MIG welder .... good??? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

wontonjohnny · 08-10-2003, 12:38 PM

hey i have never welded before but wanna learn to so i could eventually build some boost...hahaha

anyone know if this welder is good enough for small projects like pipe welding and stuff

HERES THE WELDER

88 LE · 08-10-2003, 05:39 PM

It'll work, but I suggest that you look for a mig welder that has a gas hookup.

Flux core spatters everywhere and welds like shit.

Miller and Lincoln Electric makes some awesome welders, but your looking at around $500+ (USD) for a mig welder.

http://www.millerwelds.com

http://www.lincolnelectric.com

silverstreakin · 08-11-2003, 12:33 AM

yeah i would definately go with a miller. we have one here...it is a pretty easy machine to set up...flux core sucks, and if youve never welded before...youd get slag inclusions pretty bad. a good miller with a argon bottle would do you nicely. just remember to keep everything clean and good luck

wontonjohnny · 08-11-2003, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by silverstreakin
yeah i would definately go with a miller. we have one here...it is a pretty easy machine to set up...flux core sucks, and if youve never welded before...youd get slag inclusions pretty bad. a good miller with a argon bottle would do you nicely. just remember to keep everything clean and good luck

whats a slag inclusion???

jm_2thow · 08-11-2003, 01:29 AM

im not sure what im talking about but mig welding just works with steel right? for chromoly and aluminum u need a tig welder right?

88 LE · 08-11-2003, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by silverstreakin
a good miller with a argon bottle would do you nicely.

You don't want to use straight argon for mig welding. The welds look nice, but you get shit for penatration.

Best gas to use for mig welding is C-25 (25% CO2 and 75% argon).

You can also use straight CO2.

88 LE · 08-11-2003, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jm_2thow
im not sure what im talking about but mig welding just works with steel right? for chromoly and aluminum u need a tig welder right?

You can weld aluminum with a mig welder. Use aluminum wire and argon as a shielding gas.

Tig is the shit though. You can pretty much weld anything with it.

gzus13 · 08-11-2003, 12:50 PM

I've got a welder just like that one.
It does a pretty good job on most stuff. You have to watch out with thin stuff (less than 18ga), because it will blow right through.
They say it will weld 1/4" steel easily. I say no way.
The only problem is that it only has two amp settings, and the "hi" setting isn't really that high. After using it for about a year, I'm loooking for something more powerful. If you want to do some heavy welding, you will need to step up to something better.

But all told, it is a great welder to get started with and learn on. It should is plenty powerful to weld thin gauge stainless for exhausts, intakes, intercooler piping, etc. I even used it to weld in 18ga steel to patch the rusted out frame in my hachi.

Jzs147-RR · 08-12-2003, 09:09 AM

If your going to Mig aluminum you need a feeder gun with its own motor.Your best bet is to find a used welder with alot of setting and a gas connection since that inert gas will reduce rurface rust and make the weld much stronger.My brother is a welder if you got any question shoot them my way i know all the rods to use with each metal and what gases.

wontonjohnny · 08-12-2003, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gzus13
I've got a welder just like that one.
It does a pretty good job on most stuff. You have to watch out with thin stuff (less than 18ga), because it will blow right through.
They say it will weld 1/4" steel easily. I say no way.
The only problem is that it only has two amp settings, and the "hi" setting isn't really that high. After using it for about a year, I'm loooking for something more powerful. If you want to do some heavy welding, you will need to step up to something better.

But all told, it is a great welder to get started with and learn on. It should is plenty powerful to weld thin gauge stainless for exhausts, intakes, intercooler piping, etc. I even used it to weld in 18ga steel to patch the rusted out frame in my hachi.

Hey gzus13, does your welder use flux core wire????
cause i have been getting mixed reviews for flux core.... some love it and some say its crap..... keep in mind that i dont care about the appearance of the weld

88 LE · 08-12-2003, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wontonjohnny
Hey gzus13, does your welder use flux core wire????
cause i have been getting mixed reviews for flux core.... some love it and some say its crap..... keep in mind that i dont care about the appearance of the weld

I've used flux core wire with a mig welder and I don't like it.

Solid wire with shielding gas (C-25 or C02) is the way to go.

I've also used big flux core wire, but thats for welding thick stuff (1/2" on up). Its like stick welding except your using a gun (wire feed).

gzus13 · 08-12-2003, 10:01 PM

Flux core is decent stuff. Honestly, I don't want to bother with shielding gas (and the 101/1 doesn't have a gas hook-up) so it is all that I use. It's more expensive, and it throws a lot of slag (molten metal), but the welds are strong and, with the right technique, they look pretty good, too.
I've also talked to professional welders and they told me that, at least for beginners, flux-core is the way to go.
Just one word of warning: with all the slag that flux-core wire throws, you WILL get burned, it's not a maybe. So, if you have a low pain tolerance, you might want to have someone do this for you.

Oh, and I just thought of one more little problem with that welder. The wire feed mechanism gets sticky sometimes. It uses to rollers that are pushed together and use friction to push the wire through the gun (think of the old clothes ringer-outers in cartoons where the guy gets pulled through and rolled out as flat as a pancake*). The rollers are pushed together by a leaf spring. After a lot of use, the spring can fatigue so that it doesn't hold the rollers together as well. To fix this, just bend the spring so that it pushes more on the rollers. It's not a big deal because you will probably only need to do it once or twice, it's just that it gets annoying because the wire feed becomes erratic.
So, if you're using it and the wire feed speed gets all messed up and you've still got plenty of wire, just bend the spring.

*kinda-sorta-something like this - use your imagination

silverstreakin · 08-14-2003, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wontonjohnny

whats a slag inclusion???

where slag gets trapped inside the weld making for less than perfect strength. thats why in industrial applications, everything gets xrayed.

wontonjohnny · 08-15-2003, 02:51 PM

ok i have a question

when a welder specifies that it can weld up to 1/8th material does that mean anything thicker cant be welded or it just wont weld all the way through it??

thanks

88 LE · 08-16-2003, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wontonjohnny
when a welder specifies that it can weld up to 1/8th material does that mean anything thicker cant be welded or it just wont weld all the way through it??

You can weld thicker stuff with it, just won't have good penatration.