Anyone have experience or have used these arc welders?

Car Doc · May 13, 2011

Well better get to work burning some rods on that hoe and get that water line fixed and post a couple pics!

chad22 · May 13, 2011

Soundguy said:
helmet too? awesome!

ps.. if you don't already have one.. get an auto darkening one. even the 49$ jobs from harbor freight are neat.

I like the full screen 4x4" kind but even the auto dark4x2" kind are better than the head flipper kind..

soundguy

Yep a helmet too. I was surprised. He said. After you called. I remembered I had another helmet and thought I would throw it in. I told him. Wow thank you.

I love this welder. On my campbell hausfeld It would take me almost a minute to get the arc started. On this lincoln, the arc starts on the first strike.

And man am I welding like a pro with this thing. :thumbsup: All my welds with this welder held up.

There's a few welds that broke, that I welded with my other welder, but I'll fix them tomorrow with the lincoln. And they won't or shouldn't break again.

I can keep the arc going with the lincoln, but on the campbell hausfeld, I can't keep the arc going. It stops and starts and almost always sticks.

Not this one, I haven't had a rod stick at all.

This is a fantastic welder and am so glad I purchased it. It WAS and still is the best $100.00 I spent.

Chad

Soundguy · May 13, 2011

yep.. 50-100$ is about the going rate for a crackerbox.. and as you say.. great investment!

soundguy

rankrank1 · May 13, 2011

chad22 said:
...This is a fantastic welder and am so glad I purchased it. It WAS and still is the best $100.00 I spent.

Chad

Your minimal investment might look even better when you consider that your Lincoln buzzbox can actually do more than serve as a welder alone in a backyard shop environment.

Add a Twin Carbon Arc torch (make for free or buy for cheap) and it gives you nearly free source of intense heat for bending metal, brazing, silver soldering, freeing rusted nuts, improvised flame fill weld,etc. Twin Carbon arc can actually be made to burn up to 1000 degrees hotter than oxy/acetylene torch if desired. (note: Twin Carbon Arc will NOT cut metal).

That said you can use that Lincoln to cut metal and pierce holes. 6011 in the stinger and crank up the amps - recommended technique for cutting/piercing is even provided in the Lincoln manual. Not plasma quality cuts, but it does work in a backyard shop and is economical.

Your minimal investment should look even better now when you factor in that it can do more than welding alone and that it is likely to still be working 50 years from now.

Travelover · May 14, 2011

+1 on the carbon arc. If you get one, leave not one square inch of skin exposed or you will have a terrible sunburn.

You can also use a buzz box for a pipe thawer if you have a frozen galvanized steel pipe. We used to do that back in the day when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

rankrank1 · May 14, 2011

Travelover said:
+1 on the carbon arc. If you get one, leave not one square inch of skin exposed or you will have a terrible sunburn.

You can also use a buzz box for a pipe thawer if you have a frozen galvanized steel pipe. We used to do that back in the day when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Yes, with Twin Carbon arc you must wear your welding helmet. Otherwise, I dress no differently than when I weld as I do not leave any skin exposed for general welding either - even general welding rays are not good on exposed skin. FWIW: People always say there is no such thing as a free lunch in life. In my opinion, Twin Carbon Arc is the closest thing to a free lunch that I have found. I was truly tickled pink when I discovered this long forgotten method so much so that I have totally mothballed my oxy/acetelyne torch - got tired of paying the expensive bottle leases and expensive gas refills for an infrequent user like me.

I also have a small Lincoln Mig welder that I purchased several years ago thinking that it would be more versatile than a buzzbox for my needs. I must admit that logic was wrong. The Lincoln AC-225 buzzbox is more versatile since it can do more than welding alone. A buzzbox is the one type of welder that I will always have (Lincoln AC-225, Hobart Stickmate, or Miller Thunderbolt all will work well for a backyard hobbyist). Of course, the argument could be made that a Lincoln Idealarc or Miller Dialarc are even better than a buzzbox but these bigger units do require much more power and are monsters to try to move around so are intended more for the serious welder in my opinion.

As for thawing pipes, I have read that in the manual but luckily have never had to use that feature. I believe you have to put it on 75 amps (the one that is circled on the faceplate as that is the setting that is straight pass through on the biggest windings of the internal transformer which can handle the abuse of creating a large heating element out of the pipe.

Soundguy · May 14, 2011

many places still sell chamfering rods.. I know tsc does.. so if you are out of oxy/acet.. and have a big beefy welder.. chamfer away.. biggest ugliest cut you can make.. but works!

soundguy

rankrank1 said:
Your minimal investment might look even better when you consider that your Lincoln buzzbox can actually do more than serve as a welder alone in a backyard shop environment.

Add a Twin Carbon Arc torch (make for free or buy for cheap) and it gives you nearly free source of intense heat for bending metal, brazing, silver soldering, freeing rusted nuts, improvised flame fill weld,etc. Twin Carbon arc can actually be made to burn up to 1000 degrees hotter than oxy/acetylene torch if desired. (note: Twin Carbon Arc will NOT cut metal).

That said you can use that Lincoln to cut metal and pierce holes. 6011 in the stinger and crank up the amps - recommended technique for cutting/piercing is even provided in the Lincoln manual. Not plasma quality cuts, but it does work in a backyard shop and is economical.

Your minimal investment should look even better now when you factor in that it can do more than welding alone and that it is likely to still be working 50 years from now.

KLMandW · May 14, 2011

Done lots of brazing repair panels in my old Jeep when I was a kid with a twin carbon arc torch.....they work great when its all ya got. Way better than a several hundred dollar investment in tanks and torches.

Soundguy · May 14, 2011

anyone got a link to plans for one?

does it work on ac only machines?

soundguy

KLMandW · May 15, 2011

I'm not sure if they will work with a DC machine or not.....don't see why they wouldn't, but cant say forsure. As for plans, I don't know of any but I imagine if you do a search for images of them you will get the general idea of them. Basically just two carbon electrodes in a holder that has leads going to the holders. One is positive, the other is the ground lead. The holder has to provide a means to bring the carbons together to light the arc then to seperate them slightly to adjust the arc to the desired width. Hope this helps. Oh....don't forget to cover up and use atleast a #12 shade lens. These things will give ya a really nasty arc burn if ya don't.......voice of experience from the school of hard knocks, LOL:confused2: