Welding equipment or me?

[flyingace]

I have a cheap 110 V Chinese Tool Store welder that I call on occasionally to weld something that should be within it's capabilities (limited as they are). It's a flux cored wire feed type. The welds are of course completely worthless. I might as well use superglue. The welding material can be knocked off with a hammer tap. They look like a collection of splatters rather then a weld.

My question is what is the most likely cause of these crappy welds, me or the equipment? I admit to being a novice, but it seems like this equipment doesn't generate enough heat to fuse the welding material to the work. But maybe I'm doing something wrong? I just want to be sure the problem is not my technique before I shell out $ on a good welder.

 

[JMOR]

A guess is that it doesn't have enough current for the thickness of material you are trying to weld. experiment with max current setting, thinner material. flux core MIG has no place in my life. Tried it, but no taker here. You should be able to stick stuff together with flux core, but not pretty. Not running through an extension cord are you?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Your welder needs to have sufficient current to "penetrate," or melt, the base metal you're trying to weld, to some degree. I'd say your welder isn't up to the job.

Not sayin' it's NOT you...but the FIRST problem is definitely the welder. [LOL]

 

[flyingace]

(quoted from post at 09:23:15 06/28/13) A guess is that it doesn't have enough current for the thickness of material you are trying to weld. experiment with max current setting, thinner material. flux core MIG has no place in my life. Tried it, but no taker here. You should be able to stick stuff together with flux core, but not pretty. Not running through an extension cord are you?

I admit I was running thru an extension cord. But I have the same problem either way.

 

[Tom in TN]

flyingace,

My cheap junk 110 volt flux core welder also pretty much stinks. I did, however, find that the polarity was set wrong on the little panel inside the side door. I THINK they specify that you have to use negative polarity with flux core.

If you haven't already checked that, you might. It made my stinky welds a little less stinky when I changed the polarity.

Tom in TN

 

[JOB]

I would guess it is a 110 machine, Are you on a 20
amp circuit. You can't starve a welder. Does your
welder say what it needs for (input)supply power?

 

[flyingace]

(quoted from post at 10:57:50 06/28/13) I would guess it is a 110 machine, Are you on a 20
amp circuit. You can't starve a welder. Does your
welder say what it needs for (input)supply power?

It just sez 120 V and 60 Hz. I am on a 20 amp circuit. It has max amps of 80. Can you really weld something that will hold with a 120 V welder?

 

[notjustair]

Have a 110 flux wire welder that I use occationally. I like it because it is easy. However, metal of any thickness needs a 220 stick welder.

It has it's place. It does automotive sheet metal well with MIG wire and gas. It does average homeowner stuff well. It did a really good job on the round bale feeders I fixed this spring (we know how thin that tube metal is). if you need to fix your law mower it will probably work well.

That said, I use the ARC welder most of the time. If you have the wire speed too fast you will get popcorn. Even if the metal is too thick it will still lay a bead on top of the metal. If want to repair things of any thickness get an ARC welder.

Clean the metal up good, slow down the wire feed, and turn up the heat settings if it has some.

 

[Fred from MO]

I experience that with my cheap 110 welder from time to time. I think it is several factors. The duty cycle is too short, the voltage fluctuates in the machine. Short bursts on thick stuff (over 1/8th) is done in calculated bursts. I would suggest you play with your heat setting and use a scrap piece of metal the same thickness of the project your working on and while laying a bead adjust the heat setting until you get a good "BUZZ" sound. I think my heat setting fluctuates too on these cheap machines. Some day I will get a "big-boy" welder and buy a Miller. But the 110 was used on car project and purchased for $110 new 20 years ago to weld sheet metal. So I guess I cant complain too much?

 

[Welding man]

That machine is capable of welding 16Ga Max.With .023 Solid wire and 75-25 Gas maybe a little more. As the old saying goes,you get what you pay for and any welder that costs less than 500 bucks ain't worth carrying home.

 

[36 Coupe]

I could fill my pickup with good used 240 volt welders for 75 t0 150 bucks.The little 110v welders have been around for years.They are for the most part worthless.The excuse you hear most often.I dont have 220 volts.I doubt there are many places wired for 110 volts these days.Good tools cost money.

 

[36 Coupe]

A look at craigs list shows 5 240 volt welders under 150 bucks.Two of them are 50 bucks.Theres a new Hobart for 190.00.I bought a used Miller 130 mig years for 300.00.Small tools,several rolls of wire and a leather welding jacket came with it.This welder sold new for 600.00.It weighs about 75 pounds.Why do you think your china welder cost less?The Miller 130 does good work within its range but I bring out an old 150 amp stick welder for heavey welding.The Lincoln 225 amp does the harder jobs.The stick welders are used for most of my welding.

 

[Check Break]

If your polarity is correct, check the wire. Flux core wire goes bad. If it breaks/snaps when you try to bend it its bad. If its was manufactured 5 years ago its probably bad. The wire sold for these welders isn't top of the line. So, assuming you're using the welder within its limits and its not the welder, check the wire. Bad flux core looks like boiled/bubbled slag when you lay it down.

 

[504-1]

You can buy a very good Mig/stick with Tig capabilities for less than $1100.00(New) that will auto switch between 115 and 220 Volts(inverter). The cheap 115 machines are just a wast of money.

 

[Stan in Oly, WA]

Bad welders are much harder to use than good ones. An operator with a lot of experience (and skill) can sometimes get some welding done with a welder that would totally frustrate an inexperienced person. So, the combination of you as an inexperienced user, and a very low end welder, is not a good one.

That said, your welder can be made to work unless it's broken. Follow the advice you've been given here:

1. Make sure the polarity is right for flux core.
2. Use decent quality flux core wire even though it costs more.
3. Clean to bright metal where you're going to weld, at least half an inch on each side of the weld.
4. Clean to bright metal where you attach the ground, and make sure the ground attachment is secure.
5. Crank up the voltage and adjust the wire feed speed until it sounds like bacon frying.
6. Keep your wire stickout short, around 1/4" to 3/8". If it's a flux core only welder you won't have a nozzle in the way because you've got no use for one. If it's MIG capable and you've left the nozzle on, take it off for flux core. (That one seems unlikely, but I thought I'd throw it in.)
7. You're good on the 20 amp breaker w/o an extension cord.
8. Slow down. Slow down some more. When you're going too slow you can still get an idea of what your welder can do. When you're going too fast, you usually can't.

Good luck. I wouldn't have one of those machines, but I've used one and I was able to make it work---to my surprise. If I needed something welded and it was that or nothing, I'd be glad to have it.

Stan

 

[Anonymous-0]

Flux-core wire usually breaks when you bend it
sharp, it's hollow with flux inside. Like 7018, it
is common to get slag on the end of the wire. A
Lincoln rep showed me how to just bend the wire at
the contact tip and it would break off.

As far as the problem with the OP, it's hard to tell
what is wrong. Is the wire feeding properly? Some
pictures would help if you could post them.

 

[flyingace]

I just laid down a fairly decent weld between a couple pieces of scrap metal. The weld bent rather than simply popping off one side which was a pleasant surprise. It looked (more or less) like a bead rather than a collection of bubbles. I think my problems were these:
1. Not prepping the surface as well as needed.
2. Letting the flux wire out too far. Once I kept it really short, it made a big difference. Not sure why this is.
3. As was said, slow down. Turning down the wire speed and allowing the heat to generate helped a lot.

Thanks for all the replies.