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Bruce Amacker
Samba Member
Joined: December 26, 2007
Posts: 1786
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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CanadianBug
Samba Member
Joined: September 05, 2008
Posts: 222
Location: South Western Ontario
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 Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:59 am Post subject: |
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I've never noticed any difference in the welds per se, but I can tell you that every roll of cheap wire I've ever used tended to ball up inside the machine.
Correcting that two or five times a day gets old fast.
Cheap wire also sometimes doesn't come off the roll properly, like it's been wound wrong. Several times I've had to cut wire out of way, wasting a lot of it, in order to get it working right.
But in a pinch, what are you going to do? 
Mike
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| skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
bodywork isn't a fucking race. |
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spectral
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2013
Posts: 10
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Nothing more frustrating than dealing with feed issues in the midst of welding.. for the extra $10 a spool go the good stuff |
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Bruce Amacker
Samba Member
Joined: December 26, 2007
Posts: 1786
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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ALIEN3T
Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2007
Posts: 22
Location: O.C. The Real
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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| I used Lincoln L56, a buddy that welds for a living said run it, works better for not so well prepped metal. But Home depot spools seam to be cheaper than Harbor Freight for me. |
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CanadianBug
Samba Member
Joined: September 05, 2008
Posts: 222
Location: South Western Ontario
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:48 am Post subject: |
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| Bruce Amacker wrote: |
| CanadianBug wrote: |
I've never noticed any difference in the welds per se, but I can tell you that every roll of cheap wire I've ever used tended to ball up inside the machine.
Mike |
I've ran several spools of HF and never had it ball up even once. Perhaps your liner was funky and your tension set too high? |
Not likely. Tension is the first thing that ever got checked whenever it happened. Blowing out the liner as well. The last roll was so frustrating it got swapped out for quality wire after three or four ball-ups. The better stuff went though with no issues. I refuse to buy cheap wire anymore, even though it's typically half the price of the good stuff.
We're talking about a machine that typically ran through one or two dozen rolls a year. I wondered if maybe the wire was a different size, but they all measured out very close.
A friend who owns a fab shop says the cheap wire will surface rust and he figures that is what causes the problems.
Mike
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| skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
bodywork isn't a fucking race. |
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Jeff_Birt
Samba Member
Joined: June 06, 2012
Posts: 315
Location: Rolla MO, United States
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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There are different qualities/types of 'good' welding wire as well. Most folks like the properties of ER70-S6 wire it flows well and is a good general purpose wire. There are thousands of different wire types for different type of material, work conditions, uses, specifications etc.
Places that make/sell high quality wire go to great lengths to insure the quality and uniformity of the wire, so you know you are getting what you pay for. The cheap wire is just that 'cheap', made by some no name factory in the far east with no traceability or guarantee of what you are getting? Your life will often depend on the welds you make, not so much for body panel patches but you get the idea. Do you really want to bet your life on a spool of mig wire because it was $10 cheaper?
If you buy a good quality wire from a reputable manufacturer you'll never be sorry you did. |
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VDubTech
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2002
Posts: 9142
Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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I actually just bought a spool of wire for my mig last week. I bought a roll of Lincoln wire from Home Depot, cost me about $12+tax. The same roll of chinese mystery wire from HF was $19+tax. I was surprised it was more at HF but Home Depot is closer to my house anyway.
_________________
First Trip in the RustyBus:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279077&highlight=
| borninabus wrote: |
| a measurement of your rod would be extremely useful. |
| notchboy wrote: |
| my dad wasnt a belittling cock when he tought me how to wrench on cars. |
| EverettB wrote: |
One photo = good for reference.
10 photos = douchebaggery |
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Bruce Amacker
Samba Member
Joined: December 26, 2007
Posts: 1786
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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skills@eurocarsplus
Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007
Posts: 16886
Location: sticksville, ct.
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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esab all the way
http://www.airgas.com/browse/productDetail.aspx?Category=374&product=ESA130TF43
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| gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
| Jake Raby wrote: |
| Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
| Brian wrote: |
| Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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VDubTech
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2002
Posts: 9142
Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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No I didn't mix them up. The prices on the Harbor Freight website and in the store aren't necessarily the same. The website is a separate division from the store. At my local HF the solid wire is $19 a spool for the 2 lb. In fact my local store will only honor the website price if I print out the item online from their website and bring it with me. They do a price match. Of their own price.
_________________
First Trip in the RustyBus:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279077&highlight=
| borninabus wrote: |
| a measurement of your rod would be extremely useful. |
| notchboy wrote: |
| my dad wasnt a belittling cock when he tought me how to wrench on cars. |
| EverettB wrote: |
One photo = good for reference.
10 photos = douchebaggery |
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Bruce Amacker
Samba Member
Joined: December 26, 2007
Posts: 1786
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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donbarnes
Samba Member
Joined: February 28, 2011
Posts: 731
Location: Wilmington,NC
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| Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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I used to pay extra all over town looking for good brands that wouldn't flash rust, seemed like the more it cost the sooner it rusted and started not feeding right. I've been using the HF stuff at half the cost and the shelf life actually seems the best of any brand I've tried...plus HF is open at a lot more odd hours when you need a new spool on Sunday afternoon..
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Hater of cheap parts and poor workmanship.. |
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oldmanmark
Samba Member
Joined: July 08, 2006
Posts: 842
Location: n.w. indiana,chicagoland
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| Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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ive used u.s. forge,harbor freight russian wire some other cheap stuff when i 1st got my welder. didnt know anything. crummy wire ,feed problems. i run welder with the side door open to eyeball possible birdnests and constantly readjusting the tensioner/feed wheel. ditch that.
lincoln and hobart wire since then. basically plug n play. cheap wire cost to much in work flow. |
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donbarnes
Samba Member
Joined: February 28, 2011
Posts: 731
Location: Wilmington,NC
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| Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:41 am Post subject: |
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Lincoln and Hobart are both brands I've used from the specialty welding shops, and in a coastal area they flash rust bad sitting on the spool in the shop- Never got full use out of a spool... May have something to do with being a higher carbon wire or something?
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Hater of cheap parts and poor workmanship.. |
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