auxilary Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 anyone heard of one of these? Fire power fp90? http://www.welding-direct.com/fpfirmigwel9.html I found one on CL for relatively cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redruM_0381 Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Similar to the one I got at harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44567 Cheap, but works suprisingly well on light-med. duty stuff. Just dont expect a very clean weld out of it. Flux core wire tends to make a lot of slag/spatter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO-Z Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Spend the extra bucks and get a Lincoln 135T with the gas set up, you will be much happier with a good welder. I used a borrowed welder simular to that one on my covertible conversion and one weld would look great and the next one I would have to fight it to get it to stop spurting and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jlmassi Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 The Lincoln 135T is only $11 bucks more at: http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WD&Product_Code=K1873-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted February 26, 2005 Author Share Posted February 26, 2005 yes, but the one I found is less than half the price of the lincoln... which is why i asked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maichor Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Sorry, I don't have experience with that welder. But, consider how much you think you will use it. If it is once in a blue moon and one car project, maybe you could get a cheapo. But, most likely, you will enjoy fabricating and a welder is something you will have for many years. I have a Lincoln 135 from ebay and I have gotten my money's worth already. Once you have a welder, it opens up a lot of possibilites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Duty Cycle - The number of minutes out of a 10-minute time period an arc welding machine can be operated at maximum rated output. An example would be 60% duty cycle at 300 amps. This would mean that at 300 amps the welding machine can be used for 6 minutes and then must be allowed to cool with the fan motor running for 4 minutes. (Some manufacturers rate machines on a 5 minute cycle). below is the copy of the welder you were looking at ... .6 X 10 = 6 6 minutes of weld time, 4 minutes of cooling ... the welder below .15 X 10 = 1.5 1.5 minutes of welding, 8.5 minutes of cooling. granted, most of us aren't building bridges, and maybe a minute and a half might be long enough for most things, but i'd like a longer cycle. this welder isn't a true MIG ( not to get persnickity ), it is a wire fed self fluxed arc welder. < Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) - An arc welding process which melts and joins metals by heating them with an arc between a continuous, consumable electrode wire and the work. Shielding is obtained from a flux contained within the electrode core. > true MIG used a gas to help keep the metal clean (Shielding Gas - Protective gas used to prevent atmospheric contamination of the weld pool. as one welds ). the flux welder leaves a residue on the finished product. the flux is usually cleaned off, before any painting or other work is done on the finished product. this is okay is building a frame, as you can hit it with a spinning wire brush/wheel. but if doing any body work, you aren't going to want to use a flux welder. the amperage is a bit low, for anything other than light duty welding ( without making several passes ), you need around 125 to 135 minimum. i'm thinking, though the 125 amp hobart i bought will do the job, i'm wishing i'd bought the 185, but the budget dictated otherwise. oh, you can't weld aluminum with a flux core only welder, you will need the shielding gas. most of the no name arc/mig welders use a cheaply wound and insulated power supplies that tend to over heat and not maintain a steady linear current, instead you end end up with spikes up and down, which will tend to mess your welds up. a 220 volt welder would be cheaper PG&E ( power company ) to operate, run cooler, and may last longer, most 220V have a longer duty cycle for the same amperage ... but ... most 220v are less portable ( the power supplies are usually larger and heavier ) and for what most of us would be doing, the 110 volt is fine. plus, a cold gun is nice ( most of the newer name brand machines have it ), no arc until you touch your product. tweco products are easy to find, so that's a plus. so the disposables are easily replaced. but, should there be an issue with the machine, where is the nearest authorized repair shop and, is it covered under warranty ?? there are spools that the wire is fed from, need to know how these spools are moved ( belts, direct motor, gears ), how smooth do they move ? how adjustable are the tensioners ? is the cable to the gun lined ??? remember the wire feeds through that cable, before it comes out the gun ... will the wire jam or stick in the cable ? any way, i don't think this is a good machine for the automotive hobbiest. for basic light duty welding, doing repairs on the kid's wagon, maybe doing some art work, making candle sticks, fire place pokers and such, it's probably a great machine. again, because of the flux only wire, the low amperage , unknown power supply, and only two adjustments on the current, for what ever my opinion is worth, i'd pass on this for what we do in our hobbies. Each system comes with: 6 ft. Tweco® Mig welding gun, 4 ft. ground cable w/clamp, 4 ft. power input cord, welding nozzle & tip, spool of flux core welding wire and instruction manual. Mig Welder 115V. Firepower® FP90 Gasless (FCAW) > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted February 27, 2005 Author Share Posted February 27, 2005 so wayne, want to sell me your hobart, and buy something bigger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 LOL was hoping to talk you into the 185 amp !!!! if i needed to do anything heavy, i'd just drive up to Fremont ... besides Davy Z is up there, i know how he loves to weld ... that way i know it'd be done right !!! i'm still looking for a deal on a solar/battery back up welding helmet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 ..Davy Z is up there, i know how he loves to weld .... Me? I don't know how to weld although I'd love to believe I actually could! Must be someone else you are thinking of. Aux knows for sure I can't weld plastic with epoxy let alone metal... Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Damn ! hmmm ... thought that you welded ... i am sure that Alex has corrected me on that, probably several times ;-] wishful thinking on my part ??? vocational offers a course, think it's 6 months ... $300 ... i was thinking of signing Skylyn up for it ... he turned 16 on the 20th ... 6'2" 235 lbs. get him to be my welder ... blame him when my hare brain ideas don't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Hobart, Miller or Lincoln convertible to flux or gas in 110 or 220 Volt with Varible adjustable speed and heat range with a duty cycle that will weld continously more than 3 minutes. Your "cheap" welder no matter what the price is a step above a Duracell battery, jumper wires and a coat hanger. My Sears (crapper) has probably a little more duty cycle than 15% and cannot weld anything successfully except .023 solid wire for about 3 1/2 minutes on high heat setting. Thre "crapper's" Low heat setting might weld plastic if a way could be found to ground the plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted February 28, 2005 Author Share Posted February 28, 2005 Wayne, I think you're thinking of Mike D, not Davy. Mike D (73botiz) is the expert resident welder, however, he's been MIA for a while - I've emailed him and never heard a peep back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjhafa Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Anyone else get the impression that Wayne knows welding...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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