TheSamba.com :: View topic - Campbell Hausfeld 85 amp 115 volt wire welder

Mon Jul 28, 2014 12:05 pm

Hello everyone! I am on a budget & planning on buying the above wire welder. I have a few holes that I want to patch up in the trunk area that go into the cab. The sizes very from the size of a pea to the size of a dime. Just wondering if this welder will do the job. I am also curious to know, what to use on the inside of the cab so that the flux doesn't run out if the hole. I read on one of the other posts to use a piece of copper underneathe, is that so that it doesn't stick? Where would you get a piece of copper that is flat?

Mon Jul 28, 2014 4:21 pm

85 amps should be okay for 22 gage to maybe 14 gage with flux core. Is this wire welder mig ,gas shielding capable? You will need a mig for anything under 18 gage to be practical especially filling holes.

Get a scrap piece of 22 gage and drill a bunch of 1/2 holes in it. All you can do with 22 gage with a mig(without overlaping joints) is mostly tack welds being a tack weld is just the length of the weld pool with out moving the torch to create a bead. Practice depositing metal around the circumstance of the 1/2" holes with out letting the pool spread out much at all. Just deposit some metal "wire" just enough that it does not stand straight up but not enough that the pool spreads out. Use the size of the pool you want and keep the edge of the pool so the edge does not go to far and burn through the edge of the hole. After you get the circumference of the hole with metal built up around it you can place real tack welds that overlap themselves slightly around the hole. Keep doing this in a circular method until the hole is filled. :D

Edit: Oh yeh ,get a auto darkening adjustable helmet. Harbor Frieght ones are fine.

[/img]

Tue Jul 29, 2014 11:51 am

albinogek wrote: Where would you get a piece of copper that is flat?
They sell magnetic copper backers online ( Eastwood, Ebay, etc...) Harbor Freight even sells one with a handle. I own and have used the above mentioned plus I bought copper pipe and have cut short sections off, used my grinder w/ cutoff wheel to rip length wise and hammered flat. Works great

Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:06 am

If the welding machine is AC only then it's not a mig welder. Not junk it's just not a mig welder. It's a transformer and a wire feed that's it.

To weld sheetmetal buy a used Lincolin MIG for 300$ or so, not a chinese AC wirefeeder.

Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:44 am

Appreciate all the input!!

Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:29 am

I haven't heard good things about that welder.

Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:32 am

I have had one of those welders for close to 10 years. I bought it at KMart for less than $100. With good flux core wire I have done alot with it. I have welded floors, replaced panels, fixed exhausts and alot more.

It is far from the best. I need to use good wire and I still get alot of blow through. But it actually has a pretty decent duty cycle and has never ever broken. I would love a better one, but for the hobbiest who has an occasional project I think its great.

Wed Jul 30, 2014 10:00 am

Thank you for sticking up for those of us who can't afford or more often even justify having the best of everything.

Where do you get good wire?

jspbtown wrote: I have had one of those welders for close to 10 years. I bought it at KMart for less than $100. With good flux core wire I have done alot with it. I have welded floors, replaced panels, fixed exhausts and alot more.

It is far from the best. I need to use good wire and I still get alot of blow through. But it actually has a pretty decent duty cycle and has never ever broken. I would love a better one, but for the hobbiest who has an occasional project I think its great.

Wed Jul 30, 2014 10:47 am

I get Lincoln wire at my local Lowes or Home Depot.

Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:25 pm

cool, thx.

jspbtown wrote: I get Lincoln wire at my local Lowes or Home Depot.

Wed Jul 30, 2014 9:08 pm

This welder is what I ended up doing. An OK "starter" kit comes with it.

You'll still need a bottle for thin stuff and I completely understand cost being an issue.

I like the way it works, the settings are plenty for me and almost anything you are going to do on these cars can be handled by a 115v welder such as this. Infinite settings, 1/2" material, and the future upgrade-ability of a nicer welder are all good but you read the reviews and people like the Handy MIG. Some guys say they have nicer equipment, but like this one because it is easier to carry around and works for small jobs.

NOW, that being said I'd love a Millermatic 180, but we can't all have what we want now can we? :)

Thu Jul 31, 2014 11:51 pm

OLDveedubs wrote: This welder is what I ended up doing. An OK "starter" kit comes with it.

You'll still need a bottle for thin stuff and I completely understand cost being an issue.

NOW, that being said I'd love a Millermatic 180, but we can't all have what we want now can we? :)

That is a good deal. less than 400$ new?? wow, ok no excuse yall have to go buy one if you want to do sheetmetal.
It'll run on CO2, it will! and CO2 costs very little.

These machines all have SOMETHING they are good at doing, but then of course not so good at doing other stuff.

The hobart/miller 130-190 models for instance have a type of design(center tapped secondary/half bridge rectifier) that makes them very efficient thus more powerful. The 140 is about the most power you can get from a 110 outlet.
The miller 180 is more powerful than the "180" would make you think.........but try to do sheetmetal with it and it's kinda like trying to drive a small nail with a five pound hammer :shock:

The lincolin full bridge power supply is not as efficient, BUT, if you want to just do sheetmetal then it's probably PREFERABLE. And you can ask the PROS and the guys at the muffler shop and they will agree, tho they don't know why. :wink:

The most efficient design is to use no rectifier at all. Say you only have a 110 outlet and need to weld the thickest stuff possible then that cheapo AC wire feed machine is actually what you want!

Right tool for the right job.

Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:40 pm

variable voltage or many voltage settings are better for the same amp output. I have a century gs130 with variable voltage control and have not had any problems for over 10 years with it. It's a cheap version of a miler matic. If you want to spend more there is the miller matic. I might even look at a chinese everlast if the construction looked good and the warranty was good. Reviews on everlast are good if it survives shipping and initially works out of the box.

Fri Aug 08, 2014 2:40 pm

You can pick up some copper piping from HD, flatten it, and use it as a backing. This is what I've done for small hard-to-reach areas like the bottom of the rocker panel behind the hinge plate. I think my knuckles are still bleeding.. meh.

HF also has a handle-held copper backing plate which you can pick up for pennies.

No one wants my welder.. I want it to go to a VW nut. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1664397

Sat Aug 09, 2014 7:53 am

Thanks to all of you, for all of the info!