I’m not sure if this should go here or over in Tips’N’Tricks. Move as you feel is warranted.
My Hobart AutoArc 130 was having some wire feed problems which I couldn’t fix otherwise. I called up my local welding supply store and asked their opinion. They said that my problem might be in excessive friction in the wire liner between the machine and the gun and so I should try some liner lube grease. It would run me about 20$ and I’d need to drive 70 miles round trip. Well crap…
I know for guns and fishing reels, one wants to use a silicone based lube/protectant because it won’t get dirt stuck in it causing further issues. I didn’t have any gun and reel lube on hand but I did have some silicone based… Ahem Bedroom lube.
I had my roomate stand and pull the wire through the gun while I dripped lube on to bit of paper towel soaked in more lube which was wrapped around the wire being pulled into the liner.
HOLY CRAP, IT IS SO MUCH BETTER!
Adult shops around here usually have “sample sized” packets of the stuff for .50 cents though I live in a fairly “Progressive” part of the country. I’m not sure how easy it would be to find in the center of the Bible Belt where it seems like a lot of our members live. Worst case, online it’s 10$+shipping for a 2oz bottle that will last a LONG time. HERE NOT SAFE FOR WORK!
thanks Pete and Matt for the additional information about what welder to get. After reading the reviews on the Eastwood (sounds like Clint Eastwood lol) I’ve decided that is definitely the way to go. People on Amazon seem happy about this unit and that’s usually a reliable place to get reviews. If the majority of reviews are good on Amazon it’s usually a quality product. So as it stands I believe the Eastwood 175 is set in stone for me and cheap chinese product probably wouldn’t be wise although they do occasionally make quality products. I wanted to order the Eastwood today but I have to deal with financial situations so it will have to wait - but appears to be set in stone at this time and I am very excited about this.
The plan right now is to get it and do some practice welds on scraps and see what I’m made of. I’ve watched probably about 6hrs of instruction on youtube in my spare time (i don’t watch or even have a tv) and I’m ready to do a few practice runs. I originally didn’t realize your skin could get damaged by the light of a welder so it’s very wise to research before jumping into this because your health is at risk from burns, skin cancer, and even have a damaged retina. The 1st tip I learned here seems to be one of the best one’s though came from the original welding article (which I think was by Wayne - sorry read so much I have brain fog) and that’s to get a auto mask. So I’m going to be sure to have very comfortable gloves and auto mask. I’m ready to weld!
Do a bit of research on the mask too, the cheap chinese ones with no variable darkness are not as good as others. For not much more money you can get a much better variable mask and make sure you can buy replacement clears as they do get damaged over time. Be careful leaving lube around your shop Brian people might get the wrong idea LOL.
Gary H.: My “shop” is a fiberglass blanket, a steel cabinet, and a stool made from an old wooden cutting board. See pictures HERE. I don’t think I hve too much to worry about from what people might think. Regardless, the lube got returned to its rightful place on my nightstand next to my bed, ready for use.
Hi guys! Got my Eastwood Mig 175 today. Apperently I need to get the gas tank seperately— so the question is do I need more than 1 tank for Argon and Oxygen or is 1 tank enough and is it ok to weld from a large tank without breaking it down?
Neal, what is the oxygen for? Are you running a cutting torch? No oxygen used for MIG welding.
You do need the 75/25 Argon/CO2 mix to weld with. It comes ready to use from the welding supply. Bottle size is a convenience/price tradeoff, any size will work fine, small ones are more portable and run out faster (more expensive to fill). Wayne refills his small bottle off a large one using an adapter.
Hey NealV.
There will be a few things it could be benifial to oxe-acetylene cutting torch. THEN have to grind clean up anyhow for fitting and welding. I use my torch more for blowing holes, heat bending and brazing.
Quite a few more times an electric plasma cutter (need an air compressor then too) will be more usefull for cutting. Then again often have to grind clean up the cut edge.
So, all in all get a couple of angle grinders 4 1/2", and a larger one and do your cutting with abrasive cut off discs to start out with.
No extra gases then. No larger air compressor needed. Grind cut to fit in one operation using the electricity you already have. Buy these cheap at first and replace with better later.
You’ll want more than one of the small ones to not have to keep changing over from cutting discs to grinding wheels to cleaning wire cups.
Adding a word of caution, a friend of mine had a grinding wheel, brake on him, the piece hit his safety glasses, knocked the lens out of the frame unbroken, and slammed it into his eye. We are all hoping and praying the vision will return as the eye heals, but too early to tell. Be extra careful with any grinder.
Good points CarlZ
Grinder sparks from cutting/grinding carbon steel are actually HOT, HOT oxidize/buring and WILL fuse pit into even hardened prescription eyeglass glass.
To save these I always use a full face shield. Hot weather sweating I’ve taken to wearing a tight screened chainsaw face shield.
Grinder sparks WILL chest bounce up under even face shields and edge past side shielded safety glasses looking for eyeballs. Wire wheel broken off bristles seem to have special affinity for eyes through this sneek route!! Cup wire wheels shed a lot less than flat wheels. Twisted bundle type much less than loose wire type.
Grinder sparks WILL actually MELT through polyester and nylon clothing. Use leather when you can. Thick cotton when you can’t. And check for burn through and hot smolder spotting on the cottons.
Notice Mr Wayne even in the hot/humid always wears closed toed full leather boots. Grinder sparks, cutting slag, and welding spatter WILL burn/melt through nylon/cordova panels and you will learn first hand how to do the hot foot dance.
Grinder sparks are even worse than welding slag about concrete floor skittering long distances, sneaking under and into flamables and later causing fires. Have at least two meduim sized fire extinguishers on hand always to save from the embarrassing 911/fire calls.
I once blew up an auto battery doing floor level grinding. Sparks traveled across the floor, then UP the bench wooden leg to the bench top where the battery was gassing off from a previous couple days of recovery charging.
Face shield, cotton hat and heavy coat saved me from the plastic battery case shrapnel and acid spatter. The ear on that side has never been the same from the BOOM internal bone separations.
Plastic gasoline can anywhere near a metals working area are a BIG NO-NO!
Bleeding a little is OK for the Cause. Permanent injury is not. Sweat to be safe. Be comfortable later kicking back with a cold one.
Once I was using a wire brush on a grinder and later that day I felt something unusual on my stomach. Went to scratch it and it felt sharp, turned out to be a piece of wire from the brush. Went straight in about 30 MM with about 2 MM sticking out. I never felt it and it came out easy but made me very wary about if it had gone in my eye.
Yup the grinder is probably the most dangerous tool in the metal shop. Wheels can blow up, grind disk, and cut off wheels can grab and fly apart. If metal gets on the lens of your eye, your eye will immediately try to heal around it. Your eye will need to be scraped out at the doctors office. Prolonged and repetitive use will bring on carpal tunnel quick with one of these. Ive done alot to eliminate the grinder as much as possible. I go thru just fraction of the disk we were using in the beginning.
I have wheel fragments embedded in the ceiling and a nice hole in the center of my marker board on the wall.
To the new guys don’t be afraid of a grinder but do use caution and be careful. I had a guy working for me that had one wrapped up in his shirt one day and had to run over and unplug it before it cut and beat the heck out of him. So no loose shirts either!!!
I just had an idea that I would like some input on. My cheapo wire welder works pretty good for what it is, but it only has four heat settings and the lowest one is still a little too hot for anything less than about 20 gage metal.
It occurs to me that I could just insert a heavy wire resistance coil between the power outlet and the torch to reduce the voltage a little. I still have room on the wire feel dial to reduce it below the required feed for the present heat setting.
Do you all think this would work? Any idea how much resistance would be needed?
I’d try it with a couple of light bulb sockets in parallel. Then you could try different size bulbs. Not sure it would work but they are cheap and available.
I had the same thought, on dialing down the transformer.I think the only problem would be is what kind of resistor will hold the amps. The designs i seen i think they change length of the primary transformer too lower voltage at the secondary,with heavy transformer cable same as rest of primary winding, The wireing i was looking at came from HTP 2400 mig welder manual.Being a small mig power setting,maybe could parrele some electric stove eliment too add up too the amps needed and see what volt you get,if you run one leg through 3 or 4 eliments parreled,it seems that might work.wear rubber gloves,sun glasses and keep posting,Thanks
I’m with Don on this. I don’t think you need stove elements or anything that drastic. I had my mig hooked up to a 50 length of rather small size extension cord, and found it did not weld very well. I since connect it directly to a wall socket and it works much better. I’m thinking that you aren’t going to get the results you are looking for by reducing the voltage…TomC
Like tom says maybe just a long extension cord would drop the voltage enough, I dont know what amps the lights are,but the eliments would add up about 20 some amps with i think i heard about 6 amps per element.trial and test,fun fun fun.
Thanks all for your responses. I was not thinking of reducing the 220 input but rather between the output and the gun. I know on my old electric golf cart they use large coils of wire in the speed control that look like about #9 fence wire wound around a broom handle.
HI Andy, It looks like the 220 on the transformer is easyer too control as it has much thinner wire too work with, I called the HTP co and the 2400 transformer is 99 pounds about, looking at the wiring, i would say they reduce or change voltage by lessening the amount of raps,if you have about 180 raps around core,than you get less than 220 into secondary, much better than the resistor effect to reduce voltage.A longer cord would probley work about the same for just a little less heat control.I got an old electric mopad and it had an old resistor like the one on your gulf cart, That might work if you had a adjustable spare too use on the outlet side.Maybe someone will have better ideas,THANKS,M
