Hobart 235 ACDC Stick welder

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Walperstyle
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Hobart 235 ACDC Stick welder

Post by Walperstyle »

I kinda jumped and purchased this. ...would have rather had a TIG machine, but this will let me do some stuff.

I've only known how to do stick at my work, so hopefully I'll get her wired up and you can laugh at my work.

Picked the welder up, with some 6010 6013 and 7014 rods, for $500 total.

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TinyT
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Post by TinyT »

Oh no :( take it back. You shouldn't go anywhere near a vehicle with an arc welder. Even a flux core welder would be better than that. Those things are for farmers and bridge builders.
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Post by beercandrifter »

how do you know he isnt fabbing chassis for tractor pulls =)
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Walperstyle
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Post by Walperstyle »

TinyT wrote:Oh no :( take it back. You shouldn't go anywhere near a vehicle with an arc welder. Even a flux core welder would be better than that. Those things are for farmers and bridge builders.
Any welding on the chassis will be done with small rods, and with the electronics removed, and probably the ground wire placed somewhere non-rusty.

Besides, I plan on building a heavy duty bumper for the Xterra. ...maybe.
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Post by 240cp »

You do know that u can still tig weld with that machine right? You need a special hose that u can hook up your electrode to the gas hose. Also it will b scratch start, but none the less DC tig. Of course this is for stainless and carbon steel only.
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Post by iceman1357 »

Walperstyle wrote:
TinyT wrote:Oh no :( take it back. You shouldn't go anywhere near a vehicle with an arc welder. Even a flux core welder would be better than that. Those things are for farmers and bridge builders.
Any welding on the chassis will be done with small rods, and with the electronics removed, and probably the ground wire placed somewhere non-rusty.

Besides, I plan on building a heavy duty bumper for the Xterra. ...maybe.

the clamping electronics and fill rod is not the issue its the shielding gases... you wont have any. can you do it? of course you can. should you let anyone know you did? no. its like banging fat chicks man. we all do stuff we cant tell our friends until we are drunk.
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Walperstyle
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Post by Walperstyle »

240cp wrote:You do know that u can still tig weld with that machine right? You need a special hose that u can hook up your electrode to the gas hose. Also it will b scratch start, but none the less DC tig. Of course this is for stainless and carbon steel only.
I have looked into that actually. I just want to start playing around first. I probably should have purchased the $800 plasma cutter too, ah well. Always looking for a cheap Lincoln or Miller if anyone wants to feel sorry for me 8)
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Post by Jackasknissan »

no reason you cant do dc tig with that machine..

you'll be suprised if your good what you can weld with a stick, thin stainless is doable if you can whip and really watch your heat input.
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Post by Walperstyle »

electrician comes in Wednesday to wire up my garage.
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Post by Walperstyle »

Well, After about 6 months of not welding anything, I realized how much I suck. Took a few attempts to fuse some stuff together using 7014. I want to get good with 7014 before I open the box of 7018.

Curious, for doing stuff like exhaust, what rod do you prefer, amperage, and do you prefer to do DC+ or AC?

I'm very new at this. At my work, we used 6010 1/8 and pretty much built and repaired 1 inch thick stuff. It was easy.
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Post by Jackasknissan »

Dc electrode pos.135 amps and1/8, 7018.,try it .,

, also Id likely run1/16,308o rod at about 55&60 amps to do thinner stainless, try some vertical up welds too to get a feel for your heat input.. try and weave a 3/4" pas, keep the rod pointing about 20 degrees up .and try and weasel a rAte that the puddle stays alive and pause on thw sides to get a nice flat head profile
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Post by Walperstyle »

Jackasknissan wrote:Dc electrode pos.135 amps and1/8, 7018.,try it .,
135? are we talking thicker downpipe type material here? I do have those rods, but I expected I'd want smaller. I guess a 7018 1/8 would fill a larger area. Slag seems to come off real easy.
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Post by Walperstyle »

125 amps on thin stuff. 1/8 rod is big, but man once I got the hang of it, easy stuff to work with. Only problem was I had to move fast or I would burn through. Would take 2 seconds per inch of travel.

Slag comes of so easy.

Either way, I'm going to setup this for scratch start TIG as soon as I can source a good bottle.
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Post by Nova_Eclipse »

Make sure you clean your beads thoroughly when you're done, and watch your beads to make sure you're not getting slag inclusions or pinholes if you're welding something that has to be sealed, like exhaust or intake pipes. Otherwise, have fun! :D A stick welder can be just as useful and precise as any other kind of welder, provided you practice, practice, practice and are careful with your joint set-up. You can even weld aluminum and cast iron with it with the right rods. I've never tried either, and supposedly the aluminum rods are harder to clean, but the options are there. You won't be able to have the precise heat control that a dedicated TIG machine has because you won't have the foot pedal or torch control with scratch start TIG, but it'll probably be easier to weld thin stuff. If you want to stick with stick for awhile and need to weld thin stuff, try finding some 3/32" or 1/16" rod. Those will let you lower your working amps so that you don't have to use such a high travel speed and have less chance of burning through. I've welded 16 and 18 gauge sheet metal with a stick using the smaller electrodes and they really help. Just remember to keep your electrodes DRY, especially in the case of your 7018s.
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Post by Walperstyle »

Thanks

I've pretty much used up all my scrap metal. Hope to find some more from an exhaust shop or something. So far I'm good with flat, but need to practice other positions.

I think I'm going to start building a stand, then table, then make a few BBQ's to build some revenue to fund other projects.

I really want to get into building a v-mount .
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Post by Walperstyle »

...so, guess who has been using 7018 AC rods on DC setting for the past 3 days.?

I looked at the box today. Says 7018 in big numbers, then in fine print under a sticker i see 7018ac. Great. :cry:

This might explain a little on thin stuff why I either blow through, or have issues holding an arc.

...back to thicker stuff and more practice.
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