Welding Tips and Tricks

Total newbie here and my head is spinning after I’ve done some lookin around at what welders are available.

I need a welder for welding trailer frame tubing or angle iron under 1/4” and everything else involved in welding trailers like fenders and such.

Im looking at flux core welders because I’ll be using it outside. Dont have a shop or garage.

Now heres where I am lost. I look at welders and they have output voltages of 80, 90 and up amps.

How do I decide what amperage welder to get as a 120v unit?

I will get an electrician to install proper amperage service plug outside no matter what I get as most household 120v receptacles are max 15 or 20amps.

Any help, suggestion or ideas would be appreciated!!!

Thanks.

Zero, none, nada. No 120V cheapie flux core welder will do a good job for anything over 12ga (1/8") thick unless you preheat the jebus out of it. If you're on a budget, you 're better off with a 160A+ stick welder that can run 1/8" 7018 without blowing itself up. All you need for E7018 is 125-140A. For running gasless flux core, you need a 240V MIG welder capable of running 035 diameter wire at at-least 180A for 3/16 - ¼" material. Anything less and you as well try welding using a butane cigarette lighter.

Agree with Oscar, none.

However you can get dual voltage machines that can run off of 115 or 220 simple by unplugging one cord and plugging in another. That way you could run it off 115 in a pinch until you can get 220v. Give us an idea of your budget and we can recommend a few.

Flux core can be tricky to set just right, even with a decent machine. A cheap machine will have terrible voltage and wire speed adjustments, you'll always be fighting it.

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My budget is probably between $300 & $400.

I doubt I would ever need to weld a 1/4”.

What would you guys suggest for trailer frame thickness for a utility trailer. Say something like a 6x8’ or 5’x8’ platform?

Walleyeye wrote:
I doubt I would ever need to weld a 1/4”.

Sure buddy, sure. "I Doubt" is not "I 100% certaintly won't". You will want to try 1/4" at some point. And at that point it will be too late, as you can't use amperage you don't have. You know we all weld in some capacity, right? We were all "there" at some point too, lol.

Forget the 120V flux core only welder idea, and trust me, you'll be a lot happier as you learn to weld instead of fight the machine and wonder why your welds look like poop or ask for "any advice?".

Best advice is: 240V MIG (even if you only ever plan to use gasless flux core), variable (not stepped) voltage and WFS knobs (unless you have a lot of voltage steps). The more amperage the better as the machine will not be taxed when you do want to weld up thicker than 1/8". Absolute bare minimum is 160A, but 200A is worlds better.

That being said, you can get a lot more bang for the buck with a stick welder. You can weld thick steel with E6011's on DCEP (1/8" rods only need 80-110A), and they dig deep into the steel for great penetration (something you can't get with a low powered wire-feeder welder unless you go up into the 180A+ range), or E7018's for medium penetration (1/8" rods only need about 90-140A. Then for thinner sheet metal you can switch to smaller diameter E7018's, E7014's, E6013's.

Walleyeye wrote: I doubt I would ever need to weld a 1/4”.

there is a couple of places on the trailer that are thicker than the frame that need some power to weld.

i understand your basically a newbie. i recommend beginners start with stick welding. its simple to setup and teaches the important lessons in welding. its also not as hard as many people make it out to be.
if people recon you where hopeless at mig, thats more about the lack of their skills rather than yours.
stick welders are always handy as a back up, so they are always usefull. i recommend a small inverter stick welder, they are light weight and small. easy to transport and light enough that they can sit on the shelf.

for welding trailers outdoors, stick its perfect.
6011 for dealing with any thing rusty or high penetration on the thick parts. 6013 is perfectly fine for most of it.

flux core welders are simply the cheapest nastiest crap they can make. once you learn to weld you you realize how crap they are and throw it away. save some $$ by not buying it in the first place.

friends don't let friends buy flux core welders.

1/4 is very common, be it angel/flatbar/c channel. To me if a welder doesn't have the oomph to weld 1/4 all day long it's pretty much garbage to me. With stick you get a lot more amps for the buck, especially for a low budget, because it's so simple. No feed rollers, gas solenoids (which cheapo flux core boxes might not even have anyways) just a transformer and 1 adjustment. Stick electrodes are cheap as borsch to, 30-40$ for a 5lb box (maybe 70-80 electrodes in that box, depending on the diameter).

1/4 is a very low thickness to shoot for. Yet most cheapo flux cores will struggle with that. With a 160 amp stick machine you can do that all day long. And faster because you can do it in a single pass.

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friends don't let friends buy flux core welders.

absofreakinlutely!

JayWal wrote:30-40$ for a 5lb box (maybe 70-80 electrodes in that box, depending on the diameter).

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Unless you need name brand, some off-brands will still work quite well while saving you money. Nothing runs like Lincolns, but those are $120+ for a 50lb tin. I've ran Best Welds, Blue Demon, and Anchor Brand electrodes simply because they're cheap at the LWS. They actually run decent. If Lincoln rods are 10/10, Best Welds & Blue Demon are about 7/10, Anchor about 6.5/10. There are also Techniweld electrodes that you might be able to find cheap but I haven't tried those. Oh and Böhler rods run nice too, about 8.5/10, as are Kiswel rods.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/E7018-3-32-Pre ... 8045!US!-1

https://www.ebay.com/itm/E7018-General- ... 8045!US!-1

Someone should try those; I have too many rods as it is, lol. $1.52/lbs shipped can't be beat on that last one. For $67 might be worth a shot, lol.

I concur with the other posters here, if you're already not an experienced welder, you don't want to be fighting an under powered cheap machine on critical trailer welds, regardless of if it could be done.

Here is something I haven't seen mentioned yet though, to get a "decent" 120v wire feeder welder, you're well into the 300-400 dollar range, you'd NEED 140 amps, not "probably want" but NEED 140 amps. a cheapy flux only welder simply won't do it. Maybe it'll melt wire, but it won't be nearly as strong as it should be. But even with a 140AMP capable welder your duty cycle is going to be 20% tops. In fact most 120V machines are going to be closer to 10% maxed out.

By the time you're in the range of a Lincoln 140 or HH140 you're into the price range of a 230v machine anyway, and WELL past the price of a used Lincoln AC225 or even idealarc if you get lucky and a whole bunch of rods. Welds subject to flexion and impact fail, even welds done with decent penetration and deposition. I've seen cracks running through the half inch thick welds on backhoes, I've seen a bent trailer jack that let loose right around the welded seam. Numerous homemade buckets and dump beds with the welds torn clean off. Think about what happens when a heavily loaded trailer hits a pothole..

sbaker56 wrote:..... But even with a 140AMP capable welder your duty cycle is going to be 20% tops. In fact most 120V machines are going to be closer to 10% maxed out.........

thats actually not as bad as you think it is.
my little cheap arc welder is only 8% at 140 amps. apart from very rarely ever need to run it that high, thats long enough to be able to handle the short welds you typically do.

If you are going to have a electrician install a new outlet why are you limiting yourself to 120V. Have them run a 220V.

If you are really stuck on 120V the closest thing to your budget I can think of is Northern tool and Eastwood both offer a knock off of the ESAB 141i fabricator for $400-500. It's only 70A in stick but will run 3/32 rods in a couple types.

I fall into a newbie category myself and bow to the more experienced welders for sure. We're here to learn and grow as welders. A Lincoln tombstone welder would fit the OP's criteria for sure. I've found them new between 300 and 400 bucks, used as cheap as 80. Even a used Thunderbolt around 300.

I started welding with the cheapest of cheap a couple years ago with a HF 125 AC flux and fought with it on almost anything I've welded. Using E71T-11 wire helped a ton, but it was still very limited.

I did very recently upgrade to a HF 125 DC inverter flux welder and it is showing some promising results. Still a very cheap welder, but it welds much hotter and I can run some nice looking welds with the better wire on thicker material than before. I don't think I would trust it on a trailer build just yet though.

Light repair work and fab is all I'll ever do so it's hard to spend big money on machines. I'm looking at getting a tombstone welder myself for thicker material welds on anything I would repair or call structural. As was already said, 220v and bigger amps to weld thicker material. Along with a lot of practice...

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I recommend the used market.
I started with the hh140 and that was a good little machine. I then bought the mm215 and that has served me well. I now think i might upgrade to the mm255.
My point is, as you learn welding you never want to get a smaller welder.
You do have to start somewhere, but you won't regret getting a 240/120 volt machine.


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