I got $1,000 to spend on a welder, help me spend it.

[Markcuda]

It is my fault for assuming that the welder came with a very small roll of wire.
I looked at tons of competitors welders and lots of them showed a small
roll of wire.
That is where my assumptions came from.
No biggy, I can get the wire on Monday, if he has the ESAB.

 

[dstig1]

Mark Everlast - curious about your comments on not using copper coated wire. The reel I got with my wirefeeder is 035 cu coated wire (no idea on brand). Seems to work fine. Given that it lives in an unheated garage, I was thinking that the cu coating was a good thing. The reel is almost used up, so since I will be buying more, I wanted to get some mroe info on which one to use.

Markcuda - good deal on the larger cylinder. Unless you are doing tons of work, it will last you a long time in a home shop. I've had my 125cf cyl over a year and still on the initial fill. Now I'm not a heavy user, but it seems to hold out a lot longer than I expected. Especially when compared to my oxygen cyl for the oxy/propane cutting torch, where I went through 3 oxy cyls on the first big project I had...

 

[Markcuda]

Yup, I figured I better bite the bullet and get as big a tank as I could handle.
Speaking of handling, this 250cf is about all I want to wrestle around onto
my trucks tailgate.
The guy had a 300 something size tank, a inch bigger around
and about 5 inches taller, I said "no way" LOOLOLOLLOLOOLOL

 

[dstig1]

We don't seem to have the 250 around here. Just 125 and then 330 for the next size (and the biggest). 250 sounds like a very good home shop size. I might upgrade if I find I am running through a lot...and can find the space...

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Copper flaking for one. It gets ground into the drive roll and can cause feeding issues. It's also a contaminant. Ever wonder where that copper goes? Either into your lungs or into the weld. But regarding the wire I recommended, here's a brief summary in the first few pages about copper coated as well. It's not the only place you can find similar information. http://www.esab.com/aristorod/en/why/upload/SWR-10056-OK-AristoRod-Welder-Guidebook.pdf

 

[Markcuda]

Dave, my tank is called a "K", with the cap on, it measures 52 inches tall.
I know, that is not how the cylinders are measured.
It is about 9 inches in diameter.
If I recall correctly, it weighs 117ish pounds.

Mark, will that bare wire rust in my garage?

 

[dstig1]

My 125 is about 4' tall, 7" dia. Not too different, but a big chunk of volume!

Mark- All good and well, but when the wire is intermittently used in a home shop garage (unheated) by a guy like me...it seems the anit-rust protection of the copper coating would beat the potential downsides. I can understand why it would be best to avoid that in a production environment. I want to get one of the lager spools (44 lbs?) to avoid having to do it again to quickly or running out too fast when I really need it...

 

[Markcuda]

Dave, how far are you from EauClaire?

 

[dstig1]

Hour and a half or 2. I'm near Hudson.

 

[Markcuda]

Ok
I was born and raised in EauClaire, moved to this God forsaken state in 77.

 

[dstig1]

So sorry man. Hey - you know Wisc is "open for business" right? C'mon back! Looks like you are dead center Illinois. Middle of the flat land. Come back to the rolling hills of W Wisc. Maaaaark...W Wisc Wants youoooooo

Should I assume you are working at somewhere like Cat or Deere? I don't know your area there...

 

[Markcuda]

I work for a place called Barton Manufacturing, Decatur, a stones through from Caterpillar.
I make parts for a Cat plant out east.
OLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOOL Wisconsin doesn't need me yetOLOOLOLOLOL

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

My 125 is about 4' tall, 7" dia. Not too different, but a big chunk of volume!

Mark- All good and well, but when the wire is intermittently used in a home shop garage (unheated) by a guy like me...it seems the anit-rust protection of the copper coating would beat the potential downsides. I can understand why it would be best to avoid that in a production environment. I want to get one of the lager spools (44 lbs?) to avoid having to do it again to quickly or running out too fast when I really need it...

In high humidity S GA, the ESAB wire won't rust. I've had copper wire break through and rust!

 

[Shield Arc]

Mark- All good and well, but when the wire is intermittently used in a home shop garage (unheated) by a guy like me...it seems the anit-rust protection of the copper coating would beat the potential downsides. I can understand why it would be best to avoid that in a production environment. I want to get one of the lager spools (44 lbs?) to avoid having to do it again to quickly or running out too fast when I really need it...

You really should get into the habit of removing the spool of wire, placing it back into the plastic bag, and box after each use. One morning I walked into my shop, it looked like it had rained inside the shop! Anything the was metal was covered in water. Few days later I went to use my Mig machine, I lost about an 1/8th of a spool of wire because I forgot to remove it after the last use.:duh:

 

[Markcuda]

Thank you Mark.
It is good to know I'm safe on the rust thing.
I'm sure my new welder will sit between welding
projects, I just may take it off and wrap it back up,
maybe over kill, but oh well.

 

[yomax4]

I've never known a mig wire that wont rust. I mostly use 10# spools just for that reason. Lots of wire on a 10# spool. The larger spools last better if you tape a dessicant bag to them. Or on the 10# spools I'm not using, I put a nice size bag of dessicant on the wire and shrink wrap the spool. you can get cheap shrink wrap on a spool at Menards.

 

[Markcuda]

In the spring time, when the humidity is bad, some times my garage concrete
floor is all wet.
Even my tools in my tool box some times are also wet.
It has to affect the welding wire, you would think.

 

[dstig1]

So is this ESAB wire coated with something else then? If it is plain steel, is sure has to rust at some point. I've had experiences like Markcuda where stuff is wet in the garage, like the floor and condensation on some other surfaces. I suppose I could use the smaller spools out there, but I was thinking it was more cost efficient to use the bigger ones, but then probably not if they rust too much and become unusable... I don't see myself threading/un-threading the wire every time I use it, but I could put a bag over it with desiccant packs in there, perhaps.

Sorry for the hijack Mark, but it sounds like you have similar questions...

 

[Markcuda]

Sorry for the hijack Mark, but it sounds like you have similar questions...

No problem at all.
Now, if my garage was climate controlled

 

[dstig1]

Sounds like a new thread over in the Project forum!!!