120-Volt Mig welder.

[muddstopper]

Watertight is no problem, it's a pretty quick pulse, about as quick as you can work that trigger finger. I have never quantified it but guessing from memory it's about 2/3 on, 1/3 off.

Why watertight, does it hold liquid? Or just to exclude water so it doesn't leak rust stains or fill with ice? You can do that with paint if the weld is decent.

This pic is 1" x 1" x .065" (=16ga) pulsed with .030 wire. You can make it a little tighter with .023 wire. I think you'll pick it up pretty fast.

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like your trigger pulseing has allowed a lot of contaminates into your weld. Looking at every overlap, you can easily see little pools of silica. To me this suggest porosity. Pretty beads and penetration dont mean squat if the weld is full of worm holes. I would like to see that weld sliced down the middle with a bandsaw just to see if it is indeed full of hole, and it might not be, but then again it might be also. I think instead of pulsing the trigger, you pick up the travel speed.

 

[CNC Dan]

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like your trigger pulseing has allowed a lot of contaminates into your weld. Looking at every overlap, you can easily see little pools of silica. To me this suggest porosity. Pretty beads and penetration dont mean squat if the weld is full of worm holes. I would like to see that weld sliced down the middle with a bandsaw just to see if it is indeed full of hole, and it might not be, but then again it might be also. I think instead of pulsing the trigger, you pick up the travel speed.

Silica shows up even without pulsing. But when youse pulse, it shows up at every ripple.

 

[buickanddeere]

Using the machine at full power shortens the duty factor to a few minute per hour. The 120V maxhine's welds are ok for welding sheet metal and lawn mower decks.
If investing in a Mig I would go with something that can weld thicker metal without smoking the welder's innards .
It's not a daunting task to run a 50amp 240V welder receptacle from the power panel. Plus when at it a 30amp circuit for the air compressor .

 

[downsizingnow48]

At our country place I put 220 circuits in the shop for welder, compressor, and heater. The panel is on the wall. At our place in town the detached garage is fed by a 110 circuit, two wires in conduit that (from the panel) goes down under the house, 90 degree through the foundation, under a garden, under a sidewalk, 90 degree up the wall, 90 degree into the attic. Total run from panel to where wire is accessible, about 80 ft. The first was easy, the second is possible but a ton of work and I doubt I will ever get to it.

 

[Furu]

Watertight is no problem, it's a pretty quick pulse, about as quick as you can work that trigger finger. I have never quantified it but guessing from memory it's about 2/3 on, 1/3 off.

Why watertight, does it hold liquid? Or just to exclude water so it doesn't leak rust stains or fill with ice? You can do that with paint if the weld is decent.

This pic is 1" x 1" x .065" (=16ga) pulsed with .030 wire. You can make it a little tighter with .023 wire. I think you'll pick it up pretty fast.

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like your trigger pulseing has allowed a lot of contaminates into your weld. Looking at every overlap, you can easily see little pools of silica. To me this suggest porosity. Pretty beads and penetration dont mean squat if the weld is full of worm holes. I would like to see that weld sliced down the middle with a bandsaw just to see if it is indeed full of hole, and it might not be, but then again it might be also. I think instead of pulsing the trigger, you pick up the travel speed.

Try to weld through the corners without stopping. A continuous weld bead will help make it water tight and will strengthen the corner. That corner among other things is weakened by the method of the start and stop. If you can't do a continuous weld through the corner; then tie the beads in together and it will work better for you.

 

[MinnesotaDaveChalmers]

I'm also in favor of continuous beads vs tack-tack-tack.

Although I do use that method on occasion for rusty sheet metal repair and thin auto-body type repair.

Excellent fit-ups will largely eliminate the need for tack-tack method.
But if not, I'd recommend back-stepping short 1" beads or so. That way it ties into the prior bead quite nicely.
(ignore the run-on and run-off tabs in the photo since your are welding tubing)

 

[muddstopper]

I think it was said that he wants the weld to be leakproof. Starting and stopping isnt the best way to achieve a leakproof weld. One way I test to see if the weld is indeed leakproof is to spary some WD40 inside the tube or tank and let it sit for a few minutes. If there is a leak or pin hole, you will start to see some weeping of the oil thru the weld or seam.

About the only time i do a trigger pulse is if I am welding something that is very rusty and probably should be replaced to start with. Money is money and I can live with a few pin holes in a muffler or exhaust pipe.

 

[California]

Which model HF welder? I'm impressed, if you can do good body work with HF's 90A AC welder.

I don't know about good body work but it is strong and looks decent. It is the 90amp unit.

I redid the rockers ... wheel wells ... rear corner of my nieces 99 Camry ... patch a rust hole in the bottom of the cab ... Unless you looked closely you may never find it.

As for wire, the big box store Lincoln stuff works decent but I also like the INE INETUB wire I get off Amazon. 2 pounds on a spool for a couple bucks more than the Lincoln 1 lb spool.

At some point I'll upgrade the HF junker but it gets by for now.

OK I am impressed. I get some decent work out of my HF 90A AC flux welder on slightly heavier material doing farm repairs, but for sheet metal I haven't learned to use it without burn through.

The Century 135 I bought recently is more adjustable and works fine on sheet metal with flux wire. I think this was originally advertised for body shop work.

 

[KubotainNH]

OK I am impressed. I get some decent work out of my HF 90A AC flux welder on slightly heavier material doing farm repairs, but for sheet metal I haven't learned to use it without burn through.

The Century 135 I bought recently is more adjustable and works fine on sheet metal with flux wire. I think this was originally advertised for body shop work.

Having more amperage adjustability (is that a word?) is what I want in the next unit. Like mentioned above, pulsing the trigger gets it done. Certain angles seem to help too. I looked at youtube videos for stitch welding which is basically a quick tack weld every inch or so to keep the metal from blowing out. Then go back and do it again until the seam is filled. Depending on the metal thickness it seems sometimes after those initial tacks are in you now have a thicker base of material to start from so less blowout.

 

[Blade Breaker]

Using a 120v mig on things like .25 and up is not advised by these you call pros for a reason. No one that has experience would do that. If you only have 120v power and need to weld .25 and up the only thing I would use is tig or 3/32 6010 stick, either way the same welding machine. Miller max star or dynasty 200 would be the best 120v choice. But I would not do this for anything that would be dangerous if it broke. Preheat may be required. Sounds like you were given good advice by others.
If you must use a 120v mig bevel is required, run flat or vertical up slightly. Preheat 300-450 and use that as your interpass temp but not recommended and results may not be good.

Hi Mike,

That is exactly the problem here, is why there's such a gap in 120v MIG info/instruction. Members (with experience) always always always want to tell how to they'd do it with a different welder. Sheild Arc, Arc Weld, and others have been doing this for years, and it doesn't help at all. Their inevitable conclusion is for the member to get a different machine, which has become so solid in forum wisdom that other members who know very little (at this point) will fight tooth and nail on that shaky premise.

The "member" wants to know how a pro would do it with the 120v MIG that the member HAS. But the pro doesn't have one and has no reason to ever use a 120v MIG or work out the tricks. This is a gap that requires a special "pro" who is interested to help newbies. And without pros, then it's left to a hobby/maintenance guy as time allows. And then you guys have to clean up after.

Mike, I'm sure the interest is much appreciated by many, but if you aren't showing it, testing it, and making actual conclusions WITH A 120v MIG, isn't it simply meaningless? Can you borrow one and pick up where Shield Arc left off? I doubt members have so much pent-up frustration with you as they (apparently) did Shield.