I have a craftsman welder. Its a mig and runs off of household voltage (110v). I used flux core wire and I run it off of an extension cord out to my driveway. I have welded a few things before while in the army with a stick welder, it was really ugly but it worked. I can't seem to get this thing to make metal stick together. I prepare my surface as well as I have when I have stick welded, but I'm just not getting like "penetration" I think. The welds look like Doo-Doo and are weak.

Should I ditch this POS? Save it for sheetmetal? Should I get a stick? Where do I get a cheap stick?

I plan on reenforcing the uni-frame with some 1/8 steel and I wanna build a custom rack. Is it me, or should I get a new welder????

Oh when I bought the welder it was rated for up to 1/8 steel. It has a wire speed setting and a "heat" setting (thats what I call it) it says A,B,C, or D. D is "hotter" then A.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!

 

try not using the extension cord unless it is at least 10wire I think you are loosing amps and that will not let you weld

 

I'd heard something like that before. So NO extension cord.

Anyone got anything else to add.

 

I'm not good at welding with my wire-feed yet but the faster wire speed and hotter settings are for thicker materials.

 

use the guide on the side of the unit to set the heat and wire speed if either is off it wont look good and the penetration will be bad. and make sure the metal is not to thick for your unit. if using a extension cord get a unit with thick gauge wiring and as shot as possible for the job

 

It sounds like maybe you just need to learn a few things about welding. First, you can run an extension cord. I do on my 250 amp MIG, but it is number 8 wire rated for 50 amps. So check your cord, it needs to be number 10 wire rated for 30 amps. You can't use the one your wife uses for the lamp.

The next thing you need to be aware of is that on most MIGS there are two things you adjust. Amperage and wire speed. You can turn up the amperage and still if you have the wire feed up too high it will not melt the wire properly. But too low you will burn the wire back up into the gun

When you look at the weld as it is happening, what you should see is a white hot puddle. I don't think you are seeing that. Also it sounds like you may have the gun too far from the material. I can't tell for sure from your description since I am not there.

Which brings me to the last point. Swallow some pride and go to your local community college and sign up for an evening welding course. Once you can weld with a stick, MIG will be a piece of cake.

 

Thanks. I'm getting a white-hot puddle, the welds just break easy and look horrible. lots of holes, and when I tap'em with my hammer they flake alot more crap then other welds I have done with a stick at work.

Does using flux compared to a gas make a HUGE difference or is it me?

I wish I had time to take a night course but I have kind of a weird job in the military and my schedule is absolutely unpredictable. We don't have a welder in my battalion like we usually do. I had the old welder show me how to use his equipment and I didn't seem to have the problems with the stick.

 

is your polarity set correct for flux core

 

hrmm.......I don't think it has a setting for that but I will sure check. This thing was meant to be like for a total idiot. The instructions are mostly pictures. I think it was meant for hobby welding. I got it really cheap so............

 

the polarity adjustment is where the gun hooks up there is a positive and negative setup and the little setup guide on the welder should show the correct setup if wrong you can get excess splatter

 

This might be a dumb question, but what kind of alloy are you trying to weld. You have to match the rod to the alloy. For instance, you can't weld copper bearing steel with mild steel rod. You can't weld to steel with magnesium in it either. If you weld spring steel with mild steel rod, it will break easily like you are describing, but with the right rod, you won't even have to retemper it. So what do you know about this metal?

 

I'm no expert but the last thing I welded that broke (like everything else) was a peice of steel angle Iron to the frame of my pickup. It was a braket for my steering stabilizer. OH! and the wire says for steel.

 

can you post up a pic of the machine for us to see. maybe it does not have enough amps to do what you want

 

here's a pic......

I'm guessing this thing is just for sheetmetal.

 

Does it have a setting for using a shielding gas, if so use it. Gas is far better than flux core. HTH!!