Welder question

harryset · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 3:00 pm Post subject: Welder question

I hope I don't wear you guys out with questions: Does anyone use one of the smaller wirefeed welders on a regular basis for repairing body panels and small projects. If so, how's it working out for you?

toddyvol · Samba Member Joined: September 25, 2004 Posts: 433

I'm using a cheap($99.00) fluxcore wire feed welder that I bought from homier.com. So far so good. Welds aren't the prettiest in the world but with a little grinding and a little filler everything is OK.

I plan on buying a better mig welder soon. I think using a mig will be much better than fluxcore. With gas everything is much cleaner.

It all depends on your budget. $400 will buy you a very nice mig welder with cart, regulator and spool of wire to get you started.
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ghiawanted · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:02 pm Post subject:

Hey toddyvol

Are you having any warping problems when welding panels? How are you attaching the panels... series of spot welds?

clearsurf2001 · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:11 pm Post subject:

I use a small mig (Lincoln). Works for everything I need. Duty cycle is a little short (I've overpowered it more than once) but after a short break, it's back to normal. Spot welds on body panels are the only way to minimize panels warping. Space them out ... come back and spot again between them ... repeat, etc. I use my rig with gas. As stated before ... much cleaner.
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toddyvol · Samba Member Joined: September 25, 2004 Posts: 433

Campy · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 2:10 am Post subject:

I have been doing underbody on up restorations of four buses over the last seven years. I started out by buying a used 110 volt Lincoln SP 100 mig welder for $300. It had carbon dioxide shielding gas and was good for tack welding sheet metal panels.
A couple of years ago, I sold the mig welder (since used mig welders can be hard to find, it was easy to sell) and bought a new 220 volt Miller Millermatic mig welder, with the mixed argon/carbon dioxide shielding gas. I love the welder but I haven't noticed any difference using the more expensive shielding gas.
Don't get one of those cheap ass wire welders; buy something like the 110 volt Lincoln with a cylinder for shielding gas.
You have to learn to butt weld when welding two pieces of sheet metal together; there has to be a slight separation so cutting the metal properly is very important. You can't do stich or continious welding on 20 gauge sheet metal because the metal will get distorted. You do tack welds, back and forth, so the heat gets spread out. I've put new inner and outer rockers on four buses, so far, and tack welding the left outer rocker was time consuming but turned out good. Even with the heat control and wire speed knobs turned way down, if you don't sgueeze the trigger on the gun briefly enough, it can burn a hole in the sheet metal; that's when you learn how to build a "bridge" to weld up the hole. It can be scary because, if you don't know what you are doing, you can make the hole bigger.
Buses are hard to work on because they have a lot of overlapping, spot welded sheet metal. I am repairing an old spot welder I borrowed (single sided and uses an electrode), which means I can make spot welds in hard to reach places and it will have more of a factory look.
Panels that will be enclosed will have to be protected with paint before the metal is welded. I normally spray epoxy primer (water proof) on the sheet metal and, of course, leave the metal bare where it will be welded. Weldable paint can be used there. There is also zinc paint in a spray can you can spray on metal to retard corrosion.
On new panels, always remove the paint or packing primer on them. Clean and scuff up the sheet metal. I like to treat the bare sheet metal with metalprep, followed with a treatment of galvaprep.

RareAir · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:57 am Post subject:

My shop setup currently consists of a $299 Craftman welder that i bought at Sears. It has the ability to welb both fluxcore & gas wire. It works great for the home hobbyist repairing rust & replacing body panels. Though it works great, I plan on upgrading to a Miller since I use the welder sees quite a bit of use.
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biggene · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:55 am Post subject:

I am looking for a welder myself, and was wondering what you welding gurus think of this one

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBV...es#tablink
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toddyvol · Samba Member Joined: September 25, 2004 Posts: 433

I am thinking of buying a clarke 130N

http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/weldingdepot/sca...d=zYsySIvt

Has 10/2 - Year Limited Welder Warranty.

I've seen some rve reviews on these.

The Welder itself is $270.00. Ad cart and regulator it's $363.00. Doesn't look like the craftsman has a regulator.

I think the Crafstman would be great.
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RareAir · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:39 pm Post subject:

sbnova · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:01 pm Post subject:

I would recommend the Miller or Hobart in a roughly 130 amp model that plugs right into your 110v home receptacle.

I have an old Miller 130, that I bought new ten years ago. This thing is a tank. Parts are available at EVERY welding shop. (you will need parts, like tips and occasionally a liner). I have the good flowmeter, the one with the "floating ball". You need an adjustable regulator.

I run the CO2/Argon mix but I have never did a comparison. I have welded ALOT of sheetmetal with this machine, and welded bigger stuff up to 3/16 thick. If you go slow enough you will get great penetration.

As for welding sheetmetal, there is no way to have zero warpage. I fully weld all panels. I dont put filler over spot welds. When steel is heated and cooled it shrinks. It doesnt matter if it is cooled fast or slow. When you weld a panel, try to have acces to the back side so you can hammer and dolly it to expand the weld bead and bring the panel back into a normal shape.

For some serious metalworking reading, try Metalmeet.com they have very intensive discussions about all sorts of metalwork.

cbr900racer · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:07 pm Post subject:

i bought a campbell hausfeld from walmart (199). so far i have had no problems with it. im an amateur (to say the least)..i have filled in a few body trim holes with no problems whatsoever (i did have to pay more attention to rust on backside for some reason)..i bought a 73 super for spare parts, the body was trashed..so, i took a jigsaw and cut out a circle the size of a dinner plate, just to see if i could weld it back in...surprisingly, i did a good job. just did a small weld at a time (no warping)..grinded it down and it looked really good..just my 2 cents.
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Campy · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:09 pm Post subject:

If you are going to be welding mainly sheet metal, you could use a thinner wire. When I first bought my Millermatic, I bought a large spool of .024 inch wire and the appropiate guide tube, and installed them. The thinner wire makes it a little easier to weld 20 and 22 gauge sheet metal. Thicker metal can still be welded. I, also, had a longer electrical cord installed on the mig welder, since the stock cord is so short. You just have to use a heavier gauge cord.

Jeremy · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:52 pm Post subject:

Campy's right use the .024 wire WITH GAS for thin sheet metal. Also make sure you use the right size liner. I found out that the hard way. The wire will move about 1/8 inch with the larger liner due to the slop in the line. It gets annoying FAST.

I got my lincoln mig from home depot about a year ago and I have no complaints yet.

Campy · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:15 am Post subject:

Years ago, in the Chico area, I had a hard time finding a used mig welder. An employee at MJB Welding and Supply told me they are hard to find used (at least the better quality ones) because most people like them so much, they don't want to sell them.
I liked my Lincoln SP 100 with CO2 shielding gas; it cost me $300. I used it for several years but it was an older model and didn't have a Tweeco gun; I wanted a new one with a warranty, so I bought the afore mentioned 220 volt Millermatic with the argon/CO2 shielding gas. If I had to do it over again, I would have stayed with the CO2 shielding gas. I had two extra CO2 cylinders (I bought one at an auto wrecker that was going out of business for $5; the other one included the gauge and regulator and had plastic tubes coming off the regulator, which had probably been used by one of our many pot growers up here. Holy cow, I was the only one who bid on it and I paid $10), which I traded for the argon/CO2 cylinder (the cylinders are different). The argon/CO2 mix, also, costs about $15 more than a cylinder of CO2 and it uses a different regulator. If you want to switch, you have to buy another regulator. In my welding, I've seen no difference between the two shielding gases.
Mig welders are a must for welding sheet metal. Just like your paint, don't be a MacFrugal, here. You are going to use the damn thing for years; buy a better quality one.

Tip: buy one of those cylindrical shaped felt things that fits onto the welding wire near the spool with a clamp; you buy the small can of special lubricant and squirt it on the felt, once in a while. The soaked felt transfers some of the lubricant to the wire.

Jeremy · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:45 am Post subject:

Campy · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:57 am Post subject:

The lubricant burns right off. It helps get the wire through the long, plastic lined guide tube.

Scott Faivre · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:39 pm Post subject:

Hawk the classifieds. It took me a while to find one in the right price range, but I found this one for $200 WITH A FULL 50 lb BOTTLE OF C25 GAS!

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

It was quite the score! I've been hunting for about 6 months. Mine looks like it's never been used. It didn't come with the cart or the face shield, but I've got an autodarkening helmet already and an impromtu cart. Used it last night and it works great!

I love the classifieds because you can really score some great deals. Sometimes someone else's misfortune (selling things of because they need money) can become someone else's fortune!

Go get the paper, or jump on your local paper's website and search the classifieds! Very Happy

bajaherbie · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:40 am Post subject:

get an auto darkening helmet too......

i bought the hobart 175, it came with a free auto darkening helmet . Laughing

miller makes hobart welders also. my gun says miller on it.
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sbnova · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 7:54 am Post subject:

DEFINATELY get an auto darkening helmet! I bought one years ago for over $200, with a small "window" and I thought it was great! Since then I boughft a Hobart for around $160 from Tractor supply, then I got a Miller that came with my TIG welder. I like the Hobart the best. Hobart and Miller are pretty much the same company for those that dont know. My old helmet doesnt have a shade adjustment, the newer ones do. I would opt for the adjustment. Recently I have seen adjustable shade automatic helmets at Harborfreight on sale for $49! I have never tried one but for $49 I dont think you could go wrong.


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