caged

i have that 140c. great machine. but yeah, get a 220v that can put out 180a and up. that miller 211 is a perfect choice for you.
also, get a good auto helmet. not a cheap one. spend around 200 bux.
grab some decent welding gloves that aren't too thick but not too thin. get good coverage.
and last but not least, a set of leathers. you don't have to go all out here, just some sleeves would suffice.

you don't need the sleeves right away, but don't wear your favorite long sleeve shirt to weld in. lol.

ftwelder

Welding machines are transformers. MIG (wire feed) welding process has adjustable voltage (called constant current) and TIG/stick welding machines that are CV or constant voltage. Some machines do both. (CC/CV

With MIG welding, the filler wire is charged with electricity and begins spooling out of the gun to create an arc on the grounded material when you pull the trigger. With TIG welding, the arc is formed between a tungsten (non expendable but replaceable) and the ground that acts a lot like the flame of a gas torch. More amps, more melt.

Mig is way faster and requires less effort as it creates the weld as you go. TIG requires a hand held filler wire to produce a typical weld or you can use the arc to reshape a weld you don't like by just melting it down. This can cause undercut and hot-short cracks in some materials.

Both types of machines can e purchased with a "pulse" option that provides sort of a "semi automated" process that some find helpful. Fun but not required.

94XjSport94

Found some scrap 1/2" stainless angle at work someone cut up so glued it together real quick. Guess I was moving a little slow and got some slag in those tiny pinholes.

Left is 140 amps right is 150 both with a 1/8" 316 Rod from a Miller dynasty 200 3 phase POS.

Rogue4x4

Still been working on the same truck...but other things come in during the process, so it isn't happening as fast as I'd like...We lost a day and a half because I had to go back to my old department to cover some slack....And I have trucks come in daily for things that need immediate attention...that aside here's some of the progress I have made...

The packer I've been working on...had to scarf out all the old welds, and weld all new beads in. Several passes there, one root pass, two cover passes, all in 1/8" 7018, then one 5/32" over the top. The bottom piece of steel is 2" thick.


A couple pics of the packer...




other patches that needed to happen...




a couple pics of the crossmember that needs to be un-FUBAR'd




The packer repair...scarfed out the bad, put some 1/2" round stock in, tacked in place, beat into submission, and fully welded with 1/8" 7018, multiple passes








Also got the old bushings out of the packer pivot points, got the new bushings drilled for cover plates, cover plates fabbed, then tomorrow I drill out the bushings to put the plates on. Then the new brass bushings get installed, and the crossmember mentioned above gets reworked, then we put the packer back in the truck, hook up the hydraulics and wiring, and it should be done.

Rogue4x4

Made alot of progress the last few days on the truck we've been working on...didn't get pics of a lot of it as we were just too busy, but here's what I got...

Notice the hole on the left hand side...patched it with some angle...








The last two days have been working on the packer, had to get the old bushings out, and the new in...PITA

Had to beat the old ones out, one didn't wanna go, so we had to use a sawzall on it to cut it, then beat it out. Took the new bushings, capped them, put them in the freezer overnight, then put one in...had to beat the **** out of it with a sledge to get it in, told my mentor from the get go, why don't we heat the sleeve, he said aw don't worry it'll go in no prob...it didn't. Had to slam on it with a 20 lb sledge for 3.5 hours to get it in. Told him the next one, we're heating it up...we did so, and it slipped right in,LOL...then he told me he was busting my chops, and just wanted to see me work, LOL....I'll take it.

Bottom line is the packer is back in the truck, and operating as it should...a few loose ends to tie up and it's out of there. Then one of the next 3 can come in, LMFAO

Basslicks

your welding sucks, I hate you!!!


except that it doesn't and I don't.

DenimDean

Fighting words!

Basslicks

haha.. mostly with myself, it would seem

Velcro

I'm new to MIG welding and bought a harbor freight 90A welder basically only just to tack nuts onto broken studs. After practicing doing that, it seems like it doesn't have enough power to do that and gets no penetration, doesn't melt the wire fully, so I just get a very nasty looking weld that I can break off with my hands.

The wirefeed doesn't work lower than about 2-3 and at low speeds it is sometimes goes very slow or very fast. Is that normal for these welders? I believe I've set it up correctly, in that it's as light as it can be without slipping or unspooling. I'm using .030 harbor freight wire.

I don't think I'm asking this welder to do very much, so any help at all would be appreciated other than "buy a better welder."

SatiricalHen

no it's not normal at least mine isn't like that. I've made a lot of stuff with mine (not anything structural or really important of course) and it's done pretty good. Welded a bumper for my lawn mower with it and I beat the snot out of it and it hasn't broken a weld yet. I make flag pole mounts for trailer hitches with it and they've all held.

caged

make sure the plug you have it plugged into is as close to 15amps as possible.
if you have other plugs on that line or lights, anything pulling amps from that 15 service, you will be starving the welder.

if it's possible, install a 15 or 20 amp plug on it's own and use that.

Rogue4x4

Okay a few questions here...did you buy a true MIG machine, or just the wire feed welder? If you got the MIG, check to make sure your polarity is set correctly for the wire you are running...if it's set up for flux core, but you're using MIG, it will look like crap and vice versa.

Also, you stated you're using HF wire...flux core or solid?

For the record, HF wire sucks. Go get some wire from HD or Lowes, or better yet, a local weld shop.

Have you run practice beads before hitting your projects? Sure it's operating properly? Are you keeping the lead as straight as possible? The leads don't like to be bound up...to much bend in it and you'll start noticing it acts like it's "slipping"...

Other than that, buy a better welder, LOL

SatiricalHen

I have the welder he has (or at least I'm pretty sure I do) it's wire fed flux core machine.

Velcro

No, I guess technically it's a wirefeed AC welder (flux core only), I should have said I'm new to wirefeed welding. Definitely seems like it's more than capable of what I need it to do, just doesn't want to work right for some reason.

I've heard the harbor freight wire sucks, but is it really bad enough to cause my problems?

I'm thinking that it might be starved for power like was posted before, right now my entire shop is running off of an extension cord from the garage. I'll try running it off of a generator to see if that helps.

I'll try using the generator and laying down a practice bead keeping the lead straight to see if that's the problem. Hoping someday to buy a miller autoset or hobart MVP, but until I'm halfway decent with it, the harbor freight will have to do.

SatiricalHen

I run harbor freight wire through mine plugged into an extension cord and mine does fine. I don't expect much, but it definitely holds for the small stuff I do.