My new welder

[Canada_CT230]

Hey,

Update...I couldn't get that Dayton AC/DC welder.

Anyways...I found a 230A AC welder locally for $75. Good price and looked in good shape but I haven't seen it work / tested it.

The guy said he bought it for his cabin building docks. He hasn't used it in years since that project and was cleaning up. I took his word that it works. Plus I figured that there is not much that could go wrong with it.

The welder I got is a Mastercraft (Canadian Tire) 230A AC welder. I think this might be made by Century for Candian Tire. I want to try and confirm who makes this house brand welder.

I cleaned it up a little on the inside and outside. Everything looks normal inside and I'll try it as soon as I wire in the 50A plug in the garage. I already upgraded my circuit breaker panel the other day and now have a 50A breaker in there for a welder circuit.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I assume that you used the correct sized wire for the 50 amp circuit relative to the distance from the breaker box.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The welder looks like new. PO must have stored it / used it in well protected space. Not much to go wrong with them except maybe a lightning strike that burns out the transformer. If it doesnt smell burnt, then it is likely OK. Congratulations on your find.

 

[grsthegreat]

That looks amazingly like my old Century ac/dc unit. It died about 3 months back, but served me for nearly 15 years

 

[k0ua]

Yep looks just like a Century, Well sorry the AC/DC deal fell thru, but you should be able to get a lot of good out of this one, especially for $75

James K0UA

 

[Canada_CT230]

I assume that you used the correct sized wire for the 50 amp circuit relative to the distance from the breaker box.

yes it will be...when it gets installed

 

[bearcreek paul]

Nice find for 75$ you can't go wrong.You will get a life time of use and if you want to upgrade you will get what you paid for it.

 

[Thomas]

Heck of deal congrats.
You have more than enough for any hot glueing for home projects.

 

[Canada_CT230]

HOORRAY...It works! I wired the 240V in the garage today and connected the line to the panel. The 50A line and welder test successful.

I grabbed an old rusty piece of steel, a 1/8" - 7014 rod from the open box (came w/ welder) and fired it up to about 125A. I played around laying a bead and making a puddle of molten steel. It has an easier arc strike than other welders that I've used. It held the arc very nicely and was easy to control. Pretty nice with the auto-darkening helmet too!

Now for the first project...a welder cart.

 

[rankrank1]

HOORRAY...It works! I wired the 240V in the garage today and connected the line to the panel. The 50A line and welder test successful.

I grabbed an old rusty piece of steel, a 1/8" - 7014 rod from the open box (came w/ welder) and fired it up to about 125A. I played around laying a bead and making a puddle of molten steel. It has an easier arc strike than other welders that I've used. It held the arc very nicely and was easy to control. Pretty nice with the auto-darkening helmet too!

Now for the first project...a welder cart.

You will find that you love 7014 on an AC buzzbox. By far the easiest rod to run on AC is 7014 IMOP. It almost welds by itself which is why many call it idiot rod and it has very nice weld appearance to boot. Best of all is that it does not require rod oven storage.

Tip 7014 usually likes a few more amps than the rule of thumb for amp setting based on rod diameter in decimels. (e.g rule thumb says 1/8" which is 0.125" would like a setting somewhere around 125 amps. 7014 will almost always like a slightly higher setting like say 135-140 or so for sweet spot).

 

[Canada_CT230]

I bought 5 lbs of 6011 also. Yet to try that.

What is better around the farm? If the 7014 does not require any special storage and the welds look very nice; then is its only drawback is the medium penetration versus the 6011's high pentration?

Mainly looking for repairing Cat 1 implements, general fab and mostly likely mower deck cracks. I'm thinking that 7014 would be real nice for cracks in the garden tractor mower deck.

 

[monckywrench]

Run some beads on different material (as in "clean some scrap and spend at least ten hours practicing to get started with non-critical work") to get a feel.

Set your "heat"/amps by welding briefly on a scrap piece before each job, so you don't have to adjust on the fly. This is a pro trick but is very helpful for hobby welders too.

Don't obsess over "pretty" welds other than those which are cosmetic. I run 6011 often. There's a REASON they make cellulosic rods like 6011.

Take the better part of a day and weld, read about stick welding, and check out a few videos on youtube so you can get an idea of stick movement.

Make sure you can see your work and that your eyeglass prescription for near vision is current.

I suggest cleaning up some practice metal and running about six-inch beads on plate to start. Manually move the electrode over your weld area without power applied to ensure you can move freely. Get a comfortable brace position to ensure you are steady.

Have fun!

 

[Shield Arc]

I bought 5 lbs of 6011 also. Yet to try that.

What is better around the farm? If the 7014 does not require any special storage and the welds look very nice; then is its only drawback is the medium penetration versus the 6011's high pentration?

Mainly looking for repairing Cat 1 implements, general fab and mostly likely mower deck cracks. I'm thinking that 7014 would be real nice for cracks in the garden tractor mower deck.

Some reading for you.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/welding/211903-6011-break-test.html
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/welding/211905-7014-break-test.html

 

[rankrank1]

I bought 5 lbs of 6011 also. Yet to try that.

What is better around the farm? If the 7014 does not require any special storage and the welds look very nice; then is its only drawback is the medium penetration versus the 6011's high pentration?

Mainly looking for repairing Cat 1 implements, general fab and mostly likely mower deck cracks. I'm thinking that 7014 would be real nice for cracks in the garden tractor mower deck.

6011 is very useful too for deep penetration and dirty rusty farm implements. And is also a good rood to use for improvised cutting of metal via the arc welder. You will like it as it works well as long as appearance or spatter are not a problem.

Rods that I keep on hand in small quantities:
a) 6011 (3/32 and 1/8) deep root passes, dirty rusty metal, improvised cutting.
b) 7014 (3/32 and 1/8) medium penetration applications or cap appearance passes.
c) 6013 (1/16, 5/64, and maybe 3/32) Really thin sheet metal applications that do not require immense strength. 1/16 or 5/64 diameters will primarly be used if a wire feeder is not available. 6013 is not my favorite, but it is useful nonetheless.

None of these rods require rod oven storage so they do not cost you anything to have them readily available as long as you keep them reasonably dry - and there is actually such a thing as getting 6011 too dry.

On the off chance that I ever have to weld some exotic alloy steel then I will buy a small pack of 7018AC and improvise dry them in a salvage toaster oven. Only the large tins of 7018 or 7018AC are properly sealed from the factory and 7018 or 7018AC should be kept in a rod oven. So it will cost to operate a rod oven year round if you want the convenience of having 7018 readily available. Certainly worth it to a professional doing code work or someone in a production environment, but not to someone like me who predominantly only works with mild steel and old junky farm equipment every now and then. Yes you can use non-rod oven stored 7018 or 7018AC on non-code work, but it can be quite tempermental to borderline impossible to run on lower end welders.

 

[Canada_CT230]

My neighbor is cleaning out the barn and has a pile of junk steel and other stuff that he said I can rumage thru. He has lots of steel oak barrel hoops. Me thinks I'm going to make some steel art while learning different rods and techniques. Any ideas for art?

 

[JB4310]

Have not seen the suggestion for 7024, It is a rod for flat work, if you can get the work horizontal, it's the easiest rod to use.

I only use 7018 now with dc, but 7024 was my go to rod for ac as long as I could get the work flat.

JB

 

[rankrank1]

Have not seen the suggestion for 7024, It is a rod for flat work, if you can get the work horizontal, it's the easiest rod to use.

I only use 7018 now with dc, but 7024 was my go to rod for ac as long as I could get the work flat.

JB

7014 is a close cousin to 7024, but with 7014 you can use it in all positions instead of being limited to 7024 horizontal only position.

That said 7024 puts down much more metal (higher deposition rate) than even 7014 and is frequently called "jet rod" due to how much and quickly the metal is put down. 7024 is great for a production environment where speed is critical "since time is money" in the production world and on an assembly line you could arrange the assembly line so that all the welds would be horizontal. 7024 is not used in the production world like it used to be as it has been replaced by robots and wire feeders in modern times.

IMOP For backyard hobbyist 7014 is the better choice over 7024. 7014 runs sweet on AC and you can use it in any welding position. Most importantly you can find 7014 in places like TSC, Menards, NAPA, Ace Hardware, some of the Lowes, some of the Home Depots, etc. that have convenient extended shopping hours that local welding supply lacks. You will be limited to Welding supply stores or mail order for 7024.

 

[JB4310]

7014 is a close cousin to 7024, but with 7014 you can use it in all positions instead of being limited to 7024 horizontal only position.

That said 7024 puts down much more metal and is frequently called "jet rod" due to how much and quickly the metal is put down.

The appearance makes it look like a great weld, but does it penetrate as well as 7014 or 7018.

The way you describe it sounds like it may not penetrate as well ?

JB

 

[rankrank1]

The appearance makes it look like a great weld, but does it penetrate as well as 7014 or 7018.

The way you describe it sounds like it may not penetrate as well ?

JB

7014 and 7018 are pretty much equal in penetration qualities as both are considered "medium" penetrators. 7014 makes beatiful looking welds.

7024 is rated even worse than 6013 in penetration qualities and many people compare 6013 penetration to "bubble gum". Again I would not recommend 7024 for anything other than an assembly line application where its handicaps are not a hindrance.

 

[Shield Arc]

7024 is rated even worse than 6013 in penetration qualities and many people compare 6013 penetration to "bubble gum". Again I would not recommend 7024 for anything other than an assembly line application where its handicaps are not a hindrance.

That's very interesting! Did you get that out of a book, or personal experience?