The black one is AC, the green Titanium one is DC, DC is a huge upgrade. I got one of these for $99 on sale a little while back, you've motivated me to unbox it and get some practice. Also, they say "if it has slag, you must drag" so 15 degrees or so. Also, have seen guys move forward 1cm, back 1/2cm forward 1cm repeat. Once you get the setting dialed in, should be stacking some dimes. Awesome content as per usual Dex, keep it up. Also, don't be afraid to read the manual, you wont have to turn in your man card, lol.
the harbor freight flux core welder i have used all kinds of wire through it have found i weld best with Lincoln wire and preheating helps with thicker stuff
I found the Lincoln flux wire from Home Depot to be trash. But the Harbor Freight wire I find to be rather excellent. I have this exact same welder and I use it so freakin much that I built an external hanger for the 10lb spools from Harbor Freight kuz I got tired of using my drill press to spin the empty 2lb spool while I fed wire onto it from a 10lb spool.
Holy. I have 10+ years experience with arc welding and flux core welders working in a warehouse as a skilled industrial technician. Not once did I think to pre heat thicker metal to make welding it easier.
Blue demon is best followed by Forney. Lincoln wire sucks and so does the harbor freight brand. Btw, the guy who wrote blue devil, I'm sure he meant blue demon. I believe the setup comes with a .30 tip so you have to buy the .35 out of pocket, or was it the other way around?
Nasty little beast! I was amazed when I used it the first time,used a customers welder on a garage door job ,had to make a 7' op rail into an 8' rail,Liftmaster op. Very nice welds!
How-bad-could-it-be is great name for a budget tool review series or channel. I love how you keep it real and don’t feel the need to edit shit out. Nicely done review
I actually love flux core welding. Feel like some people really don’t give it a chance or give it the right technique. Some tips..Make sure your at a fairly steep angle and always pull back. This lets the contaminants get push out to the top. If your right above it or welding like mig it will turn out bad. Also you don’t weave with flux. Some guys have videos using that exact welder making it look like mig. A good wire also helps a lot. Have the same machine
Im a big fan of flux core as well, it works great, can use it outside in the wind and with the price of gas and you can use the 10lb rolls its cheaper to use
I do small engine repair and I have this welder, but I bought it a few years ago when the sale price was 180. 225 not on sale. Still I am happy to have paid that price then because it made repairing decks on mowers and that wire mesh that's on trailer's liftgate very easy. TIP: If you keep the welder in the box when it is not in use it will last longer. Dust getting in the unit will fry it.
harbor freight is awesome, i find it that the products just have a learning curve, but are easily manageable. Great video, never subbed so fast to a channel. Cheers!
Nice, I am an electrician and wanted to make my own trailer to tow behind my motorcycle, so I got a flux core, and I love it. 1 inch square tubing and small pieces of 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch material is all I am dealing with. I find cleaning and prep make a big difference.
As a homeowner with a garage who uses a welder and a plasma cutter a half dozen times a year, I have been happy with my cheap Amazon mig/tig/stick welder and I can say the same about the plasma cutter once they are both set up correctly. You have to keep Duty Cycles in mind. If you had allot of work to do or you are a fabricator, this would not last like a Miller or Lincoln. But I have less than $300 in both of those tools. The consumables are cheap and readily available through Amazon. I Set up welder/plasma cart. Its very portable. it could go in the back of my Tacoma with a midsized generator, and I can weld or cut anywhere. Bring a right angle grinder along and you can pretty much roadside repair almost anything and a pinch if need be🤷👍
GREAT video Dex, I have a shop 24' X 50', Carolina Carport, foamed, heated & cooled with a mini split, that we had built 2-1/2 years ago. I have a 1996 Jeep Cherokee XJ that I have been working on since 1/23/2024. I do not have a welder but am willing to give this one a try!!! Keep up the videos on both of your channels!! Oh, we hope you and your family have a GREAT New Year!!!!!
I'm glad you covered this, Dex I've heard a lot of good input about this little welder It's compact and easy to move around on a job site I've also heard you can run a fairly long extension cord and it'll keep cracking along... And if you buy the extended warranty The exchange is simple and relatively painless and hopefully local
Keep working with it you will get much better. I have the Harbor Freight VULCAN OMNIPRO 220 and it works great for all the different type of welding it can do. Keep up the good work.
For years I had a Lincoln 110V flux core welder. With practice and some preheat I could weld 1/4" steel. It can be difficult to judge the welding pool through the giant slag puddle. The worst part was cleaning all the slag and BBs. I found that I needed to pull my welds, rather than push, and welding uphill instead of down with flux core. Eventually, I got a gas solenoid kit to convert to MIG. The gas makes welding much cleaner, but it also cools the base material meaning I had to struggle welding 1/8". I have since upgraded to an Everlast multi voltage machine and have been quite happy with it.
I've built steel walls on two trailers and a sled dump system on one of those trailers with this exact welder. My local welding shop has 2 lb spools for $8 each and the welds are solid. It's definitely not a MIG, but it's still a pretty capable little machine.
This is a great little box. I run blue demon E71-t11 which is multi pass flux core. Some flux core wires are single pass only meaning no build up welds. Flux core requires you to drag away from the puddle with a very slight angle to ensure the burning flux is being pushed toward the weld pool. This little thing can make some great looking welds when the settings are dialed in. Anyway, flux core dosnt make mig/tig looking welds but you can use it outside in a breeze lol. Fun little welder to toss around.
Sold advice mike!!! Boilermaker here michigan local 169!! The metal and the flux are two different colors!brighter is the metal ! Your travel speed is determined by the bright metal! You want a nice round tail in the puddle!! Pointy to fast, if it gurgling and bubbling and mixing with the darker flux your to slow!!! Ive welded 100's of feet of flux core outside in the wind, way up there!!!
I bought that welder from Harbor Freight and laid a Roll of dimes the first-time welding in a rear upper spring support on a Jeep. You can't tell the difference between my weld and the factory accept mine has more coverage. If I would have known how good that little thing would weld, I wouldn't have bought my Lincoln all those years ago.
I wish I remembered the name of the mig I got from HF. 120V, no definite feed speed indication. Adjust to whatever. But it was horrible. I gave it away. I wish I remembered the name so I could tell others not to get it. Recently, I bought a Vulcan Omnipro 220 from HF and its nice. Cost alot more, but worth it. Without tig pedal, gas, or torch, about $1000. But it migs, tigs, sticks, and coils. 120V or 220V.
I bought a $79 Chinese welder a couple years ago. With Lincoln wire and practice you can get good welds. Way different techniques than gas wire welding. Good luck!
I get great results with this welder with regular flux core (no gas). I have a pro ESAB that I used a few times, but I end up using this one all the time. The ESAB is more powerful and power-corrected therefore will get used on heavy duty things, but I use this 125 way more.
I've owned the cheaper Chicago Electric fluxcore wirefeed welder for 5 years and use it often. It works well for smaller, lighter projects (3/8" thick steel or less) and has never give nme any problems. The first thing I did was take out the stock 0.030 wire that comes with it and just throw it out (not good at all) and get some name brand 0.035 wire (I use Hobart) that works much better. Experience goes a long way when it comes to welding and good penetration is key to getting a good weld.
I love mine. The wheel does say .030 and .035 on it. it only weighs 15 lbs so you can take it anywhere. The short lead sucks and the ground clamp could be better, but I use a $1 HD clamp over it when need be. I use it on a 25' extension cord without issue.
I run a Hobart Handler 190. I’ve used flux-core with and without gas also normal wire with gas. I’ve never had a problem with flux-core but I’m also using 220v instead of 110v. I do quite a bit of trailer repair and smoker builds on the side so I use either flux or a stick welder when I need to weld outside with a breeze.
i paid 80 dollars for the flux core welder and i built an entire shop full of storage and cabinets from old bed rails and it still kicks butt its about 12 yrs old.
Without seeing the weld I'd say stick out was too long on the first ones that were porous, Also you are laying a pad with a 45 degree angle. One big tip - get ventilation. I use my HF dust extractor to suck air out spit it out the door with a 6 inch hose. I took mine into my MIG class (Local 4 year college) and blew the instructor away - passed a 1/4 inch cut and etch, with stacked dimes. I converted the left over bit of that into a key chain.
Dualshield wire isn't the same as flux core, dualshield is a flux core that requires gas, it makes really good looking welds, usually used in large machines. Flux core wire works great, been using it for 30 years, prefer it over mig or gas, it does take a little more practice, you have to make sure the flux is doing its job. The Vulcan wire is dirty, I use it still, I have a wiper that cleans the wire before it goes into the drive rolls on all 3 of my welders, makes a huge difference especially when 10# of Vulcan is $60 and the next cheapest in our area is $157 for the same size spool. Flux core makes a lot more heat, it can be used to weld thicker material. I use a triangle pattern while welding, go forward to the center, move back to the side, cross over your weld puddle and move forward to the center, repeat. If you hate the spatter, use Pam cooking spray before making your weld, keeps the spatter to a minimum, smells like butter, cost $4 for a lot of welding. Get used to it, welds end up being absolutely beautiful
so when running flux especially on the flux 125 i tend to crank the wire speed a little higher than recommendations per material thickness, and run beads doing loops, and letting it sit on the part that was just welded before pulling onto more new metal. I do prefer my gas mig in some areas, but i've personally welded 1/4 material off the titanium 125, and also 1/8th inch frames. All about getting a good adjustment, I found lincoln flux wire worked best, some cheap flux wires just spatter like hell!
I've got the same welder. I love it. Works great for the simple repairs I need to make. I think mine came with a spool of .035 wire when I bought it. Maybe they are trying to save costs like every other company now.
i have this same welder and i don't have a garage. i work on my 99 xj in my parking lot where i live. so having a 220 is not an option so the 110 and working outside is what i have. it does the job and a great learning experience but i still suck at welding.
And I also learned to kind of get a molting piece of metal and kind of run the metal smooth it out a lot better and it keeps it burning hot, so it actually weld the metal together
self shielded Flux core is how I learned how to weld, it is its own beast especially difficult if you are used to a gas welder. also check your leads on the inside of the machine, lots of flux machines are assembled incorrectly it should be dcen.
The flux is inside the wire, hence the "core" in flux core. The flux doesn't mean you are impervious to dirty metal with flux core or stick welding. The flux performs the same function as your shielding gas while mig/tig welding. As far as Dual Shield welding goes that process is generally used in welding heavy equipment and other heavy applications. It's as good as it gets as far as strength of the weld goes. The only "con" if you will is that flux core has a significant splatter issue. Great video as usual, it's somehow appealing to watch someone else's struggles. My one suggestion is to lose the drills for clean up and invest in multiple grinders with each dedicated to a different consumable like various wire wheels. For the job at hand I would've grabbed a 4.5" knotted wire wheel grinder. If you're not convinced that you want to invest in 5-$80 grinders then test the theory by buy several of Harbor Freights cheapos when they go on sale for $9.99....
these little flux core welders - whether hh or another, are really handy. you can run them well off of a 120v extension cord. i have an arc captain that i use for most little jobs now instead of firing up the big guns
I’ve made around $100k with that little welder and that’s not an exaggeration. Run blue demon wire, welds like a dream as far as flux core welding goes.
@@MrWhiteTankbondo Billy uses flux core for automotive sheet metal . From what he shows the trick is extended stick out to keep from blowing through. Kinda impressed . Got a titanium 170 but the tank is out of budget for now so going to be trying the flux core with extended stick out.
@ thanks for help. I am trying to shave engine bay on a project car but do struggle because I tend to just burn through. And that is on lowest setting.. I will try the to extend. 😉
I'm no welder but what will help you with flux core is anti spatter spray and nozzle dip. Also even better get rid of the e71tgs wire and get you some e71t-11 wire which allows multiple pass....and less spatter.
I have the titanium 170 welder, and i only use a generator to weld with it. I use a 5500 watt. I really need like a 9000 to use it on its highest setting. But the 5500 does just fine for welding 1/8” or thiner.
HEY DEX.... That's the one I got and I use it on everything and it holds REALLY WELL for the price and the stuff I've used it for I've only got one complaint and that's the ground clamp I use vice grips and clamp it to that.
I am on my third one of them love the thing for what it is. Bring it with me when I go wheeling bc I can find 110 anywhere and if it grows a set of legs I couldent care less. It's perfectly good enough to get you out of a pinch
Bubba, I love ur videos. U probably r the realest person on RUclips today! Keep up the awesome work. And honestly, if u had a channel membership, I would definitely join just to help support ur channels.
17:38 I agree with the other people that say to use lincoln or hobart flux wire makes a huge differnce the cheap stuff seems to spatter more and that was with the non titanium welder the reg chicago electric one
71T1 Flux core wire you use C02 gas ! But that's for BIG stuff.. that little wire you just got to play with the setting to get it right.. But you have to do circles or somethin like welding with a stick rod
Out of curiosity I bought the same welder but having to find the wire on sale for 20 bucks and actually find myself using it more than my Miller gas welder on smaller stuff.
If you want to weld thru paint u need 71-t1 and either 100% c02 or 75/25 mix. 71-t1 can be run with or without gas, too. The 71-GS wire you can get at harbor freight is an unclassified wire designed for thin, single pass hobby and automotive type stuff. The metal does need to be sorta clean.
I know with flux core you need to leave about 1/2 to 1 inch wire stick out to allow it to pre-heat before it reaches the arc. you don't want the tip buried in the arc. also i know polarity makes a difference (idk if you can switch the polarity on that machine)
Love mine for portable use wind rain don't care as long as power is possible a weld is doable 😜 gas is nice in the shop less cleaning after and less smoke. Second option is the 80amp arc welder
Seems like you were on the wrong current to me, it’s supposed to be on DC current and it runs properly. most the time it comes with a chart for recommended settings to. I actually run a little Lincoln electric 90i and a Yeswelder 205 pro with that exact wire by Forney and it runs great for me. For thinner stuff I do 4 (d) on the voltage and 7 on the wire feed speed and it works good for me. On DC current.
There is a different in dual shield and fux core. And I can make flux core look good, good enough that I've had people tell me that they thought it was MIG. But then again I started welding in 1965 and still enjoy doing it.
I feel like if you grind and cleaned the metal were your welding you might get cleaner beads.. Any contamination and can cause pops..specially without any gas.
I'm not sure if it's the same principle but isn't the lube that say plumbers use to solder copper together a type of flux. In order to pay a proper solder you need to clean and then apply some of the liquid flux. Maybe try that just for fun one day see if it makes a difference. Again no expert here just a jack of random and it popped in my head so I spat it out 😅
With flux core you need to start with is clean as metal as possible to reduce the spatter he'll not particular welder it does not need to be cranked all the way up I actually used the lower settings most often and wire feed as well on the lower settings
But at a lower heat you have to make more pass to build up the weld. Mine flux core is a 220 amp miller . My mig is a miller 151 ..220 amp . I use my small one for off site that i power off my miller 280 gas welder on light material that by stick would burn though.
Duty cycle is the % of time ot of 10 min you can weld without overheating. Yes, scaled up it reflects how long out of an hour you can weld, but most any machine with a 30% duty cycle could overheat/shut down/break if you tried to run 18 min continuous.
I have run my Titanium 125 flux core welder for 5-6 hours continuously with maybe 45 minutes of not welding time whilst I changed spools. I also modified mine to hold a 10lb roll externally.
@TheRealMikeWilly not saying that they can't, just that it's what the manufacturer rates them to do. That's the industry rating standards, not something I'm making up. I've ran plenty of welders past their "duty cycle", but I'd love to see a 30% machine with the trigger zip tied, weld for 1hr. I think that would be awesome
If you have ANY ability it will work great! I have used Esab, Miller, Lincoln. I haven't welded for years and was just a hack that picked it up in a shop. If you cant weld with it you ahould give up welding. The only thing i don't like about it is the spatter is definitely more than a Mig with shielding.
Slow and smooth you can actually make some pretty welds with it not the prettiest but pretty for a flex core and you also gotta practice with the wire speed. I like running it at high temp and pretty fast wire speed. I use them just for tiny things. Hell I welded my diff with it. It holds up good.
I bought one of the hf flux core welders in probably 08. I still have it. It does a lot better with lincoln wire in it. Does it stack dimes? No. Does it stick 2 pieces of metal together? Absolutely. I paid less than $100 for it 15 or whatever years ago. Its saved me several times even if its just to get something to the shop so i can mig it.
I have a Lincoln 200 I run on 50 amps for all my mig stuff but I also have a small Lincoln 140 I pack around with flux core on it. Handy as s#!% Make sure you drag your flux core welds to keep the spatter out of your bead and it works just fine.
Man I have a Omni pro 220 i still need to get a 240 volt feed to my garage as well as a bottle of gas. BUT I NEED to do some exhaust work on the family car. I been putting it off and putting it off and I don’t/can’t afford what the local shop wants to replace EVERYTHING under the car. Maybe I’ll go and pick one of these up to see if I can fix it.
the yeswelder 125 is better for adjustments, since it has a fine-tuning setting, but overall, these pay for themselves after a few jobs, I use them mostly for exhaust work, but even on some structural welds you can just slam down beads. Flux core doesn't really care what you're welding, which is great, but goddamn is the spatter annoying, invest in some spatter spray for sure. Overall, some better wire, and some practice, and you're golden. I've made right at $1k doing odd jobs that don't require a pretty weld, and ive probably spent 200 in wire. So overall the welder being $150 ish, and the wire, only about 350 invested with a $650 profit made over maybe a year or so.
The black one is AC, the green Titanium one is DC, DC is a huge upgrade. I got one of these for $99 on sale a little while back, you've motivated me to unbox it and get some practice.
Also, they say "if it has slag, you must drag" so 15 degrees or so. Also, have seen guys move forward 1cm, back 1/2cm forward 1cm repeat. Once you get the setting dialed in, should be stacking some dimes. Awesome content as per usual Dex, keep it up. Also, don't be afraid to read the manual, you wont have to turn in your man card, lol.
The titanium flux 125 is the best little flux cored welder I’ve used I came to say all the things you’ve said
the harbor freight flux core welder i have used all kinds of wire through it have found i weld best with Lincoln wire and preheating helps with thicker stuff
I found the Lincoln flux wire from Home Depot to be trash. But the Harbor Freight wire I find to be rather excellent. I have this exact same welder and I use it so freakin much that I built an external hanger for the 10lb spools from Harbor Freight kuz I got tired of using my drill press to spin the empty 2lb spool while I fed wire onto it from a 10lb spool.
Lincoln wire and Blue Devil are the best wire
Holy. I have 10+ years experience with arc welding and flux core welders working in a warehouse as a skilled industrial technician. Not once did I think to pre heat thicker metal to make welding it easier.
Lincoln wire works great for me, you wouldn't know the difference from having a gas welder
Blue demon is best followed by Forney. Lincoln wire sucks and so does the harbor freight brand.
Btw, the guy who wrote blue devil, I'm sure he meant blue demon.
I believe the setup comes with a .30 tip so you have to buy the .35 out of pocket, or was it the other way around?
I'm glad you took the chance Thank You I'm ony way to Harbor Freight tomorrow and I'll grab a spool or two while I'm there !!!
The wire is junk. Don’t buy their wire.
get some Lincoln Innershield or Hobart. Don't buy cheap wire it's not worth it.
I built a 120 gallon smoker 1/4 inch steel with this exact welder. Solid as a rock too. No issues.
Damn does it weigh 300 pounds?
@ 800-1000 pounds. 😂
@@igotJesus88 😄
Nasty little beast! I was amazed when I used it the first time,used a customers welder on a garage door job ,had to make a 7' op rail into an 8' rail,Liftmaster op. Very nice welds!
Got one for Christmas. Used it today to weld up a muffler on a go cart. Worked nice
How-bad-could-it-be is great name for a budget tool review series or channel. I love how you keep it real and don’t feel the need to edit shit out. Nicely done review
Love it, opens up, throws away instructions, struggle for fun. I'm glad you read the instructions after.
I actually love flux core welding. Feel like some people really don’t give it a chance or give it the right technique. Some tips..Make sure your at a fairly steep angle and always pull back. This lets the contaminants get push out to the top. If your right above it or welding like mig it will turn out bad. Also you don’t weave with flux. Some guys have videos using that exact welder making it look like mig. A good wire also helps a lot. Have the same machine
Im a big fan of flux core as well, it works great, can use it outside in the wind and with the price of gas and you can use the 10lb rolls its cheaper to use
I have that welder and love it. I run it off a 3500 watt harbor freight generator with a 30 amp twist lock plug and it weld awesome.
I do small engine repair and I have this welder, but I bought it a few years ago when the sale price was 180. 225 not on sale. Still I am happy to have paid that price then because it made repairing decks on mowers and that wire mesh that's on trailer's liftgate very easy. TIP: If you keep the welder in the box when it is not in use it will last longer. Dust getting in the unit will fry it.
harbor freight is awesome, i find it that the products just have a learning curve, but are easily manageable. Great video, never subbed so fast to a channel. Cheers!
Good video! We’ve been running these small welders with fluxcore on the farm, definitely easier to pack around with a generator and no gas tank
Nice, I am an electrician and wanted to make my own trailer to tow behind my motorcycle, so I got a flux core, and I love it. 1 inch square tubing and small pieces of 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch material is all I am dealing with. I find cleaning and prep make a big difference.
As a homeowner with a garage who uses a welder and a plasma cutter a half dozen times a year, I have been happy with my cheap Amazon mig/tig/stick welder and I can say the same about the plasma cutter once they are both set up correctly. You have to keep Duty Cycles in mind. If you had allot of work to do or you are a fabricator, this would not last like a Miller or Lincoln. But I have less than $300 in both of those tools. The consumables are cheap and readily available through Amazon. I Set up welder/plasma cart. Its very portable. it could go in the back of my Tacoma with a midsized generator, and I can weld or cut anywhere. Bring a right angle grinder along and you can pretty much roadside repair almost anything and a pinch if need be🤷👍
Nice!!
GREAT video Dex, I have a shop 24' X 50', Carolina Carport, foamed, heated & cooled with a mini split, that we had built 2-1/2 years ago. I have a 1996 Jeep Cherokee XJ that I have been working on since 1/23/2024. I do not have a welder but am willing to give this one a try!!! Keep up the videos on both of your channels!! Oh, we hope you and your family have a GREAT New Year!!!!!
I'm glad you covered this, Dex
I've heard a lot of good input about this little welder
It's compact and easy to move around on a job site
I've also heard you can run a fairly long extension cord and it'll keep cracking along...
And if you buy the extended warranty The exchange is simple and relatively painless and hopefully local
Just got my son that exact same welder for Christmas. Thanks for the review!
Keep working with it you will get much better. I have the Harbor Freight VULCAN OMNIPRO 220 and it works great for all the different type of welding it can do. Keep up the good work.
For years I had a Lincoln 110V flux core welder. With practice and some preheat I could weld 1/4" steel. It can be difficult to judge the welding pool through the giant slag puddle. The worst part was cleaning all the slag and BBs. I found that I needed to pull my welds, rather than push, and welding uphill instead of down with flux core. Eventually, I got a gas solenoid kit to convert to MIG. The gas makes welding much cleaner, but it also cools the base material meaning I had to struggle welding 1/8". I have since upgraded to an Everlast multi voltage machine and have been quite happy with it.
I've built steel walls on two trailers and a sled dump system on one of those trailers with this exact welder. My local welding shop has 2 lb spools for $8 each and the welds are solid. It's definitely not a MIG, but it's still a pretty capable little machine.
This is a great little box. I run blue demon E71-t11 which is multi pass flux core. Some flux core wires are single pass only meaning no build up welds.
Flux core requires you to drag away from the puddle with a very slight angle to ensure the burning flux is being pushed toward the weld pool. This little thing can make some great looking welds when the settings are dialed in.
Anyway, flux core dosnt make mig/tig looking welds but you can use it outside in a breeze lol.
Fun little welder to toss around.
Sold advice mike!!! Boilermaker here michigan local 169!! The metal and the flux are two different colors!brighter is the metal ! Your travel speed is determined by the bright metal! You want a nice round tail in the puddle!! Pointy to fast, if it gurgling and bubbling and mixing with the darker flux your to slow!!! Ive welded 100's of feet of flux core outside in the wind, way up there!!!
@ good tip!
I bought that welder from Harbor Freight and laid a Roll of dimes the first-time welding in a rear upper spring support on a Jeep. You can't tell the difference between my weld and the factory accept mine has more coverage. If I would have known how good that little thing would weld, I wouldn't have bought my Lincoln all those years ago.
this is the best welder . It would blow your mind how well this thing works . It blew me away at how good it works vs other flux core migs I've used.
I wish I remembered the name of the mig I got from HF. 120V, no definite feed speed indication. Adjust to whatever. But it was horrible. I gave it away. I wish I remembered the name so I could tell others not to get it. Recently, I bought a Vulcan Omnipro 220 from HF and its nice. Cost alot more, but worth it. Without tig pedal, gas, or torch, about $1000. But it migs, tigs, sticks, and coils. 120V or 220V.
I bought a $79 Chinese welder a couple years ago. With Lincoln wire and practice you can get good welds. Way different techniques than gas wire welding. Good luck!
I get great results with this welder with regular flux core (no gas). I have a pro ESAB that I used a few times, but I end up using this one all the time. The ESAB is more powerful and power-corrected therefore will get used on heavy duty things, but I use this 125 way more.
I've owned the cheaper Chicago Electric fluxcore wirefeed welder for 5 years and use it often. It works well for smaller, lighter projects (3/8" thick steel or less) and has never give nme any problems.
The first thing I did was take out the stock 0.030 wire that comes with it and just throw it out (not good at all) and get some name brand 0.035 wire (I use Hobart) that works much better. Experience goes a long way when it comes to welding and good penetration is key to getting a good weld.
I love mine. The wheel does say .030 and .035 on it. it only weighs 15 lbs so you can take it anywhere. The short lead sucks and the ground clamp could be better, but I use a $1 HD clamp over it when need be. I use it on a 25' extension cord without issue.
I run a Hobart Handler 190. I’ve used flux-core with and without gas also normal wire with gas. I’ve never had a problem with flux-core but I’m also using 220v instead of 110v. I do quite a bit of trailer repair and smoker builds on the side so I use either flux or a stick welder when I need to weld outside with a breeze.
Love that Hobi!
i paid 80 dollars for the flux core welder and i built an entire shop full of storage and cabinets from old bed rails and it still kicks butt its about 12 yrs old.
It's a great welder for doing autobody patch repair. I love mine. The best 125 bucks i've spent on a tool.
Im a first time welder. I just bought the same welder during Xmas sale. I was a lil bum myself when I didnt see some wire in with it.
Thanks for this one,gotta do pans in my 99 xj, wondered how much power was needed to do 😊
Without seeing the weld I'd say stick out was too long on the first ones that were porous, Also you are laying a pad with a 45 degree angle. One big tip - get ventilation. I use my HF dust extractor to suck air out spit it out the door with a 6 inch hose. I took mine into my MIG class (Local 4 year college) and blew the instructor away - passed a 1/4 inch cut and etch, with stacked dimes. I converted the left over bit of that into a key chain.
The pure shock on your face is the best!
Dualshield wire isn't the same as flux core, dualshield is a flux core that requires gas, it makes really good looking welds, usually used in large machines. Flux core wire works great, been using it for 30 years, prefer it over mig or gas, it does take a little more practice, you have to make sure the flux is doing its job. The Vulcan wire is dirty, I use it still, I have a wiper that cleans the wire before it goes into the drive rolls on all 3 of my welders, makes a huge difference especially when 10# of Vulcan is $60 and the next cheapest in our area is $157 for the same size spool. Flux core makes a lot more heat, it can be used to weld thicker material. I use a triangle pattern while welding, go forward to the center, move back to the side, cross over your weld puddle and move forward to the center, repeat. If you hate the spatter, use Pam cooking spray before making your weld, keeps the spatter to a minimum, smells like butter, cost $4 for a lot of welding. Get used to it, welds end up being absolutely beautiful
so when running flux especially on the flux 125 i tend to crank the wire speed a little higher than recommendations per material thickness, and run beads doing loops, and letting it sit on the part that was just welded before pulling onto more new metal. I do prefer my gas mig in some areas, but i've personally welded 1/4 material off the titanium 125, and also 1/8th inch frames. All about getting a good adjustment, I found lincoln flux wire worked best, some cheap flux wires just spatter like hell!
Fantastic video, I'm as amateur as they come. This is a big assist.
Great stuff. Very real experience with no polish. Thank you!
Looking to buy a cheapie. Thx for sharing you experience. Watching from Ontario Canada 🎉
I've got the same welder. I love it. Works great for the simple repairs I need to make. I think mine came with a spool of .035 wire when I bought it. Maybe they are trying to save costs like every other company now.
i have this same welder and i don't have a garage. i work on my 99 xj in my parking lot where i live. so having a 220 is not an option so the 110 and working outside is what i have. it does the job and a great learning experience but i still suck at welding.
And I also learned to kind of get a molting piece of metal and kind of run the metal smooth it out a lot better and it keeps it burning hot, so it actually weld the metal together
self shielded Flux core is how I learned how to weld, it is its own beast especially difficult if you are used to a gas welder. also check your leads on the inside of the machine, lots of flux machines are assembled incorrectly it should be dcen.
The flux is inside the wire, hence the "core" in flux core. The flux doesn't mean you are impervious to dirty metal with flux core or stick welding. The flux performs the same function as your shielding gas while mig/tig welding.
As far as Dual Shield welding goes that process is generally used in welding heavy equipment and other heavy applications. It's as good as it gets as far as strength of the weld goes.
The only "con" if you will is that flux core has a significant splatter issue.
Great video as usual, it's somehow appealing to watch someone else's struggles.
My one suggestion is to lose the drills for clean up and invest in multiple grinders with each dedicated to a different consumable like various wire wheels. For the job at hand I would've grabbed a 4.5" knotted wire wheel grinder. If you're not convinced that you want to invest in 5-$80 grinders then test the theory by buy several of Harbor Freights cheapos when they go on sale for $9.99....
The advantage of flux core is outdoors when it's windy you don't have to worry about your shielding gas getting blown away
these little flux core welders - whether hh or another, are really handy. you can run them well off of a 120v extension cord. i have an arc captain that i use for most little jobs now instead of firing up the big guns
I have ran my flux 125 off of my honda eu2200. I don't think you could max out the settings but it welds 1/8 inch material without any issue.
I’ve made around $100k with that little welder and that’s not an exaggeration. Run blue demon wire, welds like a dream as far as flux core welding goes.
What size wire for automotive sheet metal?
@@MrWhiteTankbondo Billy uses flux core for automotive sheet metal . From what he shows the trick is extended stick out to keep from blowing through. Kinda impressed . Got a titanium 170 but the tank is out of budget for now so going to be trying the flux core with extended stick out.
@ thanks for help. I am trying to shave engine bay on a project car but do struggle because I tend to just burn through. And that is on lowest setting.. I will try the to extend. 😉
Yes, exaggeration.
@@MrWhiteTankUse .030 for sheet metal
Mike festiva has a very good teaching video on flux welding
I'm no welder but what will help you with flux core is anti spatter spray and nozzle dip. Also even better get rid of the e71tgs wire and get you some e71t-11 wire which allows multiple pass....and less spatter.
I have the titanium 170 welder, and i only use a generator to weld with it. I use a 5500 watt. I really need like a 9000 to use it on its highest setting. But the 5500 does just fine for welding 1/8” or thiner.
It's a good little welder. Handy if you need to weld outside in the wind or any small stuff.
HEY DEX.... That's the one I got and I use it on everything and it holds REALLY WELL for the price and the stuff I've used it for I've only got one complaint and that's the ground clamp I use vice grips and clamp it to that.
I am on my third one of them love the thing for what it is. Bring it with me when I go wheeling bc I can find 110 anywhere and if it grows a set of legs I couldent care less. It's perfectly good enough to get you out of a pinch
Yeah I've had one a couple years. It's pretty nice for what I need. You can get away a little thicker if you chamfer it.
thanks great video i had seen a couple of videos using flux core but don't know if they had gas or not
Bubba, I love ur videos. U probably r the realest person on RUclips today! Keep up the awesome work. And honestly, if u had a channel membership, I would definitely join just to help support ur channels.
It’s good. I’m doing bodywork with it
I need to get one them for the shop 🎉
Don't listen to him on the phone 🤦♂️it's all down to practice 👍
I also have one.. does take some getting used to
I’ve welded more things than you could imagine with mine. My xj should be called the fluxJ lol
17:38 I agree with the other people that say to use lincoln or hobart flux wire makes a huge differnce the cheap stuff seems to spatter more and that was with the non titanium welder the reg chicago electric one
Been using flux core for years. I manly weld outdoors. Sounds to me that you're too hot on the settings. You can play with the settings.
71T1 Flux core wire you use C02 gas ! But that's for BIG stuff.. that little wire you just got to play with the setting to get it right.. But you have to do circles or somethin like welding with a stick rod
First time welding with a Miller mig with flux sucked. Welded with a $50 welder from Amazon, and it looked good! Must be the wire you got, maybe?
Out of curiosity I bought the same welder but having to find the wire on sale for 20 bucks and actually find myself using it more than my Miller gas welder on smaller stuff.
I gauge value on this kind of equipment by spares & parts: can you get them?
I use that exact welder with blue demon 035 welding wire for off-road vehicle fabrication🛠
If you want to weld thru paint u need 71-t1 and either 100% c02 or 75/25 mix. 71-t1 can be run with or without gas, too. The 71-GS wire you can get at harbor freight is an unclassified wire designed for thin, single pass hobby and automotive type stuff. The metal does need to be sorta clean.
I know with flux core you need to leave about 1/2 to 1 inch wire stick out to allow it to pre-heat before it reaches the arc. you don't want the tip buried in the arc. also i know polarity makes a difference (idk if you can switch the polarity on that machine)
Love mine for portable use wind rain don't care as long as power is possible a weld is doable 😜 gas is nice in the shop less cleaning after and less smoke. Second option is the 80amp arc welder
I’ve been thinking about trying one of these for a while now. This is fun to see how it works! How bad could it be?!
Seems like you were on the wrong current to me, it’s supposed to be on DC current and it runs properly. most the time it comes with a chart for recommended settings to.
I actually run a little Lincoln electric 90i and a Yeswelder 205 pro with that exact wire by Forney and it runs great for me. For thinner stuff I do 4 (d) on the voltage and 7 on the wire feed speed and it works good for me. On DC current.
Years ago the hazard freight flux core welders came wired for electrode positive and they should be electrode negative. Have they fixed these turds?
There is a different in dual shield and fux core.
And I can make flux core look good, good enough that I've had people tell me that they thought it was MIG.
But then again I started welding in 1965 and still enjoy doing it.
I have to use that no... !!! Fux.... 😂😂😢😢
I feel like if you grind and cleaned the metal were your welding you might get cleaner beads..
Any contamination and can cause pops..specially without any gas.
i had issues with that exact wire i run a ton of flux core built a ton for stuff as a kid with a 120v flux core welder.
I'm not sure if it's the same principle but isn't the lube that say plumbers use to solder copper together a type of flux. In order to pay a proper solder you need to clean and then apply some of the liquid flux. Maybe try that just for fun one day see if it makes a difference. Again no expert here just a jack of random and it popped in my head so I spat it out 😅
"Before uh you know what happened. " 😂😂 Got my like N sub!
With flux core you need to start with is clean as metal as possible to reduce the spatter he'll not particular welder it does not need to be cranked all the way up I actually used the lower settings most often and wire feed as well on the lower settings
But at a lower heat you have to make more pass to build up the weld. Mine flux core is a 220 amp miller .
My mig is a miller 151 ..220 amp . I use my small one for off site that i power off my miller 280 gas welder on light material that by stick would burn though.
Duty cycle is the % of time ot of 10 min you can weld without overheating. Yes, scaled up it reflects how long out of an hour you can weld, but most any machine with a 30% duty cycle could overheat/shut down/break if you tried to run 18 min continuous.
I have run my Titanium 125 flux core welder for 5-6 hours continuously with maybe 45 minutes of not welding time whilst I changed spools. I also modified mine to hold a 10lb roll externally.
@TheRealMikeWilly not saying that they can't, just that it's what the manufacturer rates them to do. That's the industry rating standards, not something I'm making up. I've ran plenty of welders past their "duty cycle", but I'd love to see a 30% machine with the trigger zip tied, weld for 1hr. I think that would be awesome
If you have ANY ability it will work great! I have used Esab, Miller, Lincoln. I haven't welded for years and was just a hack that picked it up in a shop. If you cant weld with it you ahould give up welding. The only thing i don't like about it is the spatter is definitely more than a Mig with shielding.
Hey Dex. Are you using flux core wire?
Slow and smooth you can actually make some pretty welds with it not the prettiest but pretty for a flex core and you also gotta practice with the wire speed. I like running it at high temp and pretty fast wire speed. I use them just for tiny things. Hell I welded my diff with it. It holds up good.
The flux is on the inside, not outside. Flux core…..
I bought one of the hf flux core welders in probably 08. I still have it. It does a lot better with lincoln wire in it. Does it stack dimes? No. Does it stick 2 pieces of metal together? Absolutely. I paid less than $100 for it 15 or whatever years ago. Its saved me several times even if its just to get something to the shop so i can mig it.
I have a Lincoln 200 I run on 50 amps for all my mig stuff but I also have a small Lincoln 140 I pack around with flux core on it. Handy as s#!%
Make sure you drag your flux core welds to keep the spatter out of your bead and it works just fine.
Those are actually pretty good. Ive had one for 2 years now. I recently got an identical one just in case
Those 3/16 ratings are wrong. Turn it up and watch 5/16 and with a nice power supply and no extension cords weld 3/8 if you slow down.
For an extension cord use a 12 ga. If you can find one
What amperage is the flux core wire you are you using? Need 125amp.
When it says 3/16 max,that is 3/16 single pass.You can weld 1 inch plate with it but you have to do it with multiple passes.
check out Merlins old school garage, He has a video on converting an Alternator to a welder. Would be nice for your jeep build.
You definitely do NOT need argon with flux core to get great welds if you set up the machine correctly.
That’s what she said 2:02
Man I have a Omni pro 220 i still need to get a 240 volt feed to my garage as well as a bottle of gas. BUT I NEED to do some exhaust work on the family car. I been putting it off and putting it off and I don’t/can’t afford what the local shop wants to replace EVERYTHING under the car. Maybe I’ll go and pick one of these up to see if I can fix it.
You’ll be able to fix it. This welder is awesome, you’ll never regret buying it
the yeswelder 125 is better for adjustments, since it has a fine-tuning setting, but overall, these pay for themselves after a few jobs, I use them mostly for exhaust work, but even on some structural welds you can just slam down beads. Flux core doesn't really care what you're welding, which is great, but goddamn is the spatter annoying, invest in some spatter spray for sure. Overall, some better wire, and some practice, and you're golden. I've made right at $1k doing odd jobs that don't require a pretty weld, and ive probably spent 200 in wire. So overall the welder being $150 ish, and the wire, only about 350 invested with a $650 profit made over maybe a year or so.
Can you use this for body work?
Yes, I’m using mine for body work right now. This welder is awesome. If you’re considering buying it, just go for it. You will not regret it