rearenginekarts.com

Has anyone had any luck with the 110V flux core welders?

Bob,

I always wanted to try my hand at welding so I bought one of these Harbor Freight units on sale for a little over 150 bucks with the thought that if I can't run it or its junk I'm not out a ton of money. After some research and viewing some Youtube reviews I figured I would give this unit a shot.

https://www.harborfreight.com/easy-flux ... 57861.html

To my surprise its a nice 120V unit that works very well and this is from a guy who never welded. I've used it to make repairs and even build a few kart stands. It doesn't have a ton of power so you can't weld bridges but for around the home and shop it has proved to be a good unit. I would think it is more then capable of welding a kart frame.

The one downfall for me is that MIG welding is very hard for me to see [old eyes] but aside from that I real pleased with my purchase.

I have not welded with a shielding gas so I cannot give a comparison between flux core and gas shielded welding.

Seems like everytime I use this welder the better my welds get so If you are a experienced welder I think you will be more then pleased with this HF unit.

Bob Kurkowski

I've been welding for many years. I couldn't weld very well when I first started so I decided to take a 4-semester welding course at the local community college. Time was well spent and the tuition and "lab fees" were extremely affordable. I recommend it to anyone who wants to weld properly. I did a lot of MiG welding as a fabricator and learned a few tricks to see where I was going. Tilt the gun toward the direction of the weld so the arc illuminates the area ahead & mark the joint with a chalk stick. keep the gun right in the weld area and your wire length at about 3/8"- 1/2". I also put a spot weld at the beginning and the end of the joint to be welded. That gives you something to "aim" for and keeps any warping to a minimum. Lastly........do not linger! Keep the gun moving in a circular or figure 8 pattern and proceed at a steady pace. Proper technique and learning how to set your wire speed and amperage settings takes a little practice but you'll find MiG welding is the easiest of the welding processes.

I had a MIG for years and it served me well.
When it started acting up, I changed to a TIG from the same vendor.
Differences:
- You have to manually apply the filler materiel - a thin rod
- You can go back over a weld and smooth it out - sort of like soldering
- You can do aluminum with TIG - not as easy as welding steel, still learning

Some good points and tips here.

A name brand machine is always the best way to go but if your on the fence or a budget about a mig welder I just seen the Harbor Freight unit I described above an sale for 169 and some change.

Bob Kurkowski

It depends on what you plan to use the welder for. Everyday use in a serious hobby shop & certainly in a pro shop, then go Miller or Lincoln. I prefer Miller. Occasional use on not-so-thick or exotic metals.........the better level machines from Harbor Freight will probably work fine. BTW, you can use a MiG machine for aluminum by using a spool gun and argon gas (more for production work, though) however Tig is the way to go for most aluminum applications.........but the most difficult to master.