Opinions on Powerfist 120V Flux-Cored Welder? $99

bender

bender

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Just seen this in the PA flyer and thought it might be worth a try, but i figure i might as well ask if anyone else has any experience with them. I realize it's not a Lincoln but will it do the trick fab'ing up some hard-case racks for the bike or would that be pushing it?
http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product/8209686/Mig/wire-Feeds/120V-Flux-Cored-Welder

A friend offerd me his basicly brand new Lincoln weld pac 100 for $250 without the argo bottles and regs. Should I just stick with the proven?
 
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It appears to have the power but whether it has control is another question. For a person who hasn't any welding experience, erratic feeds and power outputs could be frustrating. PA usually has a good return policy if it doesn't work. The worst you could do is scrap some tubing.
 
I wouldn't trust a PF ball peen hammer to work properly. As usual, you get what you pay for. YRMV.
 
I have that same welder but its called something else from Harbor Freight. It works...aight...the feed rate can changed and it has high and low output...

the flux core spatter is a ***** but it does good with mild steel and such....i can get nice puddles going and get a good bead no problem.

If you can get the MIG your friend is offering for 250 i'd say you spring an extra 150 and go for it...

i needed a BASIC welder for **** around the house and that little puppy does the job no problemo.
 
I think those crappy welders work pretty good for tacking things together to take to a friend or a welder to have welded up proper.
 
I missed the bit on the used Lincoln. Go for it and add the bottle and reg when you want to step up. Freestyle makes a good point if you weld like I do. Check with Centennial College (Ashtonbee) if they are running short weekend welding courses. No diploma but a decent primer.
 
Red_Liner740 said:
I have that same welder but its called something else from Harbor Freight. It works...aight...the feed rate can changed and it has high and low output...

the flux core spatter is a ***** but it does good with mild steel and such....i can get nice puddles going and get a good bead no problem.

If you can get the MIG your friend is offering for 250 i'd say you spring an extra 150 and go for it...

i needed a BASIC welder for **** around the house and that little puppy does the job no problemo.
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Sounds like the same one I have. (bought mine used)

If it is the same one, there is a simple two-position switch for "high" and "low" output. This is a big problem. You can't get a power level that's at a middle ground between the two. "Low" output is okay for 16 gauge or thereabouts but too much for anything thinner, "high" is okay for 3/16 or thereabouts, in-between it just doesn't work very well.

Flux core will always spatter and make a mess. If you are okay with that, at a minimum make sure there are separate adjustments for wire speed and power level that are preferably infinite or at least with 6 or 8 positions or something of that sort. "High" and "low" doesn't cut it.

If I were to do it again, I'd spend the extra money for a proper MIG and a gas bottle. Having said that, I've done some fair-size projects with my crappy flux-core.
 
is "flux core" the same as ARC?

I've been thinking about picking up a cheap welder to practice on and do small stuff. Maybe use it to strengten/gusset a trailer frame, or eventually even build a trailer. Does anyone have input where to start? I don't wanna take a course, I just wanna get equipment and learn on my own... but I don't know what to buy.
 
mmmnaked said:
is "flux core" the same as ARC?

I've been thinking about picking up a cheap welder to practice on and do small stuff. Maybe use it to strengten/gusset a trailer frame, or eventually even build a trailer. Does anyone have input where to start? I don't wanna take a course, I just wanna get equipment and learn on my own... but I don't know what to buy.
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Pick up a book at the tech section of any book store and avoid the misinformation from the net. If you know what you're doing you can make a welder out of scrap appliances. It could kill you but it would work.
 
LOL I'll be sure to get a book about building a welder in the BC wilderness with nothing but a rock and some string...... but until then, I'd prefer to just buy one already-made ;) I just don't know what kind to buy, is all.
 
No. "Arc" welding is "stick" welding - there is nothing mechanical inside the welder, just a transformer - you have to hold the welding stick (which is coated on the outside with stuff that vaporizes to shield the weld) and move it around, and you also have to strike the arc to get it going. I've never done this, looks tricky. The coating on the welding stick coats the weld in slag as you go.

"Flux-core" is a wire-feed welder - you hold the welding torch in position and it feeds wire into the weld, the wire has an inside core made of the material that vaporizes to shield the weld. The stuff inside splatters as it vaporizes and makes a messy weld, but it will do the job.

"MIG" is "metal inert gas" - it is a wire feed welder but the wire doesn't contain any shielding material, just metal. The shielding is done by argon or CO2 or a mixture, coming from a high pressure cylinder. This is capable of being a much neater job and it's easier to do it, because the shielding material isn't vaporizing and blowing your weld puddle to bits as it goes. Also usually the good welders of this type are capable of post-flow - keeping the shielding gas on for a short time after you stop feeding wire, to keep the weld puddle shielded as it turns solid, can't do that with flux-core or stick. Most common welding method for steel. It's possible, though tricky, to weld aluminum using MIG. Can't do that with flux-core. Aluminum needs the post-flow feature.

"TIG" is "tungsten inert gas" - you feed power into the weld with a tungsten electrode that also feeds in shielding gas, and you feed weld material in separately. Common for aluminum welding and capable of making a very neat job if the operator knows how to do it (which I don't).

Lincoln Electric has good online material about the various types of welders, because there is also AC and DC and all sorts of other variations on top of this.
 
Thanks thats a good breakdown. I thought I'd get a basic arc stick welder to avoid needing gas, but that's maybe not such a big deal and it sounds like MIG might be the better way to go... probably a bit more up front cost?
 
mmmnaked said:
is "flux core" the same as ARC?

I've been thinking about picking up a cheap welder to practice on and do small stuff. Maybe use it to strengten/gusset a trailer frame, or eventually even build a trailer. Does anyone have input where to start? I don't wanna take a course, I just wanna get equipment and learn on my own... but I don't know what to buy.
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There are two main types of welding machines...

constant current and constant voltage

Mig and fluxcore are constant voltage and usually use wire machines. With mig you push a bare wire through rollers and have a shielding gas CO2 And or Argon. With fluxcore its the same machine pushing a wire with a shielding coat on it that when heated releases a gas to shield the weld.

Arc (stick welding) and Tig are constant current processes. Stick welding is where you have a metal electrode with a flux coating on it as well and you consume those rods one by one, same deal the flux gets hot and produces a shielding gas. With tig you have a tungsten that carries the arc down to the base metal and relies on pure argon to do the shielding (helium is added in special cases) and you add filler with your free hand which is usually just a bare filler rod with no flux on it.

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Brian pretty much covered it... I typed this up then didn't hit submit...
Anyways some advice.

If I was in your shoes I would get a MIG welder. Which is just a wire feed welder capable of adding shielding gas. You want to look for welders that say "gas ready".

I personally bought a tig welder (although expensive) you can pretty much weld anything under the sun quite well, and I wanted to do aluminum.

For just welding steel, and doing trailers and stuff I definately think MIG is the best bang for your buck by far. Get something that does at least 180amps and you should be able to do more projects that come your way. Canadian tire puts them on sale for $500-600 from time to time so keep an eye out. Or just look on kijiji.

Most people are able to produce good MIG welds alot sooner than TIG welds and the ease of use will definately make it more useful on getting projects going rather than investing tons of time into learning how to weld as well.
 
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Did you buy the TIG and figure out how to do it yourself? How is it working out?

Sooner or later, I'll get something better.
 
i looked into tig but found that TIG is a very very steep learning curve. MIG is the best bet....you can put flux core wire in it and run it like that with no shielding gas (if welding outside during windy days the gas would get blown off the weld, a flux core wire would be needed then), use it as regular MIG normally OOR with a gun feeder you can weld aluminum as well (alu is to soft to be fed up the hose, so you can buy an attaching gun that has the spool on the gun)

best of all worlds IMO.
 
Whats a gun feeder? Does the wire spool itself automatically as you welt anyway?

I like that it can be used without gas, that's pretty cool...
 
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it allows you to place the spool of wire right on the gun so it doesnt have to feed up the wire and bind up...not cheap though....$200 and up
 
Brian P said:
Did you buy the TIG and figure out how to do it yourself? How is it working out?

Sooner or later, I'll get something better.
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YA got my tig running good. Been practicing although I welded up some small brackets and stuff for my r6 throttle bodies to fit my fzr. When i get back home gonna try to weld on an O2 bung to my exhaust.
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