Well, hijack is in full progress so I guess I'll finish this up here for anyone following along. I'm just guessing that you got the 90amp flux cored version, right? And it's pretty much useless for anything other than tacking the way it is now right? Try replacing the wire liner, not much to lose, right? Here's a teflon liner that you can adapt to your gun with some creativity.Mars wrote:Yeah, I would agree with that. Mine seems to have erratic wire speeds forcing me to constantly stop and start. And once I start to get a good weld the wire melts inside the tip..
Mars wrote:Sorry not trying ti Hijack the thread, just figured since you were talking about entry level and above welders I would share the issues I was having with my cheapie.
[ O o \|// o O ] wrote:serehill wrote:No where's near a welder I am totally an amature. I have a Lincioln 150 I use & for my limited ability. I can do pretty well. I assume I'm more the norm. It was affordable & does what I need to do. The bottom line is to get one with gas capability. A flux welder really stinks if you're a novice & a gas welder will make a lot better welder out of you. I can't compete with these guys & I'll never weld a 24" boat hull LOL but this works for me. Nor do I need to.
Almost everything including the panel weld up of the windows on my Cherk was done with the lincoln perfectly. Miller is a great commercial welder & I guess if you have the bucks Cool. I wanted a package welder gas system & plasma cutter good enough to do what I wanted so I went this way thinking I would get a better one later on. It is very clear now this one does anything I'll ever do. I would buy it again.
Mine is very portable easy to get parts for. At my age I don't need a ton piece of equipment to haul around. Agree I wouldn't use it professionally but I,m no professional.
It's all about what your going to do with it. I did buy all mine used but have way less than a grand in everything.
IMHO My 2 cents
What are you refering to here, "a package welder gas system & plasma cutter"? I've looked around for a combo package to see if I could get both at a discount but the only one I could find was from Eastwood. Do you have a link?
[ O o \|// o O ] wrote:Serehill,
You wrote, "...to stay in budget I needed to buy used." and "...it's clear my equipment will be worth at least what I gave for it forever."
How cool is that!
I've been looking for a while but haven't found a good mid range machine for sell that doesn't look like it's been drug around the farm for 15 hard years. I find a ton of HF types and $3,000 to $5,000 pro grade stuff but nothing right in the middle. It's getting to be crunch time for me and that's why I've started looking at new machines. I've got a week left so I'm praying for a miracle!
Here's my hurry that's got me in a tail spin. My wife is moving to Vancouver, WA at the beginning of June to manage a dental office. I graduate my AAS in Network Admin. a few weeks after that. We need to get our house sold so we can buy something there. So I need to get all my Jeep stuff and tools out of the carport so it's presentable. Which means I need to get the Jeep done. This quarter will hopefully be a little easier than last so I'll have a little time each day to put into the Waggy. This first week of spring quarter gave me a little extra shopping and research time but starting Monday it won't be easy to find any extra time for the next three months. I haven't touched the Jeep for about a year to focus on school, my free time I spent with my wife since there was so little of it. For the extra couple of hundred dollars it might be worth it to just buy something new, with the 5/3/1 warranty. Next Friday I get the Waggy marked for cutting!serehill wrote:[ O o \|// o O ] wrote:Serehill,
You wrote, "...to stay in budget I needed to buy used." and "...it's clear my equipment will be worth at least what I gave for it forever."
How cool is that!
I've been looking for a while but haven't found a good mid range machine for sell that doesn't look like it's been drug around the farm for 15 hard years. I find a ton of HF types and $3,000 to $5,000 pro grade stuff but nothing right in the middle. It's getting to be crunch time for me and that's why I've started looking at new machines. I've got a week left so I'm praying for a miracle!
Yeah getting in a hurry trying to impress someone or getting it beciasse a great welder has it will get you ionto that tailspin. They are out there a lot On CL as many good as bad. The other thing about my equipment is it's for the avaerage guy which is th ehuge market for sales.
Spread out your Search on craigslist look all around you find deal don't wait for them to come to you go find them. I drove about 60 minles to get my Lincoln & 30 to get my plasma cutter. Make them demonstrate they work.
My friend was telling me he gets way better welds with his HF machine just by using Miller wire. I wouldn't have thought the wire would vary that much. Lots to learn, and fast.rstep wrote:Since brand,size,and use is covered well here.How about maintenence. Good liner sized for wire being used,keep whip as straight as you can in use.Don't roll whip up in tight coils as it can put kinks in the metal part of liner.Tips,clean often,watch wire size here also,tip dip helps alot.
Also over the years have noticed brands of wire quality goes up and down, stick with good brands some have a hard time unrolling and bind up.Wire cleaner pads work great also.
Strong ground clamp saves alot of prblems also upgrade if you can.
Got any links to that welder?[ O o \|// o O ] wrote:I had decided to go with the Millermatic 140 because of the autoset but went with the Lincoln 140 instead.
1 yr no interest financing at HD keeps over $600 in my pocket for immediate parts and materials.
And for the same price as the MM I can get the spool gun and a helmet by going with Lincoln.
Thanks for all the time you spent helping me decide.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100670934? ... WM_lqKkok4Mars wrote:Got any links to that welder?[ O o \|// o O ] wrote:I had decided to go with the Millermatic 140 because of the autoset but went with the Lincoln 140 instead.
1 yr no interest financing at HD keeps over $600 in my pocket for immediate parts and materials.
And for the same price as the MM I can get the spool gun and a helmet by going with Lincoln.
Thanks for all the time you spent helping me decide.
I like Forney. Forney is the original electric welder manufacturer. He's the one that brought stick welders to market as an alternative to Ox/Acet for farms and ranchers way back when cars had wooden wheels. The company is still family run. They are not in league with the big red and big blue, but I own a Forney inverter and carry it on the trails. I just understand it's limitations and if ever they bring production back stateside, I'll bump them up a notch or five in my rankings.Knucklehead wrote:My son has built 3 project vehicles with the Sears Mig that Redone listed on page one of this thread. He modifed it so he could use 10lb spools of wire. It doesnt have provisions for gas, so its flux core only. Its held up extremely well. I think we paid ~$189 for it on sale. Its done everything we have asked of it. I will say that during the hot summer weather we had to let it cool because we did have it over heat one time. If I do upgrade, I would likely upgrade to a 220v Hobart primarily due to cost.
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-wire-fee ... ockType=G2