Ask your WELDING questions here.

I like the hot glue gun analogy.

at www.weldingtipsandtricks.com

I subscribed to a sequence of some daily emails entitled

"Big Fat MIG Welding Myths"
----------------------------------------------------
Here is a partial copy of one of those.

Quote:
"""
Big Fat Mig Welding Myth #5

110v mig welders are toy welders and are not good for anything.

110v mig welders are not toys unless you get a really cheap and poorly made welder.

If you buy a good one like a Lincoln, Miller, or Hobart, they are pretty handy.
Sometimes even cheaper ones from Northern Tool or Harbor Freight work ok...but not always.

They typically use .023--.025” wire and that works great for thin sheet metal body panels.
But what about thicker stuff?

That’s what flux core is for.

Swap over to
Hobart fabshield 21b and you will be surprised at the results on
thicker metals.

Tips to get the most from your 110v mig are:
decrease wire stick out,
clean the metal with a grinder,
use flux core on thicker metal, use a 20 amp breaker,
preheat with a propane torch and weld uphill.

And by the way... if you need to weld a trailer hitch,
dont try to use a 115v mig.

""""
End Quote

George

Occasionally I come across a product called "Nozzle Gel"
http://www.amazon.com/Hobart-770074-Welding-Accessory-Nozzle/dp/B0017Z5J1W

Product Description by Manufacturer:
"Prevents adhesion of weld spatter to MIG nozzle and weld surface."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLvhnlW5Hg8

http://www.newmetalworker.com/Reviews/lncnzlgelrvu.html


http://tinyurl.com/4z5y9gn

Snake Oil?
A search delivers various pro and con posts in a number of forums/threads .

Some of those posts I deem to be from folks
who have heard the bells toll but do not know where the church is.

George

Anyone ever try HTS2000 on motor mounts?

I tried on my boat rivets and works wonders but gravity dippers

For boat rivets I should of tried there older generation brazing rods that melt at lower temps it warped bottom alittle. I even made a new boat drain with this stuff and had to hammer a socket threw it because it warped and it held up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-cv3R4fWZc

IMHO the key to reducing that is to buy NON-HF wire. I have Miller, and it helps a lot.

Jim

Lincoln Super Arc L-56 wire is the best.

Nozzel gel? I use it daily when mig welding.

Get the nozzel hot and dip into the gel. Let it drip off, advance the wire and trim the wire. Weld away. Spatter does not stick to the nozzle.

PAM works as De spatter and smells pretty good while you are welding. You can spray the nozzel with pam too.

They make a spray de spatter that works fine and you can spray the nozzle with it too. Both the spray and gel work. It depends on the job I am doing.

I THINK the best flux core wire is NR211-MP You may not be able to find it in the size for the machine.

Smaller wire costs more, but for that machine its better.

YES I agree, Lincoln is the best wire.

David

Hearing bells toll.....

+10

David,
When you hear the bells toll you know where the church is.
I bought a 1 lb spool of .030 Innershield NR-211-MP at Lowes in Syracuse
on the way home from Harbor Freight (within a mile from HF).

Lincoln Electric .030" NR211-MP Flux-Cored Welding Wire
Item #: 178739 | Model #: ED031448
http://tinyurl.com/62c3meh
The Lowes picture shows no markings
This is the Lincoln wire I bought:


I am in the process of fixing a separate circuit in the summer kitchen attached
to the house with AWG 10/3 near the door about 15 feet to the main entry.
The power cord (AWG 14/3) on the unit is only 6 feet so a short extension cord will still be needed.

Local power company is municipal. Great rate.
But they sometimes drop the line voltage to save some money I guess.

Forty feet between the house and the garage panel, plus adding another 26 feet for the wiring in the garage/shop.
I view that with some skepticism.

If I had money I would invest in a Bulldog 5500
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/Equipment/Pages/product.aspx?product=K2708-2

Maybe I can sell my 16k PTO driven generator on a cart which I don't need anymore.

Interestingly inside the plastic envelope containing the manual is a small 2 x 3 inch snaplock bag.
It holds a Lincoln Electric MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) No. US-CW140
for Innershield NR-211-MP. Dated 2/15/07.
It has since been superseded by one dated 7/7/2010.
http://lincolnelectric.com/libraries/msds/US-CW140.pdf

Makes one wonder if the wire supplied is a Lincoln Electric Product.

George

NR211MP changed a few years back. MP stands for multipass and it had something to do with that. Its a true ET71-11 wire. It used to be rated to 5/16 inch, they changed it to 1/2" Most big box stores welding wires are ET71-GS which is no aws rating.

David

First off thank you all for all the great info, advice and links.

I inherited a Millermatic 175, just got one problem with it, sometimes the wire will weld itself to the liner just past the feed roller bringing the welding to a stop. Is this terminal?
I put a new liner in, no help, any help from any of you guru's?
Or do I just need a BFH?
Someday I want to sell this turd and get me a Lincoln so I can run a spoolgun.

I just stumbled onto this thread and have read the first 50 pages so far. Gotta thank everyone who has participated as the wealth of information is incredible!

My question is, I recently acquired this welder, it's an early 60's Hobart AC/DC Tig/Stick model ADI-264. I have fired it off and so far have only used it for stick welding. And it does put out a purity weld! I believe I have all the pieces to get the Tig operational, but I would like to first acquire any literature that's available for it. I recently wrote to Hobert, but I was also hoping someone here might have some info on it.

I'm fairly new to tig welding, but I have been stick welding for 40+ years both on a professional level, and home hobbyist and I know the basics for both mig and tig, I would rather read up on this particular machine before diving in.

Any help any one can offer would be greatly appreciated.

I'd really like to get started welding as a hobby, maybe make some racks for my bike, build some stuff around the house and whatnot, make a cool welding cart, etc. it'd be really cool to build some frames for bikes, bicycles, maybe a trailer?

was hoping to buy something on craigslist for not too much money, maybe $4-500. what should I be looking for, what would be the best avail for me in that price range? thanks

Marc

scram1 If your into modding bikes start welding :)

I'm just a hobbie welder of a few years( used to get other people to weld my stuff)... My first welder was a Lincoln 120v mig that avertized it could weld 1/4 steel :) has a hard time doing 1/8.

I paved my driveway and the wire under it going to garage is only a 12 grade so I can only get a 120 welder.

I got a clark131 120v arc welder... Can buy 1/16 rods for light work and does 1/8 steel very nice with a 5/64 rod.

If I was to buy another 120v it would be a DC inverter... welds 3/32 rods with ease. mine can't even arc the 3/32 rods.

You can buy 4 diodes and turn a AC welder Into a DC welder.

Theres lots of projects on google for turning AC into DC

Look how nice this little 80 amp DC welder welds and cheap on shipping its under 10 pounds If you can buy a 220v welder it would be better. But with 120v You can do lots of projects with 1/8 steel.

GUY in video must me using cheap or high amp rods.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uzSRDUCtzI&feature=relmfu

Hey Old Lion,

I received all the info you sent me and now I have a lot of homework to do! I really appreciated your personal effort and also the wealth of information here on this thread. I'm looking forward to putting out a serious effort in improving my welding skills.

R/Jim

Hey KTM,

Can you provide a little more info regarding your opinion on the SP250? I recently purchased one in new like condition with the original spool still in it. I would like to know it's flaws and current parts support.

Any info would be appreciated.

In response to the question from Ahar on 3-19. Take a look at the spool of wire to see if a stray piece of wire is touching the cabinet. I have seen this cause the problem you described.

Thanks Bob
I checked it, no metal of any kind touching the cabinet.
Sparked it up to do a little repair, the wire fused itself to the liner again and I couldn't pull it out. Wasn't going to waste $ on another liner, so I bought a new Tweeco gun. No problems now. I hope.

When you "pull the trigger" on the "gun" the entire spool of wire and the liner are "hot". Something has to be going to ground for there to be sparks between the liner and the wire.
Any bare spots in the protective coating covering liner and such?

not that I can see, but I am just as inclined to use a BFH on it now that the Tweeco is working with no problems. I will do an autopsy on the old gun to see what I can find out.