Welding washer and nut to broken stud question

[John Garner]

Would a 120 volt flux-core welder be adequate for occasional use? Low size, weight, and 120 volt operation are, for my use, worth trading-off some operating speed.

 

[timcasbolt]

(quoted from post at 15:09:11 06/10/23) Would a 120 volt flux-core welder be adequate for occasional use? Low size, weight, and 120 volt operation are, for my use, worth trading-off some operating speed.

y answer to your question would be probably. I'm not a fan of flux core because it's a deep penetrating process and I usually grab the mig because I'm on light stuff. But lots of people use them because it's affordable and good enough, so there you have it.

 

[wore out]

Simply put, NO. In addition to making a STRONG weld you need to generate HEAT to break the broken stud or bolt loose (in most cases).

 

[John T]

Some time back I bought one of those on a whim, never got around to even opening the box, talked to a lot of REAL welders, experienced friends and farmers, did a lot of research AFTER WHICH TIME I RETURNED IT FOR A FULL REFUND..........

It's like many other such questions, some like them some hate them, plenty of OPINIONS, IT DEPENDS IN BIG PART ON THE APPLICATION Well DUH PS Look on the net I bet you will find all sorts of advice there by experts even lol Id just as soon trust some of our fine YT Mag gents versus the net.......

FWIW I had good luck when I FIRST welded a washer then a nut, let cool, then used vibration and an impact wrench to SLOWLY no more force than necessary turn them a bit at a time slowwwwwwwwwww n easyyyyyyyyyy

John T

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Being a 120V flux welder doesn't make it "slower" as in if you go slower you can still do the job.

These welders are limited in the amount of heat that they can impart into the metal to create the fusion that we call welding. If you go slower all you will do is pile more poorly fused metal on top of the poorly fused metal you previously laid down.

 

[T.R.K.]

I have both a really old Sears stick welder and a Miller 140 set up for flux core.

I had no success trying to weld a nut onto the broken off head bolts in a Farmall Cub block using the Miller with flux core. It works great on lawnmower decks, though, And I have built a lot of cool stuff with it.

One thing about those Farmall Cub head bolts. I don't know how hard they were before my welding attempt, but I do know that after I heated them with the flux core welder the remains of the bolts came out hard as glass. I finally ground them near flush with the block and using a carbide die grinder burr in a hand drill I was able to finally drill them out. I would grind a few seconds on the bolt, then blow the chips away, then grind a few seconds more. I had to go 1/8 of an inch or so down before they got soft enough I could drill them with an ordinary drill bit.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Stay away from the cheapest Harbor Freight 120V welders. Unless they've changed the design, the electrode is always hot, making it difficult to place the electrode where you want it before you start welding. HF does now make a slightly more expensive 120V unit that features 'cold-start' welding. The 120V units from Lincoln, Miller and Hobart are reasonably good, although limited in what they can do.

Many folks don't realize the current control on a wire feed welder is labeled 'speed'. The faster the wire speed, the hotter the weld. To get the maximum current out of a wire feed welder, crank the voltage and wire speed all the way up. The voltage is adjusted to match the wire speed: If the electrode is sticking, the voltage is too low, while reducing voltage can reduce spatter.

 

[KL in Wi]

I have a Harbor Freight welder and like it but, I use it for welding sheet metal, fenders and such. My 1946 Miller welder likes to eat those things. A little crack turns into a large hole. The Harbor Freight welder works excellent

 

[Russ from MN]

No! I would use my Airco stick welder with 6011 or if it's a hardened bolt 7018. Those little wire feeds are for sheet metal.

 

[circus]

Instead of a nut I like to weld a bolt, off center, to remove broken studs. Better weld and hotter where it counts. A couple hammer wacks for good measure.

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This post was edited by circus on 06/11/2023 at 06:16 am.

 

[wp6529]

Do not get a 120V only welder, they are simply inadequate. There are plenty of light, portable 120/240V units available that can run flux core or MIG and are fairly inexpensive. You can still run them on 120V for the odd remote light use where 240V is not available, but they also are far more capable at the shop or even on a reasonable size portable generator with 240V. Not worth the severe limitations to save a couple hundred bucks on a tool you will have for years.

 

[John Garner]

Thank you all for your comments. They are generally not the answers I was hoping for, but it's better to learn from you guys than by making a mistake.