Harbor Freight Flux Core welders

[GuglioLS]

The Flux core wire does work OK - however there is quite a bit of splatter, welding noise, and smoke the slag is not too bad.

The Gas Shield has much less splatter is a quiet arc and there is no slag, just a little staining of the metal from a deposit of a little smoke.

When going from Gas to Flux of vise-a-versa the polarity must be changed by moving 2 wires (no biggie).

Flux wire is ~ "expensive" Gas wire is ~"cheap" but then you have the expense of the Gas and a tank. I think the cost between the two is a wash. SO I go with what welds better - gas.

IMHO - if you AC stick weld already, then you pick up & use a MIG you will never want to go back. That' what happened to me. I think it was the ENDLESS supply of welding wire that keeps comming out as long as you pull the trigger. You have to force yourself to stop because of the duty cycle thing.

Also consider how long a weld you may want, this will help you make a decision on the welders duty cycle. It can be a tough decision cost vs capibility.

Now If all you need is some high quality low current welds on thin metal and you are willing to keep using your AC on thick stuff then you will be OK. There is nothing wrong with a good old AC Stick Box tomb stone welder.

Good luck and I wish you well.

 

[California]

Harbor Freight Flux Core welders ... complete waste of money [?]

I got one and tried it.

Complete waste.

The welder works great, but it comes with wire that is simply unusable.

The included wire simply spits globs. No penetration and the round globs don't adhere. It feeds fine, but otherwise my experience matched Homebrew's first spool of wire.

After trying everything I got out the big welder and some 1/16 rod, set it on 90 amps for a fair comparison, and made these comparison beads on a freshly ground tailpipe hanger.

(HF is the upper bead, the lower one is a 40 year old Wards Powercraft 230 AC.)

I wire brushed the completed project for a nice photo, and most of the HF 'weld' fell off.

View attachment 62442

The HF unit is going back. Anything I might do with it, I can do better with the welder I already have.

In all fairness, I think if I spent more money to experiment with different wires I could make this work nicely. But HF should have done that. Out of the box, it's useless junk.

Edit: Description:

HF #94056. 90 amp Flux Core Wire only, no gas. $71.99 with promo coupon.

 

[shvl73]

The unit GugloiLS bought sure laid an impressive bead. I've been looking at these lately but, so far to buy a 175amp unit, HF is around $400. Lowes has a Lincoln for $600, for the $200 spread, I'm inclined to go Lincoln. A HF unit for around $300 might make look again.

 

[California]

It looks like several others had similar results with the 90 amp model.

About a dozen went through ebay in just the past two weeks.

http://search-completed.ebay.com/se...ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=3&fsoo=2

 

[Soundguy]

Those are some bad looking beads.. ( no offense ). I'm honestly surprised the 230vac unit on a 90a setting laid such a bad bead. I've been welding after work on some projects using 1/2, 1/4 and 3/6 angle and plate... using 6011 and 6013 rod... I don't think I could make the 6011 rod look that bad ... and believe me.. sometimes it seems that i do try to make them look bad.!! Was that welder not working correctly?

Soundguy

After trying everything I got out the big welder and some 1/16 rod, set it on 90 amps for a fair comparison, and made these comparison beads on a freshly ground tailpipe hanger.

(HF is the upper bead, the lower one is a 40 year old Wards Powercraft 230 AC.)

I wire brushed the completed project for a nice photo, and most of the HF 'weld' fell off.

View attachment 62442

 

[California]

Those are some bad looking beads.. ( no offense ). I'm honestly surprised the 230vac unit on a 90a setting laid such a bad bead.

No offense taken - I'm a novice. At the time I didn't intend to make that for display, just to explore penetration for my own curiosity before making the decision to return the HF welder.

I ground that sample to judge penetration of my old welder. This photo illustrates poor user technique but I don't see evidence of hardware problems, or unsuitable rod. During welding the pool looked to be 10-30% penetration.

View attachment 62520

First thing I did when I got the welder (yard sale) was take it to Airgas and have them test it while I bought $50 of supplies. All that leaves is user technique! I've ground several sample welds and aside from voids (user technique again), I haven't seen any cold joints etc.

I thought I would try a modern welder to see if I could speed up learning to weld. But the HF unit was a step backward.

 

[patrick_g]

As a self taught welder, I pay attentiion to what everyone says about welding as I can always learn. I too have Lincoln tombstone AC/DC buzz box AND a Lincoln MIG that I only use with flux cored wire. My electricians needed to make a weld but weren't sure they should use my little MIG. I encouraged them and they loved it. They said they had had both a C-Hausfeld and a HF brand and theought my Lincoln was far superior. There are talented guys who can probably weld passibly with a car battery but superior electronics without too much cost cutting makes for a better welder. There is a difference between a good machine by Lincoln, Miller, or Hobart (and any other proven top brands) and an el cheapo. Not that the cheapies won't work, they may even do good work but will never do as well or last as long as a quality brand. If you have to buy a junker, go Harbor Freight and get the extra warranty so when it dies they will give you another just like it.___________________Pat

 

[Dargo]

While CH isn't an awesome brand name.. it may be better than CE ...

Soundguy

Oh, CH is most certainly in a different league than CE crap. You know me, I won't beat around the bush, any money spent of a Chicago Electric welder is money that is totally wasted. Heck, if you want a really cheap flux core welder, get one of the cheap Century models. Chicago Electric welders are flat junk!!

Now, before you get too upset, remember, I have complimented some HF stuff when I felt it justified. I try to reserve the right to make my calls just as I see them. If it is a cheap product that actually performs halfway decent, I'll note that. If it is a cheap product that is simply nothing but junk, I'll call that as well. Chicago Electric welding products are nothing but trash. Any money spent on them is wasted money. Questions?

 

[Dargo]

I wire brushed the completed project for a nice photo, and most of the HF 'weld' fell off.

View attachment 62442

The HF unit is going back. Anything I might do with it, I can do better with the welder I already have.

In all fairness, I think if I spent more money to experiment with different wires I could make this work nicely. But HF should have done that. Out of the box, it's useless junk.

Edit: Description:

HF #94056. 90 amp Flux Core Wire only, no gas. $71.99 with promo coupon.

Don't waste your time or money with other wire. That junk welder just makes bird turds that will end up getting you hurt if you ever trust the welds.

 

[HomeBrew2]

... Questions?

How much are you paying for fuel? How much for milk?