First time welding

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First time ever welding! Got a HF 90amp Flux Core 110v welder. We made metal stick together!!!

Scott

Good job! May I suggest you check the immediate area for flammable materials then weld eveything you can find, thick, thin,rusty ,clean. Then break it apart with a hammer and see where it fails.

+1

practice is the key. Start with thicker, since that's probably easier. Remember you can't weld through paint, and if you try it through rust, the weld will probably be crappy. The magazine had a nice welding tips article recently.

Two excellent points. Fires start real easy with the splatter you are going to get. Also suggest going back to HF for the self darkening helmet. Will make you a better weldor. Looks like you were working on dirty steel. Try a bit of angle grinder before starting.

find someone you can watch--get tips on adjusting stuff and you will accell fast.

Miller has great how-to articles and videos, product info and user forums at: Millerwelds.com

Lots of info and updates on their FB page too.

Thanks Guys - I guess I did not expect that much splatter. Welding table and area are the first project.

Change the wire.. i buy wire from lowe's, lincoln or miller branded, cant remember. Its MUCH better than the HF stuff that comes with the welder as far as spatter.

My friend put a contactor in mine so that it's only hot when you pull the trigger (you know.. like it should be) and its a lot easier to use now.

I really enjoy mine. The utility of this $89 special is pretty amazing.

Dude, watch the video. He's scratch starting a stick welder. Your MIG wire advice is good (I use Lincoln wire I buy at Lowe's) but that won't help him.

Now, for some useful advice for stick....it must be kept dry.
When I was welding at the votech, we used a little electric oven to keep them warm and drive off moisture....

Air tight containers for sticks are available at Harbor Freight and elsewhere. Use them.

Thats not a stick welder in the video, it looks like flux core wire to me.

Something aint right there?! Sure looks like you are scratch starting the weld. The jumping when the spark starts is counter productive. NEVER seen that much sutt flying around.

I believe that this welder has a hot tip all the time, so as soon as the wire touches the area to be welded, it sparks. I used one of those once and hated it. Got arc burn for the only time in my life. I can fully understand why he jumped- he wasn't ready to pull the trigger yet. ALL flux core wires are going to throw a lot of spatter, just some less than others. The only time I used flux core was outside when it was breezy enough to blow away the shielding gas. You REALLY need to get the auto darkening helmet with that box.

I remember the first time I welded on my own. It had to be close to a year since I got the welder for my birthday- it intimidated me so much.

A little practice, and I really love welding now.

Good luck!!

I've been told NEVER, EVER after cleaning off the metal use brake clean just before firing up the welder. The resultant gas produced will kill or seriously damage your nervous system.

Practice, practice, buy "Performance Welding" book.

It is a flux wire welder with the stock HF wire and yeh the first spark scared the E36 out me! The test metal I was using had some paint on it so I was probably neither properly grounded nor clean where I was hitting the wire. I am glad that I bought the auto-darkening helmet. Changing wire, watching the videos, buying the book and practice hopefully will help! I will ask an electrician friend about putting the contactor in. Thanks all for not making too much fun me!

Fusing metal is fun. Like the others say, get good name brand flux core wire and practice, practice, practice!

Be careful when working on a car. I was using an 'always live' welder under a car and the damn thing arced when I was NOT expecting it. If I had brushed against a fuel line or similar, well I wouldn't be an UltraDork or whatever now, I'd have been redneck flambe'.

I wondered where you went. Didn't notice the name change

JoeyM wrote: Dude, watch the video. He's scratch starting a stick welder.

Yeah, I was dead wrong, obviously. I made the assumption based on that aborted start....I should have expanded the video and looked at it more carefully.

Note that if you're wearing the welding mask when welding (and you should be!), you may not see flames when and if stuff around you catches fire.

Wear safety glasses under your faceshield.

If you make a mistake and leave the helmet up, accidentally touch something or the auto-dark doesn't react fast (or you do the OCC Safety-Squint) the UV protection in the safety glasses will help save your eyeballs.

Shawn

Trans_Maro wrote: Wear safety glasses under your faceshield. If you make a mistake and leave the helmet up, accidentally touch something or the auto-dark doesn't react fast (or you do the OCC Safety-Squint) the UV protection in the safety glasses will help save your eyeballs. Shawn

Plus, small drops of metal have a strange way of finding ways into everything. Back up isn't a bad thing.

Yeah I have that same welder. It is really hard to put holes in anything with it I found, I had problems getting good penetration. And yes the tip is hot at all times the welder is turned on. It's not really a big deal you just have to remember that. For a sub $100 welder (coupon or sale) I cant really complain. Heck it even has a cooling fan now, something people used to have to hack in there. It may not last forever, but for giving folks a way to find out if welding is for them without dropping 5 bills or more and maybe fixing a few things I give it a gold star. I was able to fix my car with it, (E36 subframe mounts), would have cost me $1000 to have it done by somebody else.

triumph5 wrote: I've been told NEVER, EVER after cleaning off the metal use brake clean just before firing up the welder. The resultant gas produced will kill or seriously damage your nervous system. Practice, practice, buy "Performance Welding" book.

This is called phosgene poisoning. Very,very dangerous.

Or for that matter welding cadmium, galvanized or zinc plated steel. When you see the 'white feathers' in the air it's too late... you got a dose. See Tech Tips 'Weld Prep' for cleaning plated steel w/ acid w/o grinding it off and thinning the material.

just did this yesterday the dual voltage model isnt all that on 110 most things in life are like welding--just when you get good, youre done.