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General Discussion \  Welder questions

Welder questions

General Discussion
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jiffyzx6   +1y
Looking at buying a welder soon so I can start practicing and get better before I get to bagging the truck. Was looking at this one
Any opinions on it? Will it work for what I'll need it to do on the truck?
emjay   +1y
That will work very nicely for you, just make sure that you use a 20a outlet when using that welder. Just remember, clean metal makes it easier to get clean welds.
lowlyfe   +1y
I have the same welder and really like it. It's all I have used on our build and it's been an invaluable tool. The only issue ive had with it and it's just recently started, is the trigger on the gun is sometimes unresponsive but that's due to me dropping it more than I'd like to admit.
It burns penetrates up to 1/4" steel just fine if your metal is clean and you have a good ground.

A friend of mine just picked one up to replace his lincoln 120 and loves it.
jiffyzx6   +1y
Awesome! I'm glad to know it's going to work for me, I can get it for a pretty good price threw my work and I wanted something cheap without getting something cheap... If that makes sense lol I haven't welded anything since high school (8 years ago...) and I only know how to tig weld... And only if the machine is already set up... No idea how to set it up yet but ima learn. I have a lot of learning to do but I'm excited to have a welder and build all kinds of crazy stuff. My teacher taught me how to weld a soda can back together and it took 2 weeks to get it right so I'll be learning for a while but plenty of time before I tear into the truck to far.


Thanks for the advice on making sure the metal is clean, I'll keep that in mind! Any good practice ideas I should know or learn? How skilled do I need to be to bag my truck the right way or should I still have a pro handle the important parts
mymmeryloss   +1y
Tig is way harder than mig.

If you can tig weld you will be golden!
jiffyzx6   +1y
Tig is seems easier though... I had control over everything, how much heat I wanted right at my foot, how much wire in my hand ext. With mig I don't get how it works... Do you just squeeze the trigger and go?
fdugn545   +1y

Once u dial in your settings. It's pretty easy.. I mean not super easy buy not too hard I can't tig for shit.

Paycheck to paycheck minitrucker
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jiffyzx6   +1y
just watched a few videos that made it make sense... seems like cheating compared to how i was taught lol the only issue i see me having is getting the settings right but im sure that will come with practice. thanks for the imput guys! any tips or advice on doing good welds or tips on welding certain parts of the air ride let me know... i dont think i want to weld a notch in or 4 link... seems like a bad place to make an oops...
mymmeryloss   +1y
Clean clean clean and get a wire brush and ether...
lowlyfe   +1y
The only tips I can give you is to pick up a bunch of scrap steel of various thickness and just practice over and over until you start to get nice looking welds with good penetration. Check them by cutting right through the welds to get a good visiual idea of how your doing. A good auto darkening helmet will deffinately help too since you can see exactly what your doing before you pull the trigger
Take your time, have a steady hand, be as comfortable as possible, remember to breathe and be relaxed. Always try to push the weld and not pull it, it's easiest to start doing beads by pulling the trigger and start a puddle then start doing eeeeee's over and over to get the dime stack look or >>>>> works good too. When doing vertical welds its best to start at the top and go down with a christmas tree pattern like these ^

A good, clean bare metal, tight ground is a must to get the machine to burn properly as well as grinding the area to be welded atleast an inch back. Setting the machine is probably one of the most important though, though it is easy to figure it out with the simple directions in the manual.
Im running .30 wire with pure CO2 gas and it does a good job for 1/4" as well as sheet metal.
Keep in mind that I've only been welding for a couple of years now and was self taught with my Hobart 140 and I have alot of room for improvement.
Also watch every Youtube video you can about mig welding... I picked up alot of great tips and tricks from those videos.
Practice doing all types of joints, keep the tip trimmed to roughly 1/4" out of the gun and keep the tip of the gun close to the weld. I usually have the gas set at about 18cfm. Always chamfer your edges when possible to get good pentration and did I mention, practice?
Any more questions feel free because I had to ask alot of them myself so Id like to pay it forward.