• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Welder purchase

Share this page

Yes. I have one (at work).

It's fair if you use the bottled CO2/Argon gas mix. You can also use pure CO2, which works almost as well. You should use pure Argon or an Argon/Helium mix if you're going to weld aluminum.

There is also "flux-core" wire that is used in these units instead of the gas. I do not think the flux-core stuff is very good. It's also super-toxic.

These units will "birds nest" the wire inside the feeder sometimes. The better MIG welders have a spool gun feed mechanism (much better), but these are 4 or 5 times the cost of this unit.

If you do not intend to use the gas, I would just buy a regular small arc welder instead. Cheaper, simpler and just as good (actually better, in my view).
 
thanks, I had thought and just assumed I would use gas to get a better weld. Welding is something I want to learn more about and have fun with.

My last welding was on the floor pan of the the Spitfire, cutting out some rusted area and with the help of my brother in law, welding in new sheet metal. (he's got a welder)

If Im only welding steel, do I really need a gas welder?
 
Joe:
I have written extensive articles covering M.I.G. welding, most of which are in the tools section. Some of it is in the wiki,
The Sears welder is one of the lighter duty ones, which is perfectly ok if you only plan to do metal 1/8th or less.
A stated you can use the Argon/Co2 mix {75/25} gas with solid core wire or even straight Co2.
A better choice is the 75/25 mix {less spatter cleaner welds}
you can also use this same mixture with the cored wire, the process is called dual shield. Much cleaner welds with little or no spatter.
Cored wire is somewhat problematic when welding light guage sheet metal in the fact that it tends to carry too much heat causing burn through.
If you plan to try welding aluminum or Stainless Steel you`ll need straight argon.
Solid core wire with a gas shield {the gas is a must have with this type of wire} can be purchased in smaller diameters than the cored wire can thus giving you the capability to weld thinner materials with less chance of the burn through problems encountered with cored wires.
If you really want more info go through the tools section and read some of the articles generated by myself. if you can`t find the answers you desire there feel free to email me
aweman2000@yahoo.com
I will GLADLY try to assist you in any way I can
 
Back
Top