Learn me HF welder on sale?

This little guy: http://www.harborfreight.com/170-amp-migflux-wire-welder-22-volts-110-amps-68885.html is on sale for $158.88. That's cheap enough for me to really think about it.

I took a welding class at the local community college and am good enough to get metal to stick together. My only use for this thing would be the sheetmetal repair on the Javelin, so everything will be ground down and covered with paint. I have an auto-dark helmet, gloves, tip cleaner, etc, etc, from the class. I just need a welder and I don't have 220V at the house.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Jav, i have that exact item, plus two other HF welders. they do the job as well as my hobart 125, and almost as good as my miller 165. (yes i have a bunch of welders, blame CL). while they are decent, they get even better with better wire, don't use the HF wire, get miller or hobart.

however, if your going to weld sheet metal, id recommend a spot welder, or take a brazing class. welding warps VERY fast on sheet metal.

-J0N

Thanks Jon! Buying good wire is great advice and cheap insurance.

My only issue with all the cheap welders is the lack of variable current. They all seem to just have high low with variable wire speed. BAck in the UK I had a 240V 180A supermig. The great thing about that was you could adjust the current as well as the wire speed. I'm just using something similar to the HF unit above over here now, and personally I find it harder to adjust, but I'm sure that's just the re-learning experience.

I have the little 90 amp one. I switched to lincoln wire and it works pretty well for what it is. Pilot Braden on here may chime in here. he has has used it more and is better with it than me.

I saw this too and am about ready to pull the trigger (ha.. pun).

There's apparently a whole subforum of people who modify these things... consider them the GRMers of the welding world.

There's some mods to improve the performance. Check it out: http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?236821-Chicago-Electric-170-Amp-MIG-Flux-Wire-Welder-Mods-and-Tests

I'm in the same boat that has always wanted a nice fancy expensive welder, but at this point, I'm thinking this welder is better than no welder, for all the random metal sticking projects I'd like to do, race car rust repair, exhaust hangers, brackets, etc.

The general consensus seems to be "it's not bad if you can get it on sale." They do get better when you mod them, but not by much.

I'm not sure it's the right welder for your stated purpose though.

I've owned the same unit, under a different name, for a few years. I have a spool of flux core wire on it and use it for any of the jobs where I don't want to break out the MIG with the gas bottle. It does a great job for what it is. The lack of adjustability can be overcome, to some degree, by technique. Versus having no welder at all it wins hands down. It actually gets far more use then my more expensive welder.

I had one.

I now have a used millermatic. I paid about $250 for the miller (worth every penny!)

The HF one works great if you are welding on something that requires exactly the amperage that the welder puts out. No adjustment. No thin stuff, and no thick stuff. the material better be pretty close to 1/8" thick.

Wire speed and tip distance can help vary the heat put into the weld, but it never seems ideal.

Rob R.

I don't think you'll be happy with a flux core welder to weld sheet metal. Just too messy and difficult to control the weld. And as others have said, the lack of adjustability will bite you eventually.

I had a 90 amp flux core that ended up in the scrap pile. I bought the $300 Eastwood MIG and I've been very happy with it. By the time you add a gas kit to the HF welder the price difference won't be that great.

Beware, however, that you've then got to spend the money on a gas bottle and gas, which can add a couple hundred...

For sheet metal work, you'll be much happier with the next model up with better amperage control http://www.harborfreight.com/180-amp-migflux-wire-feed-welder-68886-8508.html you will also want gas shielding.

I read somewhere about someone using an outlet on a reohstat (sp?) Or a medium to long extension cord to get the power down on a cheap mig for welding thinner sheet metal. Probably don't want to bet on it, but if you've got the welder, might be worth trying.

Don't... just save your money, or wait for a proper welder to come up cheap..

You will be much happier in the long run.

You might want to check the local pawn shops. I picked up a Hobart Handler 140 for about $140 a couple of years ago.

I have a similar cheap-o welder. You will want to run gas, not flux core wire.

I agree with others here. You will not want to weld sheet metal with one of those flux core wire welders. The welding splatter is terrible, and all that would have to be ground down as well...

My only issue with all the cheap welders is the lack of variable current. They all seem to just have high low with variable wire speed.

Since i understood welding from an electrical theory perspective before i ever actually welded anything (which i think is rare), i move my ground location around and change the resistance in the ground path to control current on my $89 HF flux-core welder. I have 'turned it down' quite a bit from the lowest setting by making it go through one cable on a pair of jumper cables and grounding far away from the work area. I also found that making the ground go through both sides of a pair of jumper cables turned it down too far to start an arc.

But basically, use the resistance of the work piece, or add resistance through a jumper cable, to control current beyond the 'low' setting on the machine. That's the $0 trick i came up with.

I also modded my $89 special with a contacter so it's not 'always hot', which was super aggravating. I had thought about putting a diode bridge in it to make it 'real' DC MIG, but never did. I only use mine on exhaust pipe and bracketry, so i guess it hasnt mattered enough.

This is all advice gold.