mig welder, gas kits?

[streetslide]

I got this cheapo mig welder from harbor freight( http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44567 ) its gas less, the welds look like ***, and its splatters a lot and its hard to get a good weld, my friend told me they sold gas kits for the gasless welders, where can I buy one of these? thanks

[Roger]

I think you will only make your cheap poor performing welder a more expensive peice of junk. Best to buy a MIG welder made by major manufacture, Hobart, Miller, Thermal Dynamics or Lincoln.

Shielding gas conversion kit for Lincoln weldpacs are available. Hobart sells shielding gas conversion kit for HH125. You would be on your own making anothers companies shielding gas conversion kit work with your welder.

Normally the wire feed welding machine's DC output polarity is changed when changing from welding with shelf shielding flux core wire to solid wire with shielding gas. You would have to provide means to change output polarity on your welder. But your cheap welder might have AC output.

Let us know how it works out.

[Dan]

I am sorry, but I have to agree with Roger, if you can find a gas kit for that machine I think you will just be wasting more money on that piece of junk. I really hope you aren t welding anything other then sheet metal with the machine. I bet they advertised that it will weld up to 3/16" or 1/4" please don t try this that machine is way under powered for material that thick.

[Scott V]

Dan,I wonder if it has wirefeed tracking?
It probably welds like it does!

[Franz]

Ya can't polish a turd, and ya can't make that piece of crap a welder by adding gas.

Idea concept for the guys in the Skunk Works Developement Lab~
Weld In A Box.
Specifications:
Looks like a welder
Weighs 15 #
Runs on 120 volts
Welds MIG, TIG & Stick, Plasma attachment available
Capacity from 22 gague thru 1/2"
Gas kit available
Sells for $199.95
3 year warranty, but only when hand carried to the prison in China where it was made.
AND, Inverter technology, the light will still work when you hang the hunk of crap upside down from a coathanger.

[Gary Patton]

Do yourself a favor and sell it to the someone who will weld a crack on a lawnmower deck once every three years with it. If you try to use a generic welder very often, it will soon need repair parts, and good luck finding them. I work in a welding supply shop, and you just can't find parts for the no-name machines.

[p.dow]

return it

i have returned stuff to HF... no problem.

paul

[Hobart Expert Rock]

STREETCHARGE.............WELCOME ABOARD.............I'M SORRY BUT I'VE NEVER WELDED WITH ONE OF THESE UNITS BEFORE..... CAN YOU ADVISE AS TO WHO MAKES THIS.......... I THINK THEY WOULD BE THE ONLY ONES WITH PARTS TO CONVERT IT.............OR PERHAPS THE FOLKS WHO SELL IT..................SORRY NOT MUCH HELP I KNOW...............ENJOY THE SITE.................I ALWAYS LIKE TO ASK HOW YOU MANAGED TO FIND THE SITE........... BE SAFE.....
ROCK........... [email protected]

[Dan]

Originally posted by Scott V
Dan,I wonder if it has wirefeed tracking?
It probably welds like it does!

Scott, Even though I think wire speed tracking on the MM 175 is a totally stupid idea. I dought that this machine can come close to the weld quality that the MM 175 can produce once you finally find the sweet spot Of course, it is quite a time consuming process to find. Bob from Michigan definately did a good thing when he sold his MM 175 and got the MM 251. It took me a grand total of about 5 minute to have the MM 251 tuned in when I test drove it. Now I m starting to depress myself again. If this new computer knows whats good for it, it better run trouble free for quite some time.

[Scott V]

Dan,I didn't want to pick on your new welder,but I figured if you keep talking about wirefeed tracking maybe somebody would get the message! I know you got it loud,and clear.I knew it was bunk even on a tap machine,and I have been saying it for a long time.The Hobarts get along fine without it.Don't they?Also if it was the best thing since sliced bread,you would think they would put it on the Miller 210.

[Dan]

Originally posted by Scott V
Dan,I didn't want to pick on your new welder,but I figured if you keep talking about wirefeed tracking maybe somebody would get the message! I know you got it loud,and clear.I knew it was bunk even on a tap machine,and I have been saying it for a long time.The Hobarts get along fine without it.Don't they?Also if it was the best thing since sliced bread,you would think they would put it on the Miller 210.

Scott

Wirespeed tracking on my MM 175 is fair game to insult. The more people that speak up about it the better chance there will be that the Miller people will understand that the consumer doesnt want this headache to deal with. If this machine had been designed with a more traditional approach, instead of wire speed tracking, Miller would have a sweet machine.

The HH 135 and HH 175 are wire speed tracking machines too. The tapped voltage selection makes it easier to deal with so, I don' t get worked up about it on them. It doesn t take me long to tune the HH 135 or HH 175.

Don t even mention putting wire speed tracking on the MM 210. That isn t even funny. The MM 210 is the one machine that I have that I won t part with even for the MM 251.

[streetslide]

Re: return it

Originally posted by p.dow
i have returned stuff to HF... no problem.

paul

even if its been used?

btw, I found the site through homemadeturbo.com

[p.dow]

return policy

check the guarantee in the catalog.
"if for any reason you are not satisfied........., you may return it within 30 days for full refund......"
you must follow there return instructions.
call the HF cust. satisfaction # 1 800 4443353
i always save boxes for awhile... hope you did to.
makes it easy to return.
you pay return shipping.

dont worry - if its under 30 days and your original box was torn to shreds and you tossed it ...just pack it well into a similar size box and return it with the card they send you.

thats what i think i would do.
goood luck with the return if thats what you do-
and the future welding.

paul