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Harbor Freight "MIG" welder--Works!

A buddy of mine bought a cheapy wire feed from Harbor Freight and asked me to come over and help him set up.

Bottom line: If you can't spare more than $100 and you don't weld anything thicker than 1/8", this sucker works! Surprised me.

I put in a spool of flux core and adjusted the roller tension. Several test beads later I was thinking that this thing welds better than the Sears 100A I own for 1/3 the cost. The specs say

90A at 10% duty cycle, but I'm thinking its putting out more than 90A based on what I saw. I had to turn it down to keep from blowing through 1/8" scrap.

It says "MIG" on the outside of the box, but I didn't see anyplace to connect the shielding gas. Could have missed it, because I was in a bit of a hurry.

YMMV,

Don W.

Reply to
Don W
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So Don, Ummm... You our your buddy own a gun? Have him take it easy on that and if they offer an extended warranty, jump on it. I just have an un-typical beef with HF from a bad welder (I still go there all the time, just not for anything critical). If not. Find your local target range.

All the best,

Rob

Fraser Competition Engines Chicago, IL. Long Beach, CA.

Reply to
RDF

Some of the cheaper "MIG" welders are sold without the gas solenoid kit installed. I'm not sure what model your friend purchased but for some more money he could have one installed. The other thing is, even though it may say "MIG" on the box it came in it may be a self-shielded flux-core only wire feeder!

Reply to
Gary

Mine is still going strong after 2+ yrs. I used it for a year before upgrading to a bigger machine, then gave it to a buddy, and so far he has replaced most of the sheet metal on his Porsch 911 project car with it.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Reply to
Gunner Asch

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