My son wants to buy a cheap gasless mig welder for panel work, are they up to it? Anybody think they are OK? what have you welded?
They work great, especially if you do alot of outdoor welding. I use mine with the flux core wire around the yard, or at the race track. You still need to know how to weld, and all the safety rules apply.
i did a repair on an exhaust system with one once, i guess it got the job done. it's basically like stick welding and leaves the same mess. if you are serious about welding on sheet metal panels convert it to gas
my .02 cents I am ***uming you are taking about a flux core welder. I used to have one, until I switched over to gas, from experience, a gasless (flux core) is no good for panels, I use to defend them to the death that they were ok, until I bought my Hobart 175 and had a plate of "eat your words" for dinner. For panels flux core splatters too much, welds are inconsistent, getting the controls to get good welds (especially on a cheap machine) is nonexistent, so you'll have either too hot or too cold welds, and the list goes on. Flux core welders are good for outdoor welding where wind is a factor and you are just welding fences, or rough metal items. I would suggest your sone not waste your time with one, you can get a fairly cheap machine at home depot and then move up getting the tank, etc.
Flux core wire works, but it does't make nearly as nice welds as gas, and also runs hotter, making it much harder to weld on thin sheetmetal.
Get a flux core and try it out, just make sure it has the hookups for gas. Its been my experence that flux core welds look like bird sh$t, and all u need to convert to gas is the regulator, tank and wire, and those arn't real expensive.
hey I have both bird **** welds are the operater you can do a good job with either machine but flux core takes more expierience to make good welds on light metal but it can be done my 2 cents worth Ken retired certified welder
My opinion is that flux cor ****s unless you have to do some welding outside in the wind and that is the only time I will use it.
Probably was the operator just trying to say that for a beginner (like me) you get better results with gas
Buy the flux welder, it works OK but gas is much better. Be sure the one you get can be switched over to gas.
A lot of what these guys are saying has good merit. This my experience... First I bought a cheap 220 ARC welder actually have perfomed a huge amount of work with this thing from sheet metal to gokarts to the frame under my truck. Then I bought a gasless wire feed (again cheap) to perform exactly what youe sone wants to do. I even used it to build an entire exhaust system. I figure what the hey, it goes under the car anyway so it didnt have to look the best ... Just work... I found it was mediocre at best. Then I borrowed my brothers nice MIG! WOW! I was in love (not with my brother, the MIG). Anyway one year later, after rewelding the majority of my frame for my truck with the MIG. I broke down and bought myself a nice Lincoln 220v MIG 175 HD I REALLY love this welder, and as most guys will agree. You pay for what you get, especially in a welders case. Rob
Just so we're all on the same page, it's not a MIG if it ain't got gas. It's just a wire-feed welder. The "G" in "MIG" stands for "gas".
If you want a good answer---Go into any good name, competent autobody shop. You will find pretty well all panel welding being done with gas mig or tig. If there is a flux core gasless mig in the building, it will be used for brackets or light frame welding...not body panels.
The smoke from a flux core is the shielding for the weld instead of using an innert gas. So if you do any inside welding, you will be toasting your lungs with smoke. I have lung problems bigtime and used a flux core wire feed all of about 2 days and switched to gas as the smoke was pretty much illiminated. Go with the gas as the smoke is bad with flux core and it also will burn hotter which will distort panels more.
Flux core works fine on panels, if you know what you're doing, granted it needs a bit more clean up, but mig welding is idiot proof and a caveman can do it.
...what Slide said. ....compair it to washing your clothes by hand, or sticking them in the washing machine. if he goes the flux core route it will add so much more time because you have to go so much slower, and only squirt a little wire out at a time so you don't burn through. flux core welders burn hot and there's not much you can control in that department...get a nice MIG and you have so much more control of your welds. -marty
I just got a wire feed MIG welder for christmas. After reading this thread I'm thinking gas may be the way to go . How do I go about converting it to gas ? Please excuse my ignorance with welders. I'm a noob to welding Todd p.s. sorry to thread jack !
I'll throw in my 2 cents (that's about all it's worth). I am definitely not an experienced welder, but I have a 110v Lincoln that came ready for gas. It can weld up to about 5/16". I started w/ flux core trying to weld old sheetmetal and had a lot of problems. As everyone has said, it can be done, but you have to make a few laps around the block before you get the hang of it. Dirty welds due to splatter, quick burn through if you're not careful, etc. I finally ****ed it up and went to gas. UNBELIEVABLE the difference!! You can run the unit at lower power and get great results. Much cleaner, less burn throughs and nicer beads - but the shielding gas is not as effective if you're outside in some wind. Otherwise it is like night and day. If you have a unit that is not equipped now, it probably costs about $100 for the regulator, etc. Then you have to get the shielding gas - small-medium bottle is about $100 first time (in my neck of the woods) and then about $15 for refills after that. Another thing too that I noticed immediately is that the tip on the gas electrode makes it a little harder to see what you're welding because of the larger size (at least on my Lincoln....). You get used to that though.
Nailhead, If it can be converted, it will tell you what you need in the instruction manual. It will take a regulator and tank. Post the brand and model # and someone here will be able to tell if it can be converted. I just hope my bonus from work shows up before the local Hobart dealer has their annual sale with the good prices. Ditto on what Hiboy said, Buy a name brand that you can get parts and service on. The repair guys at the welding supply really turn their noses up at most of the units sold in the "box" stores.
Do yourslelf a favor and whatever type you get, buy a name brand welder. Hobart/Miller and Lincoln are the most common.
Sweet ! Thanks ! When I get home I'll PM you the make and model # so I don't ***** up this guys thread anymore than I allready have ! Todd
I think I just found my new signature. After a nice Sock ****er wandered into the garage and fixed the blocked feed of "G", its so much easier to MIG than it is to MI.
Wow.. Great info. I have a Lincolin 110v mig that I have played with using flux core. I experanced everything described here. And I chocked up the sloppy welds to me not knowing what I'm doing. I kept it to fixing exhaust and small jobs that didnt show. It came with a regulator and hoses just no tank. Im going to get a tank and try again with it. Thanks
Hey, we used to braze or arc weld everyting. Now a flux wire set up will not make up for a gas unit, but better than the old ways. Ya gotta start somewhere. A learning curve is OK, do not always need to be a "pro" the first time out. If "Dad" will pitch in for a mid level gas unit do it. It also depends on how much welding that you will be doing.
Looking around I find 20 and 40 gal tanks. Typically how long will a tank of gas last? And what are the perfered mixes of gas? Argon? CO2? Argon/CO2 mix?
75/25 argon/CO2 mix is the best for your MIG welder, although some applications use 85/15. A Lincoln 100 and an argon/CO2 bottle is really all you need to do sheetmetal work and really just about anything you're going to weld to your car. Your frame is not a 1/4" thick, you don't need a huge industrial unit. And buy yourself an auto-darkening helmet too. Even if it's a cheap one. You'll be amazed how much easier it is to weld once you have those things. Sure, you can do it the old fashioned way, I've seen frames welded with a torch and coat hangers, I know one guy who put quarter panels on with a stick welder. But make it easy on yourself and start with the good stuff.
You all realize that the slag needs to be chipped off the flux core welds,correct? I never have a problem with mine, but I weld for a living.
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