A/C Welding

[Shield Arc]

I'm all for stick welding:thumbsup:. On the job time is money, so it's wire feeders all the way.
You may luck out and get a good deal on an LN-25, but on the whole they go for $400 to $700.00 used. You might have better luck finding a deal on an LN-22, because they're so out dated. The wire is hot all the time, and you're limited to the 14-pound coils of wire only. But they are tough as nails. I've seen them fall 40-feet, and work just fine.

 

[rankrank1]

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I in fact do own a little mig , and pretty much despise it . When i have stuff worth running wire on i haul it up to the neighbors place and use his big miller and nicer shop to run it up . However i am rehabbing a farm/ranch and the majority of MY welding is done out in the field where the wind blows , materials might not be clean, or could well be magnitised....

What kind of little mig machine do you have? Throw some Hobart 0.030 or 0.035 E71T-11 fluxcore in there and you might be pleasantly surprised at what that can add to your welding arsenal from a capability standpoint. Machine is much more portable too. Although flux core is admittingly not as nice as welding with a gas bottle, the flux core does add a bit of oomph to a small machine.

The little wire feeder will excel the metal between 12 gauge and 22 gauge. Much thinner than that and you need the bottle for like 24 gauge to 28 gauge). The little wire feeder will also excel as filling excess gaps or for use as a pseudo 3-d printer (adding metal in space where there is otherwise nothing for building something via add a metal mode).

I have a Lincoln SP-135P 115 volt mig machine. Although, I do have a gas bottle, I never use the bottle for all the same reasons you listed above (exception being magnetized metal in your list which is a problem unto itself). Basically, I use my little wire feeder on any thin material 1/8" thick and thinner. Use either my Miller Thunderbolt AC225/DC150 or my Everlast PA-300 DC (both 220 volt) stick welders on the thicker metals 1/8" thick and above.

For manetized metals: The Miller Thunderbolt on AC will get the call as long as the metal is not too thin for stick process.

Took my unused mig bottle filled with argon and bought a 17V tig torch ($45) which either of my stick welders can run scratch start. Nice to play with, but none of my projects are suited to using it as they all like your projects. Only way I could use it would be inside a building at a sit down type workbench where I could brace myself on the workbench. I do not have above said workbench or a nice workshop and since none of my projects are suited to using - so I am only out $45 which is no big deal. My most likely use for the tig torch would be as an improvised sheet metal cutter since I do not have a plasma cutter on thin sheet.

 

[FarmDad]

My little pos mig is a 110 cambel housfed or whatever that i was given many years ago for fathers day . Its really not worth messing with but sets in the shop so i can point to it and assure the kids that i still have it LOL .
If / when i get a tig it will go in the basement workroom with the little mill and lathe i have All the projects for it/them would be small enough that i could get them downstairs without issue and that gives me the calm air for the process . I really want to set up with hf AC tig so i can weld thin Aluminum. I could do scratch start tig or mig either one in the shop but at this point just dont have the justification to spend the money as there are plenty of other things need done and fixed before i do much leisure tinkering .

 

[DXN1EL]

Does all feeders are able to run off a stick welder?

A little off topic here but MAN!!!! I was watching that thing with headphones. @ 1:57

 

[rankrank1]

My little pos mig is a 110 cambel housfed or whatever that i was given many years ago for fathers day . Its really not worth messing with but sets in the shop so i can point to it and assure the kids that i still have it LOL ....

Okay if that is the welder that I think it might be then it is NOT the world's greatest 115 volt wire feeder, but not necessarily what I would call a total lost cause either. (A total lost cause is those Harbor Freight $99 wire feeders and the like from other unscrupulous retailers. Those are a total lost cause because they output AC output and there is not a single fluxcore or mig wire designed to work with an AC output wire feeder. Wire feeders whether mig or flux core is a DC only process by design and nature. Stick welders are fine on AC, although more limited, as there are at least rods designed to work on an AC output stick welder).

Look at the machine output sticker on your Campbell Hausfeld and see if your unit outputs DC. If it does then it is not a total lost cause. If DC output then pick up a 2lb spool of Hobart 0.030 E71T-11 at TSC or Rural King (costs $19.99 reg price but can be found for 16.99 on sale). Unfortunetley, 0.035 flux core might be too much for that particular Cambell Hausfeld machine. Still I run 0.030 E71T-11 in my Lincoln SP-135 95% of the time and it does fine although it will also run 0.035 equally as well.
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Anyway remember to switch the polarity inside the machine for the flux core. I think you just might be pleased. You already have the welder and you likely not to get rid of it since a gift from your kids, you might as well get some use out of it. Choice between that lowly Campbell Hausfeld and a even the most expensive $5000 stick welder on some 16 gauge metal (1/16" thick) and I will pick that lowly Campell even with flux core in it compared to me having to do it with the stick process. Dirty rust metal is not as big a hassle with flux core either compared to mig mode.

In short use that wire feeder where your stick machine does not work so good and you have just expanded the thicknesses of steel that you can successfully weld. My guess is that unit will do best on 12 gage down to about 22 gage.

 

[Arc weld]

Does all feeders are able to run off a stick welder?

A little off topic here but MAN!!!! I was watching that thing with headphones. @ 1:57

You need a voltage sensing wire feeder to run off a CC machine. Some suitcase feeders are both CC and CV compatible. You usually can't weld with lower volt short circuit transfer because the volts will be too low. Arc volts need to be around 23 or so for them to work properly. Fine for flux-core.