Anyone got info on those Harbor Freight Welders

[brandongeiger2]

Im thinking about buying one of the 90 amp harbor freight flux core wire welders i have seen really good and really bad reviews and i found a coupon for it for like 70$ off so im really interested in buying it also it should do pretty well welding together the cage im putting on my kart...right?? i have plans i drew in my albums tell me if you think it's worth buying.
Thanks for reading
Brandon

 

[fowler]

it is very popular on this site

but if u can afford it then get a mig as it will weld alot better

i should work with putting the cage on depending on how good your welding is and what thickness the metal is

 

[Bluethunder3320]

works for me. i weld 14 gauge stuff no problem. ive had mine for a year and ive had over 10 pounds of wire through it and its still working like it always has.

 

[brandongeiger2]

alright thanks guys i just cant live without a welder hahaha i sold my old Lincoln stick welder two weeks ago and have had a few projects come up that i haven't been able to start so i'm thinking about getting a wire feed seems a little easier either way.

 

[fowler]

it ll be a tight competition between the lincon stick and the flux core

because u can weld stick u props wont get as good results with the flux core

id get a second hand mig

 

[redsox985]

I think as long as you aren't used to having a professional machine, and only want it for "hobby" uses, it will do just fine, but don't even waste time with the HF wire as I've heard it's crap, which may contribute to the bad reviews, too. But it is a great beginner machine for the price and many here have used it to successfully build great karts. Buy the warranty and just know that it's a Chinese machine. If you do have the cash, I'd suggest going with a used name brand MIG.

For the price, even though it's about double, this one below is a nice Hobart and I believe it can accept gas, which I feel makes much nicer welds.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/grd/2517411037.html

 

[brandongeiger2]

i wish there were deals like that around here! tampa isnt a place i can find many used good welders that cheap haha but im going to check CL today as i do every day hahaha

 

[brandongeiger2]

hos this look?? http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/tls/2506616018.html

Question Fowler i was terrible with the stick welder hahaha i dont have a 220v plug since i just moved from NC to here so i want to stay with a 120v (since theres not a 220v) plug but why would it be hard for me to weld wirefeed, it seems easier??

and is shielding gas somthing id have to buy frequently because i dont have a job and i rely on ebay for money im running out of stuff to sell ha

 

[redsox985]

Wirefeed, whether with shielding gas or flux core wire, is the simplest form of welding IMO. It's point and click and it arcs every time. No freezing rods or whatnot. If you use shielding gas, you shouldn't have to fill up often, but this depends upon how much you weld, what size bottle you have, and how much you allow to flow through the regulator. The bottles can be the size of a 2 liter of soda or can be 4' tall and hold large volumes of air. I know my school metal shop had the big bottles with 2k or so PSI and had them refilled once a year, and the probably got an average of 1 hr a day with an arc struck, not just the machine on.

 

[brandongeiger2]

thats good i weld maybe every other day because of random projects i had in mind but that arc welder was really difficult to learn on ha I dont know if Campbell Hausfeld welders are much better than HF but it looks like a good deal and it can be wire feed or MIG

 

[r97]

brand name welders are well worth it! IIRC all the brand name welders hold 10lb spools, they all come with a good warranty, quality is awesome, and resale value is awesome! for the price i bought and sold my Lincoln welder, i got my invested money back. i put in an extra about $150 for a name brand over the HF, i got $150 back when i sold it. i don't know about you but i would not buy a used HF welder when you could buy one new for like $80.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ProductCompareView?storeId=6970

most of those may be out of your price range, but they are IMO, the best name brand, new, small wire feed welders for the price. i have experience with both Hobart and Lincoln, I like both of them very much! look at all the welders specs and warranty's and reviews very carefully, look for better prices too (although NT is usually pretty cheep).

 

[brandongeiger2]

yeah ive seen alot of the northern tool stuff and i had a 70 amp stick welder from them before the lincoln it sucked i also couldent strike an arc tho hahaha im hoping once i finish selling e few things on ebay or CL ill have the money or ill but parts for the recently blown fork springs on my dirtbike but i might just wait till christmas and ask for one of the lincoln pro core or MIG welders from lowes

 

[oscaryu1]

Mine lasted me quite a few years. Go for it for that price. Their warranty rules as well...

 

[gfigs911]

I took a whole summer to teach myself how to stick weld and im still not very good at it....check your local craigslist...I just found a once used wire welder for 80 bucks.... might find something

 

[devino246]

I took a whole summer to teach myself how to stick weld and im still not very good at it....check your local craigslist...I just found a once used wire welder for 80 bucks.... might find something

x2. CL is the best place to find a good name brand on the cheap.

 

[r97]

brand name welders are well worth it! IIRC all the brand name welders hold 10lb spools, they all come with a good warranty, quality is awesome, and resale value is awesome! for the price i bought and sold my Lincoln welder, i got my invested money back. i put in an extra about $150 for a name brand over the HF, i got $150 back when i sold it. i don't know about you but i would not buy a used HF welder when you could buy one new for like $80.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ProductCompareView?storeId=6970

most of those may be out of your price range, but they are IMO, the best name brand, new, small wire feed welders for the price. i have experience with both Hobart and Lincoln, I like both of them very much! look at all the welders specs and warranty's and reviews very carefully, look for better prices too (although NT is usually pretty cheep).

yeah ive seen alot of the northern tool stuff and i had a 70 amp stick welder from them before the lincoln it sucked i also couldent strike an arc tho hahaha im hoping once i finish selling e few things on ebay or CL ill have the money or ill but parts for the recently blown fork springs on my dirtbike but i might just wait till christmas and ask for one of the lincoln pro core or MIG welders from lowes

sorry, just saw my link was not working the way i wanted. I am NOT at all suggesting you should buy a northern tool brand welder.

here are the welders i was suggesting,

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200434915_200434915

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200447703_200447703

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200306073_200306073

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200310071_200310071

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200405530_200405530

 

[rabies]

worth the $ if you pay $70. i paied $110.
ive gotten my $ out of it already.

but keep your spot clean and have a good groud. turn down the wire speed and leave it on max all the time.
its been providing good welds for me so far minus some splatter.

 

[jfxwave]

I remember paying like $120 for mine and it's been around 7 years and it's still working good and never had to replace a thing. I'm sure a brand name is better but I use mine for hobby only and for the money you can't beat it!

 

[Johnnym]

i have the hf welder and it worked good but after about a year the knurled driver for the wire feed got stripped and then the wire rat nested in the spool and blew a fuse i ended up getting the mig 135 from northern tool and it works good. For the money hf isint a bad option and if you treat it nice and it could last a few years or more. Its a good welder to start with.

 

[DBaker]

I've heard that the main problem with these welders was the efficiency rate (10% at max power or something like that) meaning that for every continuous minute you wled, you have to let it cool down for 10 minutes. this can be a hassle if you intend to weld for a long period. then you should get something with a higher rate. I don't know about this one thought, here in quebec we have canadian tire instead of harbor freight and i've noticed they offer the same range of products and welding machines.

For stick welders out there, you should use 7014 electrodes at 75-80amps welding downwards. you won't want to weld with anything else. the flux on it has iron and makes it easy to start without sticking on the parts you weld.

with this electrode, anyone can be good!