Re: [Amc-list] possible welder purchase info

[tom jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

I'm an *unskilled* welder, own a little 80-amp Lincoln, and at the
request of my cheap-skate boss, bought a "120 amp" Harbor Fright
welder, and attempted to actually use it.

The little Lincoln was my father's, it's 10 years old. He built two
hot rods with it, including the frame and the custom stainless steel
gas tank. That's way above my skill level, but it's capable of that.
110 volt regular outlet.

As a crap-novice, I can tell you that it's predictable, the
adjustments are smooth and make sense, duty cycle is high enough that
it's not what limits your welding (I forget the numbers). It does what
it does, correctly. If I lost/broke it, I wouldn't hesitate to buy
another.

The HF welder: worthless crap. The "bargain" price means it came
without a gas regulator. The HF regulator uses an odd hose size. The
regulator leaked at the cylinder; there was a flaw in the metal
itself, on the high-pressure side.

The wire feed was really erratic. The knob was calibrated something
like 0 to 10. Even test beads on clean 1/6" steel the wire feed had to
be set to somewhere between 1 and 2, and was very touchy.

The duty cycle was SO BAD you could weld for like 10 minutes then an
overheat switch would click and you'd have to wait. There's a place in
the chassis for a fan, but THERE IS NO FAN.

Overall quality was toy store crap. I wouldn't pay $25 for one. It
would be more trouble than it's worth.

Maybe a skilled welder could work around this stuff, but as a novice,
I found the machine a bear to do anything with. I think there are also
design subtleties involved, like constant, non-surge-y current output
from the Lincoln. The Lincoln, you strike an arc, and it just flows
(not that I don't screw up with erratic motion etc). The HF, it
sounded like a big WHACK of an initial arc, then it died off and you
were left to fiddle with it.

I do have HF auto-dimming helmet, and it's fine. $50 instead of $80.
It's safety gear, not usually a place to cheap out, but quality seems
fine.
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