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1980 cj5 258ci straight 6, 31x10.50's. Partial Teamrush iginition upgrade, MC 2150 Carb. 4.0 head swap, factory header. I call him "Eugene".
Dad's jeep when he raced in the 70's. Cj2 running gear, ford 300 cu in 6 cyl with 3 deuces. Fiberglass model T body and hand laid fiberglass hood. welded 5.38 gears and beer keg fuel tank. see avatar
Wife's: Black 04' Liberty with all the bells and whistles.
I hear you wss. I pull a 14 foot horse trailer and it's a tailgater magnet. I installed two 55w driving lights for backing up of course.
I comes in handy to reach down and hit the toogle switch.
I hear you wss. I pull a 14 foot horse trailer and it's a tailgater magnet. I installed two 55w driving lights for backing up of course.
I comes in handy to reach down and hit the toogle switch.
The PO put on some loud glasspacks. When it first arrived the cows would run to the other side of the corral, now they don't even pull their head out of the stanchions as I blaze down the hay alley LOL. I'm getting some replacement turbo muffs soon. The whole exhaust system is new and hi quality but annoying-ly loud.
Oh my God, that is SOOOOO true. I've been dilly-dallying for a year with a 120v Hobart 135 Mig welder and I cannot get a consistent "bacon sizzle" while fabricating "stuff."
1980 cj5 258ci straight 6, 31x10.50's. Partial Teamrush iginition upgrade, MC 2150 Carb. 4.0 head swap, factory header. I call him "Eugene".
Dad's jeep when he raced in the 70's. Cj2 running gear, ford 300 cu in 6 cyl with 3 deuces. Fiberglass model T body and hand laid fiberglass hood. welded 5.38 gears and beer keg fuel tank. see avatar
Wife's: Black 04' Liberty with all the bells and whistles.
Oh my God, that is SOOOOO true. I've been dilly-dallying for a year with a 120v Hobart 135 Mig welder and I cannot get a consistent "bacon sizzle" while fabricating "stuff."
Flux core wire is independent of solid wire.............flux core wire has its own shielding gas built in while solid core wire needs a CO2/ Argon mix injected while welding.......sounds complicated but not so!
The same machine can run either.
The flux core burns at a higher temp thus allowing a little thicker material to be welded.............120 volt machines are OK for light gage sheet metal but lack the power to weld anything much larger than 1/4"..............Duty cycles in these smaller AMP machines are around 10%
1980 cj5 258ci straight 6, 31x10.50's. Partial Teamrush iginition upgrade, MC 2150 Carb. 4.0 head swap, factory header. I call him "Eugene".
Dad's jeep when he raced in the 70's. Cj2 running gear, ford 300 cu in 6 cyl with 3 deuces. Fiberglass model T body and hand laid fiberglass hood. welded 5.38 gears and beer keg fuel tank. see avatar
Wife's: Black 04' Liberty with all the bells and whistles.
not so. I have a flux core only machine and dad has a flux or gas machine. So some can't run both.
He may be maxing the duty cycle and that's why he's not getting consistant welds.
not so. I have a flux core only machine and dad has a flux or gas machine. So some can't run both.
He may be maxing the duty cycle and that's why he's not getting consistant welds.
Interesting............what brand do you have?
Never seen one that did not have that ability...........most you just change the drive roller & roll of wire turn on the gas and your good to go!
"Maxing the duty cycle," please explain a bit more. I think you are talking the heat at which one attempts to weld. Mine has two dials; line feed speed and heat/amperage which has four settings: 1, 2, 3, 4. Welding 1/4" metal one has to turn up the heat to get penetration, yes? Conversely, welding 18 gauge sheet metal, one needs to turn down the heat so as to not "blow" through the thin metal.
BTW, I have been using CO2/Argon mix with solid core .023 wire. Please give me any suggestions as to how to achieve "bacon sizzle."
As I have said before, Daddy was the welder. Not me!
But, having watched and "assisted" for the first 25 years of my life; I feel confident enough to answer this.
You are right about the heat settings and material thickness, more for more and less for less.
For the questions about flux core vs solid wire, they make and sell both types. Most that do solid core also can weld with flux core. The inverse is not always true. It is cheaper and easier for the manufacturers to make a dedicated flux core welder, no regulator or gas solenoid involved.
Duty cycle: this is vitally important when choosing a welder for purchase. If you only have a minimal budget, and Limited electrical capacity, don't get in too big of a hurry welding. The 120V welder a will get the job done, but not nearly as efficient as a Lincoln SA200. You don't see too many pipeline welders with a Blue machine in the back of their truck. Duty Cycle is how long you can weld at a given setting for a given period of time. More is better. An understanding of the duty cycle will keep an owner from cursing and kicking their machine. It's not its fault, it's the fault of the internal capacitors contained where you can't look at them.
Not trying to fault machines that can run on a 30amp circuit at 120V, they have a place and will suffice for most tasks. That being said, read the fine print and buyer beware!
"Maxing the duty cycle," please explain a bit more. I think you are talking the heat at which one attempts to weld. Mine has two dials; line feed speed and heat/amperage which has four settings: 1, 2, 3, 4. Welding 1/4" metal one has to turn up the heat to get penetration, yes? Conversely, welding 18 gauge sheet metal, one needs to turn down the heat so as to not "blow" through the thin metal.
BTW, I have been using CO2/Argon mix with solid core .023 wire. Please give me any suggestions as to how to achieve "bacon sizzle."
When the tip of the wire and the gas hood at the gun are in the zone....... (correct distance away from the part being welded the term) " bacon sizzle" as you call it will be heard...........conversely if your too far away you'll get a lot of splatter & weld BB's to close and you'll burn through material.......
The amount of heat along with the amount of wire feed and the angle of the gun to the welding surface all play an important part notwithstanding the travel speed..............
Buy yourself a bunch of scrap metal and burn up a roll or two of wire..........practice is what you need.
Note how the weld reacts when your too close/ too far away , raise & lower the heat and faster / slower wire feed...............on the gas 7-8 lbs is about normal..........
I've been doing this for 45 years and I'll still take some scrap of the metal I'm welding and run a bead or two to get the correct settings before I weld the real piece.
1980 cj5 258ci straight 6, 31x10.50's. Partial Teamrush iginition upgrade, MC 2150 Carb. 4.0 head swap, factory header. I call him "Eugene".
Dad's jeep when he raced in the 70's. Cj2 running gear, ford 300 cu in 6 cyl with 3 deuces. Fiberglass model T body and hand laid fiberglass hood. welded 5.38 gears and beer keg fuel tank. see avatar
Wife's: Black 04' Liberty with all the bells and whistles.
As I have said before, Daddy was the welder. Not me!
But, having watched and "assisted" for the first 25 years of my life; I feel confident enough to answer this.
You are right about the heat settings and material thickness, more for more and less for less.
For the questions about flux core vs solid wire, they make and sell both types. Most that do solid core also can weld with flux core. The inverse is not always true. It is cheaper and easier for the manufacturers to make a dedicated flux core welder, no regulator or gas solenoid involved.
Duty cycle: this is vitally important when choosing a welder for purchase. If you only have a minimal budget, and Limited electrical capacity, don't get in too big of a hurry welding. The 120V welder a will get the job done, but not nearly as efficient as a Lincoln SA200. You don't see too many pipeline welders with a Blue machine in the back of their truck. Duty Cycle is how long you can weld at a given setting for a given period of time. More is better. An understanding of the duty cycle will keep an owner from cursing and kicking their machine. It's not its fault, it's the fault of the internal capacitors contained where you can't look at them.
Not trying to fault machines that can run on a 30amp circuit at 120V, they have a place and will suffice for most tasks. That being said, read the fine print and buyer beware!
Everything he said. I also know from my lastest class time (Dad) with the stick welder, that pulling the rod out from the metal raises the temp of the weld. Yes I had a cheap dedicated flux core till it crapped out.
Keep in mind that a SA200 is a gas driven (or diesel, my dad had two SAM650 w/diesel) welder and pipeline welding is usually in the field and requires a portable machine. In our shop, we only run the blue machines. I have three Dimension 652 multi-process machines running every day. Thye have 100% duty cylce @650amps. They rarely give me trouble. We also run 2) 70's and even have a D74dx feeder that will do both flux and mig depending on what gun you pick up.
Apples and oranges here.
Exceeding duty cycle will usually trip a switch and shut the machine down, not deplete its usable power. If power seems to be dropping, then it is not being supplied enought to keep the caps charged, a very common problem with 120v machines. Eliminate drop cords and make sure the breaker and wire is rated to support the specs on the machine. I have one plug in my garage that can run a 120v welder, so I will move stuff up close to it instead of using a drop cord or another plug/receptacle.
With 220v ,machines, most of these problems go away. You can use smaller breakers and wire to achieve better results.
1979 Jeep CJ5 with 304 V8, T18 Transmission, Dana 20 Transfer case with TeraLow 3:1 gears, 4.88 axle gears, Detroit Locker up front and Ox Locker in back with 1 piece axle shafts, 36" SuperSwamper SX Tires, Shackle reversal, MileMarker Hydraulic winch, MSD 6A ignition.
One thing to check here is to make sure that with your solid wire/shielding gas combo, you are welding DCEP and NOT DCEN.
DCEP - Direct Current, Electrode Positive -- meaning that your clamp is the negative field in the current, and your electrode (or welding wire) is the positive field.
DCEN - Direct Current, Electrode Negative -- used when using gas-less flux core wire. The electrode (welding wire) must be the negative field and the clamp is actually positive. Dual shielded wire (or flux core that also requires shielding gas, typically 100% CO2) does not require DCEN. It runs with the same properties as solid wire/shielding gas. Without getting too far into the chemistry of it, one will produce higher quality welds with their leads set up in this fashion.
So remember -- shielding gas = DCEP...No gas = DCEN.
Oh, and one more thing -- Not sure how big of material you are welding, but that .023 wire isn't going to do much for you at all. Your machine can easily handle .030 wire, and is likely to produce even better welds with .035. The .023 wire is only good for body work, exhaust tubing, and other sheet metal work. It MIGHT be able to handle up to 1/8" material. The wire won't carry enough current to get good penetration into heavier steels. Once you run out of that (or if you burn up your tips) and you have to run to the store to get more tips/wire....if it were me, anyway....I just might get the bigger stuff.
Flux core wire is independent of solid wire.............flux core wire has its own shielding gas built in while solid core wire needs a CO2/ Argon mix injected while welding.......sounds complicated but not so! 
