May 16, 2009 8:41 p.m. Dr. Hess PowerDork

I have a 110V HF MIG welder I bought about 1996 or so. It looks very similar to the ones sold today, but mine was made in Italy. It works fine. I've built a whole Locost out of 304 with it and used it for multiple other 304 and carbon steel projects, and the occasional aluminum job. It is a bit light for 1/4", but will do 1/8" carbon steel OK with flux wire. I used a Hobart Handler once on the road and it sucked next to my HF.
May 16, 2009 9:00 p.m. Toyman01 Reader

I've got a Campbell Hausfeld. It works pretty good. I have done all the sheet metal work on the RX-7 with it. Welded the exhaust on my tow van last week. no problem. I have also used Jensenmans Lincoln. It works much better. The CH was $250.00 at Lowes several years ago. The Lincolns are running $500.00-$800.00 at Home Depot. The Lincolns cost twice as much and probably work two times better. Buy what you can afford and with a little practice it will do what you need. Just remember you get what you pay for.
May 16, 2009 10:04 p.m. vazbmw New Reader

Toyman01 wrote:

...what you can afford and with a little practice it will do what you need...

This by far is the most important factor.

If you need to do something "right now" and you only have $200, do the HF thing. If you are not in a hurry and are able to save up $1200, you can get a welder that will last the rest of your life.

Oh, I should mention that my HF welder is a pile of scrap now. I have had it about 9 years, but I would say it had a total of 40 hours of work, probably less. Not a good investment, but I bought for a project and got the project finished.
May 17, 2009 12:38 p.m. stroker Reader

Is this:

http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/tls/1166757170.html

the sort of grassroots name-brand welder I should be looking for?
May 17, 2009 12:49 p.m. cwh Dork

Yeah, that'll buff right out. But seriously, that old beast could probably be brought back to life. It would cost a lot more than a decent new unit though, I'm sure.
May 18, 2009 1:10 a.m. vazbmw New Reader

I think the welder will spit rust

stroker wrote:

Is this:

http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/tls/1166757170.html

the sort of grassroots name-brand welder I should be looking for?
May 18, 2009 9:51 a.m. ClemSparks UberDork

stroker wrote:

Is this:

http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/tls/1166757170.html

the sort of grassroots name-brand welder I should be looking for?

I can't see CL at work but I'm intrigued enough to check it out later since I'm in Columbia...

Clem
May 18, 2009 7:05 p.m. boxedfox New Reader

I have a HF 110v 90a flux core welder. It works reasonably well, after I replaced the welding tip and wire with Lincoln Electric stuff from Home Depot. Does 3/16" steel pretty well with a little prep.

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