Welder to strong?

[B man]

Ok so i have gotten pretty good with the arc welder and i was going to take my go kart to weld it up some,but my dad said the arc welder was too strong and would burn right through the metal.

Now the welder is most commonly used with a big rod at 120amp.

Is this too strong? and at what point does it become to strong?

 

[DCProductions]

Sounds like it's gonna be strong. My welder goes up to 120 (it is wire feed so different) and can melt through 1/8" thick wall (though you have to mean to burn through).

How thick's the metal?

 

[B man]

well the amps can be turned way down of they need be. i all so have a wire feed and smaller arc rods. i will have to find out the thickness in a sec.

 

[B man]

yeah 1/8"

 

[DCProductions]

You'll be fine then. What will you be welding exactly? If it's repairs, then the angles could get tricky and you could goof up the welds easily. If you can take the parts that you're welding off the kart, then you've got a better chance of making a solid weld. I've heard that stick welding on round tubing is difficult.

 

[B man]

frame repairs. what should i use? the arc or the wire feed?

 

[landuse]

1/8" is thick enough for what you want to do. That is about 3 mm. I weld 2mm with an arc welder at 120Amps. Just be careful at the edges of metal. That is where you burn through if you are not careful

 

[Ghanem]

I have the same problem my welder is 40amp and it burned the fuse of the cable that i am using

 

[Thunderbird SC]

Today i was able to lay down 10 feet of weld on THIN pool wall sheet metal to form some 6 inch pipes needed. Cant lay down a constant weld, weld,,,, pause.... weld... ect otherwise it burns thru at 30 amps, max of 115. mig gas/non gas welder 220v

 

[redsox985]

Test some scrap. That's the best way so you don't gamble your kart. Your specific case could be unique, who knows. But I, personally, wouldn't risk it.

 

[ryanvise]

Today i was able to lay down 10 feet of weld on THIN pool wall sheet metal to form some 6 inch pipes needed. Cant lay down a constant weld, weld,,,, pause.... weld... ect otherwise it burns thru at 30 amps, max of 115. mig gas/non gas welder 220v

use the wire welder... 21V 300ws gas on about 25 (no wind!!!) higher gas makes a hotter weld. ajust the wire speed not the voltage with gmaw. smaw(wire) move faster....

 

[snowman86]

In my opion if you have no experience welding on much of anything you don't need to start on your kart. You need to learn what temp to use and what size and type rod, and how to control your weld temp while you work. Not slamming on you are anything, I had to learn the same as you, you make a mess on crap and you have lost nothing. You try and do it on something that means alot, you will make a mess every time. I welded all of mine with a fleet arc 250 that I would normaly weld up to 5/8 steel with here on our farm. I would rather use a smaller wire feed, just can't seem to make myself buy one.