Titanium 125 Flux Core Wire Welder and Wire Choice.

[BufordBoone]

In reading the first thread regarding Transformer or inverter Flux Core machines, I was impressed with the comments on the Titanium 125 machine offered by Harbor Freight. I followed the reading up with YouTube searches. That got me more interested.

I saw the machine was on sale for about $180. The local HF didn't have them in stock so I ordered one. That night I found they were going on sale for $149. I'll be able to get a price adjustment.

Mine came in yesterday. Setup was simple. Instead of the wire that came with it, I installed Lincoln NR 211-MP. The machine is capable of using either .035 or .030". I installed .030".

First thing I liked was the "cold" wire feed button. Makes a lot of sense to me. Second thing I liked is the controls don't have stops. You can bump them a little, or a lot.

I tried my first welds with it this morning. I found it to be very easy to use. I tried it on steel from about 18 ga. to 3/16". Though I don't have a press to test the welds, I suspect they are getting good penetration. The reason I suspect this is that traveling too slowly resulted in blow-thru even on the 3/16" stuff.

Small, light, runs on 110, inexpensive, makes good welds. What's not to like?

This is going to be a great machine for quick repairs on stuff that's not real thick.

In your opinion and experience, is the Lincoln NR 211-MP one of the better wire choices? If not, what would you recommend and why?

 

[dragoneggs]

Wow... blow through on 3/16in! Was this at the ends or middle of the run?

 

[BufordBoone]

The burn-thru I had on the thicker stuff was near the end of a run.

 

[rangerfredbob]

The Titanium MIG170 I have is surprising on 110V, it chooches right along... I think I was using it when I was "fixing" the muffler on one of my 4 wheelers... a '89 4 wheeler with who knows how many hours (the teeth are worn off the foot pegs) had many rust holes... put a patch panel over the biggest ones and just welded up the rest, took some really goofy settings , cranked the wire speed and turned down the voltage to just put material down... It's done that stupid project to structural suspension welds on full sized off road vehicles in camp...

As for wire selection, I've ran the wire that came with my Unlimited 200 (the flux core spool) and it welded very nicely so I wouldn't discount it, and I've ran some of the Vulcan stuff from HFT as well as the Lincoln stuff and some Fourney all without issue, the inverter welders are much more forgiving than the transformer version (they seem to only care about size, just forget about .030 on them), follow the chart on the side (I'm assuming it has a chart) and adjust accordingly and just go for it. I've taken a spool that WOULD NOT weld anything on my 90A transformer flux core welder and put it in one of the Titanium welders and it welded great...

 

[BufordBoone]

I went back and measured the thicker steel I burned thru. It was actually 1/8", not 3/16.

Still impressed with this little welder, though!

Thanks for the info on the wire, Rangerfredbob. When you say "just forget about .030 on them" do you mean you only use .035? If so, why?

 

[rangerfredbob]

Yes, on my old 90A flux core welder it will not weld with .030" wire, it just burns it up, I'm sure there's settings that get it to work (I had some success on low, but none on high) but require too much wire speed for my taste, the welder is much more forgiving with .035" wire. Part of the issue might be that flux core is a DC only process, and those welders do not have diodes in the output circuit so are an A/C welder... Once you get them figured out they weld reasonably but not near as nice as the Titanium's I have...

 

[dragoneggs]

Interesting... I burn .030in on my Miller 211... regardless of thickness. Don't have much experience on 110v vs 220v as I quickly realized I needed (wanted) 220v for 3//16 plus. That said, I need to to try thinner wire for sheet metal but I haven't played with really thin stuff that mattered yet.