Couple welding Q's?

[RFR2212]

Looks like I am gonna get the Hobart 175 for x-mas, and got a few questions.

1. Anything important i should watch for when getting a cylinder and gas?
Size of cylinder?
Type of mix?
I've read average mix is 75/25 This is? 75% 02 /25% Argon?

2. Does air temp matter? I'll be in my garage, and when not there, it would be stored at garage temp, of whatever the air is. When working in there, the garage heater gets it up to a nice 50-60 degrees. Any tips?

3. What size circuit breaker is necessary for the 220 to work with this welder? 30amp?

4. What gas wire works good over all? I've been seeing .035 on some charts as covering a nice range of steels i probly would be working with. Got any numbers to help?

Most of my welding over x-mas will be practice, and maybe some 2x3 box steel 1/8 - 3/16's

Any help on those questions above and some good, beginner tips to watch for?
Thanks
Pete

[morpheus]

I'm no pro weldor but I bought what my welding place calls a 120 cylinder ( i think that's 120 cubic feet) of 75/25

I've got the same HH175 you do and I put in a 30amp breaker to run the machine. works great ...

can't see where the temp has been a problem for me.

I like to use .030 wire, seems to work better than .035 to me.

have fun man ! I'm not much good at it ... but I love to weld !

- jack

[Al T.]

Pete,
The HH175 was my choice also, love the way it works.

The gas I use is 75% Argon- 25% CarbonDioxide or C25 for short.
You won't be seeing much oxygen in the gas, because that is flamable and ruins the weld.

The welder comes with .030 flux core with the correct liner and tips for that size. .030 works real good whether its for flux or solid wire. For my needs and to keep costs down, 1 size is all I need for now.

I did purchase H10 gun with a .035 teflon liner for doing aluminum work. The .035 thicker aluminum wire 5356 jams less and the teflon liner helps also. The gun arrived yesterday so I be testing aluminum welding soon. I also got a straight argon tank for it also.

I haven't had to think about temp yet. No problems.

A 30amp breaker and wiring would do the job to feed the hh175.

Unless your doing 22 guage, the .030 should handle your work for now. As time goes on you'll know what needs to be changed, hold unto your money until then.

Tip: Keep the correct arc gap, I had gotten too close and melted the nozzle to the tip. (I can hear the guys laughing already). Too far away and you'll get porosity and long strings and globs of molten useless metal. Only grinding can save you then.


Have Fun!

[dysfunction]

Actually oxygen isnt flamable, its a catalyst. And there are mixes that do use it. But that being said, just starting out and welding mild steel I'd use c25 and with that machine .030 solid wire

[morpheus]

here's a TIP: when you first get the welder it's setup to use fluxcore wire. to use solid wire and the shielding gas you need to switch the polarity .. otherwise it just eats the tips cause the molten metal is like jumping up on it and eventually the nozzle too ... someone told me to switch the polarity. I later found out this tidbit was in the instructions

- jack

[Will]

Made that mistake as well...follow the illustration in the manual to get the polarity right. I have been very happy with my HH175. I use C25 gas most of the time.

Al T. .. Let us know how the aluminum welding goes with this setup.

[Hobart Expert Rock]

RFR........MAN JUST SET DOWN AND PRACTICE, ACTUALLY I WOULD START WITH THE FLUX CORED WIRE MAKE SOME SAMPLE WELDS JUST RUN A BEAD ACROSS A SCRAP PIECE OF METAL......THEN LOOK AT IT TRY A DIFFERENT SET UP SWITCH TO GAS RUN THAT BEAD BESIDE THE OTHER ONE.............COMPARE THE TWO..... PRACTICE WITH IT.......AND YOU WANT TO HAVE SOME FUN WITH IT ALSO DON'T YOU................DON'T START ANY SERIOUS PROJECTS YET TRAILER HITCH'S, ROLL BARS ETC.......PRACTICE FIRST JUST REMEMBER TO BE SAFE..................YOUR ABOUT TO HAVE SOME FUN MAN...............ROCK............
[email protected]

[Bob]

On getting the gas ....

I got lazy and mail ordered my first cylinder. Would have saved money and gotten lots of advice by taking the time for the trip to the closest supplier. For me that was a Praxair place with big selection of welders, supplies, tools, protective gear. Nice place to window shop and get ideas about what is possible.

Bob