What flux core wire are you using?

Well guys I finally was able to get back to some welding today. I am making a cart for a 25 gallon garden sprayer tank out of an old bed frame. I bought a spool of Lincoln NR211 and I got a magnifying lens for my helmet. What a difference. With the lens I can actually see what I am doing. And there is no comparison between the NR211 and the HF junk. My welds now look like welds should look instead globs of splatter. I'll take some pictures tomorrow.
 
I used to use flux cored wire from NAPA, and had good results with it. I tried solid wire and CO2 with my little welder. I found out that it could not make enough heat for this to work.
 
mickri said:
Well guys I finally was able to get back to some welding today. I am making a cart for a 25 gallon garden sprayer tank out of an old bed frame. I bought a spool of Lincoln NR211 and I got a magnifying lens for my helmet. What a difference. With the lens I can actually see what I am doing. And there is no comparison between the NR211 and the HF junk. My welds now look like welds should look instead globs of splatter. I'll take some pictures tomorrow.
Click to expand...

If you think the Lincoln NR211 wire alone made that much of a difference, just wait until you get rid of that Harbor Freight flux core welder! I could be wrong since I don't know exactly which one you have, but if it's the one I'm thinking of, it's the same model that everyone (on other forums) always ask about "how to make their welds" better, even with the good wire. And the answer is, you can't because it uses AC output for the wire! AC I said! LOL. That is why it will always have tons of spatter, as gasless flux core wire needs DC with electrode negative polarity.
 
I converted my welder to DCEN. Wasn't hard to do.
 
New member here - total noob.

So that nobody is in any doubt, I will immediately demonstrate my complete ignorance - things can only get better from there, right?

I have one of the much maligned HF AC welders - I can't afford to replace it, so I'm looking at improving both it and me. First task seems to be converting to DC.

All of the DC-AC conversions I've seen use a bridge rectifier, and most of them use a large electrolytic capacitor for smoothing. But I was thinking of something else. For the decorative welding I have in mind (garden ornaments etc), I find that the MIN setting allows me to lap-weld 3/8 rebar, but cuts through sheet metal like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

Has anyone tried using just a half-wave rectifier, thus reducing the voltage, and hence current as well?

My thinking is that this might allow me to weld sheet metal on the MIN setting, and still weld rebar on the MAX setting.

Any experience? Thoughts? Comments? Complaints? Insults?

Thanks!
 
you may only lose a couple volts through the rectifier, it really doesn't limit current.
simply put, if the voltage drops, current raises, to do the same work.
for example 22volts @ 80 amps = 1760 watts
if you drop the voltage to 20volts, the Amperage will raise to 88 amps to get the 1,760 watts
 
The smallest wire you could get your hands on will make a difference. How small of a flux core wire cane you get? I remember running. 027 thru mine, but I cant remember if it was flux core or not.
 
you will not be able to find mass-produced available-to-consumer gasless flux cored wire smaller than 0.030".
 
Welcome to the forum. Lots of really knowledgeable people on here who will bend over backwards to help you.

I hadn't welded in maybe 30 years when I got my HF flux core welder. I did the conversion with the bridge rectifier and a capacitor. It was not hard to do and not expensive. It made a world of difference in the welding. I have also started using lincoln 211 wire. It is a multi pass wire which to my limited knowledge means that I can make multiple passes when welding. A lot of flux core wire is single pass. When welding thin stuff I have found that it is best to make a bunch of tack welds spread about an inch apart. Then go back and put another tack weld partially over the previous weld and so on until you are done. Another thing that you have to practice with is the feed rate on the wire. It makes a difference that I am still learning and don't have figured out yet.
 
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