Harbor Freight FCAW welder

[dragoneggs]

Thanks guys
Think i am going to wait untill Christmas to get myself a Hobart Ironman 240, it looks like Millermatic 252 without digital readout.View attachment 684076

Christmas!? That's a long wait to weld.

 

[yomax4]

Not really..... Miller and Hobart are owned by Illinois Tool Works, Though they do share some facilities and parts and manufacturing supplies the are separate companies under ITW...

Dale

This is correct. Miller is like ESAB. They don't own anything, Not even themselves.

 

[WranglerX]

I was checking marketace. The guys that resale returned stuff from Harbor Freight, Lowes, Home depot etc. Have some welders

The Lincoln Weldpak 180HD new with the plastic wrap and the leads still zip tied they sell it for $450
Is this thing a good welder? Would this thing weld 1/4"?

I'll ask about the Harbor Freight ones.

Hobart also has a "refurbished" sales division, but there is rarely any thing there as its either not getting returns, or its going out the door pretty fast....

Reconditioned Welders & Plasma Cutters - Hobart Welding Products

Dale

 

[rangerfredbob]

The Lincoln Weldpak 180HD is reported to be a decent low cost unit.
The Lincoln will weld 1/4" .
I would absolutely steer clear of the cheapo HF welders.
Some claim that the HF "Vulcan" welders are good, but they are not cheap.

I have a Titanium 170 and 200 from HFT and I have been trying to break the 170 and it just keeps going... I got that one for $125 I think open box sidewalk sale... paid full coupon price for the 200... Both are holding their own honestly. I've just ran flux core through them but they hold their own. I've gone camping and offroading and took the 170 with and ended up doing some suspension work on several vehicles using the generator on one friends RV (on 120V even), those welds are still in place a couple years later... For the record I bought the 200 first then I found the 170 for stupid cheap and couldn't pass it up, Right now it's too many welders but once I get my shop built I'll get a cart for the 200 and keep the 170 as the traveling welder and keep it in the garage for smaller stuff...

That said, I'd trust the Titanium line and Vulcan line of welders, if used accordingly even the chicago electric welders work ok, but the other two are far and above...

 

[WranglerX]

I have a Titanium 170 and 200 from HFT and I have been trying to break the 170 and it just keeps going... I got that one for $125 I think open box sidewalk sale... paid full coupon price for the 200... Both are holding their own honestly. I've just ran flux core through them but they hold their own. I've gone camping and offroading and took the 170 with and ended up doing some suspension work on several vehicles using the generator on one friends RV (on 120V even), those welds are still in place a couple years later... For the record I bought the 200 first then I found the 170 for stupid cheap and couldn't pass it up, Right now it's too many welders but once I get my shop built I'll get a cart for the 200 and keep the 170 as the traveling welder and keep it in the garage for smaller stuff...

That said, I'd trust the Titanium line and Vulcan line of welders, if used accordingly even the chicago electric welders work ok, but the other two are far and above...

Only question about HF machines is what about consumables, can they use generic parts found in any local welding supply, or do you need to order from HF only to find out its not available or you have to wait for weeks for it to be shipped from China?? Getting a machine is one aspect but what if it needs parts, does local store have general consumables in stock (gun nozzles, mig contact tips, liners)... I keep hearing their wire is crap, just wonder about other consumables?

Dale

 

[Buggs67]

Hey Buggs, as a fairly new welder myself, the only advise I'm in position to give you is to just start welding stuff. Just dive into it...since you want to do bodywork on the jeep, get some thin gauge steels to practice on a little bit, and then just dive into work on the jeep. The welds don't have to be perfect to be good enough, and good enough is perfectly fine for what most of us here are doing with welders. Just make sure you have an angle grinder with both cut-off and flap sanding discs, you'll be using all that. Some people will call you a grinder, not a welder, oh well. All self-taught welders start off as grinders, it's fine. Go on Youtube, there's a lot of welders out there sharing great tips. Strange Garage and Love2boat92, those guys on youtube have some good fcaw vids, check them out.

Here's vids I have on my favorites list on youtube, for welding (instructionals), there's some real good flux core topics in there: welding - YouTube

Thanks for the input. I'll check out those videos and those two people you recommended. My BIL watches You Tube more than conventional TV. Farmers, builders, etc and I'm starting to do the same. My TV supports You Tube w/out any apps, and it's not even a "Smart TV"

 

[GeneV]

Thanks for the input. I'll check out those videos and those two people you recommended. My BIL watches You Tube more than conventional TV. Farmers, builders, etc and I'm starting to do the same. My TV supports You Tube w/out any apps, and it's not even a "Smart TV"

Yeh youtube is great, I learned a lot about all sort of different stuff on youtube, tractor stuff, welding, machining, whatever. I love living in this information age, I feel blessed to be alive now with all these resources like internet, cellphones, etc.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Only question about HF machines is what about consumables, can they use generic parts found in any local welding supply, or do you need to order from HF only to find out its not available or you have to wait for weeks for it to be shipped from China?? Getting a machine is one aspect but what if it needs parts, does local store have general consumables in stock (gun nozzles, mig contact tips, liners)... I keep hearing their wire is crap, just wonder about other consumables?

Dale

Their nozzles are the generic ones out there, the tips are just on theirs I think but that "shouldn't" be too big of an issue, grab a pack if you get a welder and you probably won't need them...

As for their wire, they had a few bad batches of flux core that shipped with some welders years ago and most of the complaints are on the older transformer flux only welders, I had one as the only welder I could use due to wiring constraints for years and I think the problem people have with them is trying to use .030" wire in them, they don't approve of that, I could only get mine to work with .035" wire, on high or low and any wire speed it just blew up the wire... I used Lincoln, Chicago and Fourney wire in it and it wouldn't care as long as you only used .035"... On the Titanium welders I used up the factory supplied flux core wire, worked just fine

 

[dragoneggs]

Yeh youtube is great, I learned a lot about all sort of different stuff on youtube, tractor stuff, welding, machining, whatever. I love living in this information age, I feel blessed to be alive now with all these resources like internet, cellphones, etc.

Sure is nice when you have to fix something and not have to call a repairman! More than likely, you will find someone who fixed the very thing that you are having issues with... whether it be a car, a clothes dryer, a furnace, or whatever. :thumbsup:

 

[GeneV]

Dragon yes, I see you're like that too, haha!