The when and why of flux core

Hukshawn said:
I got brass 2" 1/4-20 bolts and nuts from home Depot. Basically amounted to a buck each, with washers.

If I have a heat issue, then I have bigger issues than dealing with the delrin. My conductors would be underrated then.
But, I think this will work fine and will be a good addition to this welder - to have th flexibility to switch to flux core when needed. As a hobby welder (sometimes fabbing up some metal for table legs, etc, for carpentry work for my job (contractor)), I'm never just doing one type of welding only. Flexibility is an asset, and my bossman is happy to have this addition to our/my list of capabilities. He wants to have us get into building some furniture for clients when he can sell it. And I'm happy to ablige. He likes that I have a metal shop as well as the woodshop.wnd I like that he likes that. Excuses to stay home and build something AND get paid. Not something I can enjoy as a hobbiest. Lol.
Click to expand...

Problem solved in about a day and a more capable machine. I would call that a win! Well done.
 
I haven't put it all together yet. Still at work. I'll do it tonight and take pics.
 
Ok, first of all, here is the big stupid bastard. (The eye burning purple light in the background is the leds I put in the back of my truck contractor cap. I had some leds left over for the electrical days and forgot these were like 6000k leds. The white is so cold it's purple... but, they work, so they stay.

I'd like to do a paint job, but there's a lot of writing to mask out.
IMG_20170705_000127.jpg

I posted a picture of the bushings yesterday. Here's all the parts.
The bushings I made, the brass is Home Depot, and the lugs are from my electrical wholesaler
IMG_20170704_214644.jpg

All of the leads converge on this big blade switch.
I was an electrician before I was a full out contractor for quite some time. Electricity doesn't scare me, but oddly enough, threading my hands into this mess, gave me jitters at first.
IMG_20170704_220322.jpg

So here's the bushings installed.
IMG_20170704_225119.jpg IMG_20170704_225127.jpg

I disconnected the work and gun leads from the blade switch (one at a time so as to not get mixed up since nothing is labeled...) cut them or changed out the wires to an appropriate length and crimped on the new lugs on the cut end.
IMG_20170704_230540.jpg

I made a little jig for crimping since I don't have a lug crimp this big.
Was just a piece of aluminum with a 7/16" half circle to cup the lug then just a piece of key stock to act as the stud. Then squeeze.
IMG_20170704_230501.jpg IMG_20170704_230506.jpg

Fished the wires in around everything in a way I liked so nothing rubbed or interfeared, and reused the necessary strain releafs. And bolted everything together. I even labeled the new leads. There's two sets of nuts, one to keep the bolt tight to the bushing, then the second holds the lug on. So everything doesn't fall apart when I switch polarity.
IMG_20170704_233813.jpg IMG_20170704_233807.jpg
It looks like the lugs can touch if they move, but they can't. But, I may add a barrier at some point to ensure that.


Aaaaaaaaand,
IMG_20170704_235626.jpg IMG_20170704_235631.jpg

Got great results.
This is varying heat and wire speed.

I didn't remember how different flux core sounds and acts. It's a different kind of puddle and almost sounds like spray welding rather than short circuit mig.
But after some clean up, wire brush then a wire wheel, looks good, happy. But maaaan, it's diiiirrty welding...

So, I'd call this an unbridled success. It's not horribly difficult to switch. The worst part is how unwieldy the spool is. I wasted more wire from spring-a-ma-thinging wire cause the end slipped out of my hand than I did welding. May have to work out some kind of wire guide or straw to keep the wire from curling off the spool cause it's so far away from the rollers.
Got lots of info and ideas here from the group. Always a pleasure! Thanks.
 
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Hukshawn said:
Ok, first of all, here is the big stupid bastard. (The eye burning purple light in the background is the leds I put in the back of my truck contractor cap. I had some leds left over for the electrical days and forgot these were like 6000k leds. The white is so cold it's purple... but, they work, so they stay.

I'd like to do a paint job, but there's a lot of writing to mask out.
View attachment 236909

I posted a picture of the bushings yesterday. Here's all the parts.
The bushings I made, the brass is Home Depot, and the lugs are from my electrical wholesaler
View attachment 236920

All of the leads converge on this big blade switch.
I was an electrician before I was a full out contractor for quite some time. Electricity doesn't scare me, but oddly enough, threading my hands into this mess, gave me jitters at first.
View attachment 236919

So here's the bushings installed.
View attachment 236918 View attachment 236917

I disconnected the work and gun leads from the blade switch (one at a time so as to not get mixed up since nothing is labeled...) cut them or changed out the wires to an appropriate length and crimped on the new lugs on the cut end.
View attachment 236914

I made a little jig for crimping since I don't have a lug crimp this big.
Was just a piece of aluminum with a 7/16" half circle to cup the lug then just a piece of key stock to act as the stud. Then squeeze.
View attachment 236916 View attachment 236915

Fished the wires in around everything in a way I liked so nothing rubbed or interfeared, and reused the necessary strain releafs. And bolted everything together. I even labeled the new leads. There's two sets of nuts, one to keep the bolt tight to the bushing, then the second holds the lug on. So everything doesn't fall apart when I switch polarity.
View attachment 236912 View attachment 236913
It looks like the lugs can touch if they move, but they can't. But, I may add a barrier at some point to ensure that.


Aaaaaaaaand,
View attachment 236911 View attachment 236910

Got great results.
This is varying heat and wire speed.

I didn't remember how different flux core sounds and acts. It's a different kind of puddle and almost sounds like spray welding rather than short circuit mig.
But after some clean up, wire brush then a wire wheel, looks good, happy. But maaaan, it's diiiirrty welding...

So, I'd call this an unbridled success. It's not horribly difficult to switch. The worst part is how unwieldy the spool is. I wasted more wire from spring-a-ma-thinging wire cause the end slipped out of my hand than I did welding. May have to work out some kind of wire guide or straw to keep the wire from curling off the spool cause it's so far away from the rollers.
Got lots of info and ideas here from the group. Always a pleasure! Thanks.
Click to expand...

"Big stupid bastard" made me laugh! You did an outstanding job on that big stupid bastard......looks like it came from the factory that way.

Your bush fix crimper was genius. I have a big crimper but am filing your idea for future use.

Your welds look fine....maybe a bit cold or the whip made them look that way. You are correct, fuxcore should run with a soft arc and you use more stickout than with solid wire and use a slight drag angle. Small spools in general suck! Tubular wires like knurled drive rolls. This allows for less tension to avoid crushing the filler wire without slipping. Maybe a bit more tension on the spool would help the birdsnest issue.

Now you have a machine capable of correctly running fluxcore. Awesome!
 
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Nah, the first two were cold. Then the one in the middle is hotter and hire wire speed, hence the big puddle. It was deceiving cause the arc is totally different. Seemed I was burning hot but I wasn't. Could I say the arc is a bit violent? Is that something others have noticed with flux core over solid?

Also, what's the difference with having the gas on too? Is it a specific kind of wire needed? I see no discernible difference.
 
Hukshawn said:
Nah, the first two were cold. Then the one in the middle is hotter and hire wire speed, hence the big puddle. It was deceiving cause the arc is totally different. Seemed I was burning hot but I wasn't. Could I say the arc is a bit violent? Is that something others have noticed with flux core over solid?

Also, what's the difference with having the gas on too? Is it a specific kind of wire needed? I see no discernible difference.
Click to expand...

The arc is *kinda* like running 6010/6011 without the deep dig, so a turbulent puddle and dirty all come to mind. The flux/slag package in GASLESS fluxcore creates the envelope to shield the arc and puddle so, using gas is just a waste and could possibly degrade the weld properties. "Dual shield" flux core wire is an entirely different animal. It is generally designed to use C25-C100 as shielding gas. With the exception of the soft arc and longer stickout, it runs nothing like gasless. The polarity is even different DCEP. It has a very easy to remove slag and produces a very smooth bead. It wets out very well too.

I used to burn a 50# coil of the 3/32" Outershield 70 (dual shield) in a shift......I don't miss that!

Wire quality really comes into play with fluxcore. I always had good luck with Lincoln
NR-211MP. I use the best filler metals that I can find, that takes at least one variable out of the situation.
 
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Hukshawn said:
Could I say the arc is a bit violent? Is that something others have noticed with flux core over solid?
Click to expand...

Absolutely agreed.
Flux core is a sparky, spattery, smokey mess. I believe it's the nature of the inner shield chemicals burning and expanding to create your shield gas cloud around the arc.

-brino
 
brino said:
Absolutely agreed.
Flux core is a sparky, spattery, smokey mess. I believe it's the nature of the inner shield chemicals burning and expanding to create your shield gas cloud around the arc.

-brino
Click to expand...
Thats been my take too, but its convenient!

I got lots of splatter from a Harbor Freight roll of flux wire that came with a 90 amp $79 welder. I decided to try a .35 because it was so cheap, well their .35 was nasty too, no more HF wire for me. Love the cheap little 90 amp welder though, it works good for light duty quick repairs on farm stuff. I welded up my turning disc for an hour off and on and it was nice to only need 110 volts. I was surprised how long it would go before shutting down, I pushed the time limits to see how long I could weld and its adequate for field repair work. All for $79! Great to have in your truck tool box.

Normally I use the Lincoln brand of wire and welders from Home Depot. I switched to .35 and .30 Hobart from TSC and that was much better. I liked the Hobart/TSC version of .35 best overall, very little splatter and cleaner. Swapped in a new small roll of Lincoln and I wanted the Hobart again. Maybe I got a good roll of the Hobart brand, I likey this roll. At work we always used some house brand out of an Atlanta welding supply that was good, it performed better than the Home Depot Lincoln stuff. I haven't gone to a welding supply in years though. Maybe my next roll of Hobart will be the same. Flux core is dirty, but I weld outside on miscellaneous red iron and farm equipment.
 
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