Another looking for a flux core MIG welder suggestion thread

[IXLR8]

Another thing to keep in mind when buying ANY welder and that is... If you have issues with it (one never knows), the HF welders are easy to return (so long as you purchase the extended warranty which guarantees them against everything for up to 4 years, whereas if you by a Lincoln or a Miller or an ESAB of even an Everlast, you have to take it to an authorized service center and then wait for it to be repaired. With the HF units. There is usually an HF store nearby so you take it back and they either refund your money or they give you a new one.

I know it works like that as I own a pair of HF plasma cutters and one pooped out so I returned it to the local store and they gave me a new one, no questions asked.

I sold my Lincoln TIG machine as well as my Hyper Therm plasma cutter and replaced both. A 205 Pro-Tig and the pair of plasma cutters. The 205 Pro-Tig is a fine machine btw. My good friend is a nuclear certified welder and he's used it in the past and was amazed at how well it welds (of course TIG welding takes skill) and the Titanium plasma cutters, the consumables are 1/4 the price of the Hyper Therm consumables, why I sold it as I use the larger one on my CNC plasma table so I burn through a lot of consumables. Other nice thing about the Titanium Plasma cutter is, HF sells it with the CNC interface already installed so it's basically plug and play CNC. Had to wire the HT to run on the table.

Only thing I added to the 205 was the Everlast water cooler and a CK Worldwide Series 20 flex head TIG torch. The 205 comes with everything including the foot pedal but the torch is air cooled and an air cooled torch don't work well with aluminum at higher amperage, consequently, the water cooled torch. I don't like getting toasted fingers.

I will say that Hobart does sell a nice series of auto dark hoods, just bought one to replace my ancient Hobart auto dark hood.

Nearest HF is 3 hrs round trip and $30 in tolls away, Tractor Supply(Hobart) is 25 min away, although they don't have the warranty coverage that HF does. But it all boils down to the fact that getting gas for any of the welding processes is a major pain in the @$$ and I was trying to avoid having to deal with that.

 

[5030]

Nearest HF is 3 hrs round trip and $30 in tolls away, Tractor Supply(Hobart) is 25 min away, although they don't have the warranty coverage that HF does. But it all boils down to the fact that getting gas for any of the welding processes is a major pain in the @$$ and I was trying to avoid having to deal with that.

I buy ALL my shielding gas bottles from Weldfabulous in Winona, Minn. They ship FULL 120 cubic foot bottles and smaller of everything but acetylene and they ship via Fed-Ex right to your door. You can buy direct from them or on Amazon (they sell on there as well) and shipping is included in the price, either way... New, unused bottles, filled to at least 2100 Psi and far as HF welders, you can buy them online from HF as well.

I have my bottles I buy from them refilled at the local (Toledo, Ohio) Air Gas compressor facility.

If your Hobart pukes and you buy it from Tractor Supply, good luck getting it repaired on replaced. Around here we refer to Tractor Supply as the store where everything that isn't made in China is either scratched, dented or broken...

Now I've given you options, up to you to make an informed choice.

 

[rangerfredbob]

I've heard good things about Hobart, if you want to buy local like it sounds like you do I wouldn't be too worried about it, I haven't looked into that model but is it dual voltage and such like most are anymore that are inverter welders? That's very handy...

Flux core gets a bad rap since it's messy but it definitely has it's place... I was welding on some cast iron the other day and used that over other options since it's the easiest option for what I was doing even though I had a welder set up for TIG at the time and I think I have some nickel rod... it was just a shifter so not critical or stressed to the limit...

Anything is about the same anymore, I have a bunch of the Titanium stuff from Harbor Freight but I don't favor one over another too strongly... get what you can get then test it out pretty good right off, it'll either work fine or not with the quality of anything anymore.

 

[IXLR8]

I buy ALL my shielding gas bottles from Weldfabulous in Winona, Minn. They ship FULL 120 cubic foot bottles and smaller of everything but acetylene and they ship via Fed-Ex right to your door. You can buy direct from them or on Amazon (they sell on there as well) and shipping is included in the price, either way... New, unused bottles, filled to at least 2100 Psi and far as HF welders, you can buy them online from HF as well.

I have my bottles I buy from them refilled at the local (Toledo, Ohio) Air Gas compressor facility.

If your Hobart pukes and you buy it from Tractor Supply, good luck getting it repaired on replaced. Around here we refer to Tractor Supply as the store where everything that isn't made in China is either scratched, dented or broken...

Now I've given you options, up to you to make an informed choice.

There in lies the problem, it is not getting the bottles, it is getting them refilled. The nearest refill facility is a 3 hr round trip and $30 in tolls away. Since they don't refill on the spot, I need to make two trips, one to drop off, one to pick up. I'll spend more in gas and tolls than it will cost to fill the bottle.

 

[ArlyA]

You couldn't wrench my MIG from my stiff cold finders. When working in a breeze, I sent up cardboard wind breaks on horses. Have used inner-shield, no thanks. I just trade bottles at the welding supply shop.

 

[old and tired]

...I just trade bottles at the welding supply shop...

He doesn't have that option...

I have the Harbor Freight Titanium flux-core, it's alright not that powerful. I have that at home for tiny stuff.

I bought Amico MIG-130A which burns a lot hotter than HF Titanium (even on 115v). If you only need to glue metal together, since it's $150 - if it doesn't work for you, you are not out a bunch of money.

Amazon.com

 

[Jrasband]

Have you considered a stick welder? Wind is no problem and you can weld thin metal with them if your careful. I just repaired a wheelbarrow that had holes in it from wear and rust with 1/16th 6013 rods and it was pretty easy to do.

https://esab.com/us/nam_en/products-solutions/product/welding-equipment/engine-driven-welders/ruffian-es-150g-edw/

 

[5030]

There in lies the problem, it is not getting the bottles, it is getting them refilled. The nearest refill facility is a 3 hr round trip and $30 in tolls away. Since they don't refill on the spot, I need to make two trips, one to drop off, one to pick up. I'll spend more in gas and tolls than it will cost to fill the bottle.

You seem to have either a logistics issue or something else. You can exchange bottles at most LWS places instead of getting them filled. In my situation, I have them filled because I have multiple owned bottles on hand all the time and even in a production scenario (which I have) a 120 cubic foot bottle lasts about a week.

 

[WranglerX]

Need to get past refill mentality and embrace exchange mentality when using shield gasses or oxygen/acetylene systems....

 

[5030]

Need to get past refill mentality and embrace exchange mentality when using shield gasses or oxygen/acetylene systems....

Only thing I exchange is my dissolved acetylene and I have a reason as well. I do that because I'm not fond of banged up exchange bottles at all as all my bottles are nice and clean and damage free and because I have multiples of everything, dropping off an empty to be refilled is no big deal and usually I'm dropping more than one anyway.

Just had my insurance carrier inspect the shop and right away he took note of not only the secured full bottles but the secured bottles chained to the welding carts. My full bottles (and the empty ones are securely chained up in the far corner of the shop.

Not any of it is a mental issue with me, never has been and all my owned bottles are tattooed with the company name anyway.