xjboy14

Just wanted everyones opinion on these welds.
I was using a $100 flux core harbor freight welder on scraps.

The last pic i took a grinder to my welds to clean it up.

CheapCherokee

dang those are ugly! it is flux core though. did you get enough penetration? hard to tell with all the splatery goodness in the way

Bryan98XJ

what wire speed were you using?

mrfajita

not that bad for flux core HF crap

KotaKid287

Imho, not bad for what you're working with. Every flux core welder I've used, including the one in my garage, has been fairly tempermental but once you figure out what settings they like for what you're working with they can work pretty good for some minor fab jobs. No matter what a flux core welder just isn't gonna lay down a really good looking weld compared to a decent normal gas MIG.

xjboy14

Yea I didnt feel like getting the wire wheel out, also the other side had a sticker like a price tag that I didnt notice because it was no where near where I was welding. Didnt notice it untill I realized something smelled weird and part of the metal was on fire. Made an awful mess. I have only had it for about a month and still learning. If you have ever had the 90amp 115v flux core from harbor freight I was on wire speed 5 on max.

EVILXJ

i learned on flux core only and it was alot of years before i used gas, keep at it

cherokee_mud_digger

Has potential, just keep practicing! Welding flux core is tricky sometimes but it's like arc in some ways as far as penetration goes

wiggles

I have that welder, it sucks but it puts stuff together. I wish i could afford a nicer welder but for not it has to do. I excel in stick and mig but you can get good at flux with time

motorcharge

Get rid of the HF crap and pickup a real welder. No sense in practicing on a bad machine.

maxpower_hd

As I mentioned in another post, I had a POS Craftsman 110V MIG that wasn't worth a Sh......t!. It was given to me and I spent more time trying to figure out if my sh.....ty *** welds were because of the welder or me. I would lay a nice bead one minute and nothing but splatter the next. It was really inconsistent and irritating. I had the opportunity to use a friends Snap On welder for a while. It was an older MIG but it was a 230 amp, 220V machine. 90% of my issues went away once I used that machine. It was only practice after that instead of wrestling with a crappy machine.

Then when he took his Snap On back I bought a Hobart Handler 87 which, i guess because it was new, worked better than the Snap On one. I improved instantly just with the machine. So I would also recommend the best machine you can afford instead of wrestling with a crappy machine.

xjboy14

Here are some more for ya, this is about as much as I can afford right now with a highschool weekend job

NorCalJeep

My advice would be to save up and buy a good welder. Flux core sucks, big time.

motorcharge

Snap Ons welders suck and the only reason they sell is because they have the Snap On logo on them. The price on them is insane too. You could buy a nice Miller that's worlds better for the same prices. $1100 for a 125 machine that's made in Italy? lol no thanks.

Miller, Lincoln, or Hobart, everything else sucks.

motorcharge

Flux core doesn't suck unless you don't know what you're doing, you're using a ****ty machine or don't know what wire you need to be using, especially considering half of flux core wire only works on flat/horizontal surfaces.