I almost exclusively weld outside since I almost burned down the shop. It’s a hazard to weld in there until I clean it out. Might have to make a wind brake for MIG
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My welder with weld flux or gas weld . It will weld .023 and up to .045 wire. At the low setting it will weld thin 20 , 18 gage metals nicely like thin barrels . It handles the bigger spools which is nice. On the high setting it will weld 1/2" very nicely.
It is a 230 volt welder.
Bob
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Ok thanks bob, i was just wondering if anyone had good luck with the yes welder chinese welder, it looked like a good DUTY CYCLE, for price i seen the 3 in 1 welder for 399.00$ maybe an old web page or sold out add,not sure. My mig holds 30 or 44 pound rolls,I replaced the wire feed whole unit, as i had another unit from an auction house.Old one was slipping on rollers, I might have bought one on amizon from china too, not sure what unit i used, i am building a hobart 220 amp full size mig welder,bought at auction cheap, think it just needs wire feed fixed or replaced.
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I usually weld outside too , just on the windy days would be nice too have flux core mig setup, mine only welds with the gas. At leiste i think flux core works good out in the wind,not sure, Can you weld outside on windy days with fluxcore welder, without air bubbles in weld.?
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I haven’t noticed any issues on windy days, but I live in a holler surrounded by trees so it might not get as windy.
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Maybe its just on the windier days, it was clipping good two days ago here and i had too wait for wind too stop too weld, i put a piece of tin too block the wind, that helped a little here and there, really windy a chilly today, dropping down too 29 f in the late morning.Probbly weather changing back cold stiring the extra wind energy.
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Not really an issue for these discussions but keep in mind that you are dealing with heat and cold; expansion and contraction. Radical changes either way are not good. Welding on railroad bridges, like overpasses on a highway, we had a guy with a rosebud torch head and he preheated the joint to a very dull cherry red ahead of the welder. A state inspector for each team also watched to make sure it was being done according to spec. Of course this was late 60’s , early 70’s when I was doing that kind of welding. I’m sure it’s much different now but the principles are the same. Eliminate as much as you can temperature differentials between the metal and the weld. If your weld is going to fail it will usually be where you strike your first arc. As you continue, the weld itself will provide sufficient preheat.
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I worked in a fab shop years ago, had to preheat every weld to 400 degrees
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Well, I got some welcome news today. I was accepted to the Wounded Warriors Welding Class for sometime in 2023. A great organization and looks like a great 6 week class: https://www.wwfs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Veterans_Welding_Class.pdf
From all accounts, MIG welding will probably be my go to method in doing a gasifier. If during the course, we are allowed to concentrate on or practice something in particular, besides MIG or when doing MIG, are there things you would suggest I particularly work on while there to hone my skills for a gasifier build, or for general farm repairs?
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Learn stick as well. It’s a good standby when you can’t get gas and don’t want to pay for rolls of flux core.
It’s really tricky to weld thin stuff with stick but it is doable. Would work better for the stuff 1/8" and up.
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I agree with cody, i welded with stick many years before i got a halfway decent mig welder, the mig works much better easyer anway,faster too. I have stick welded16 and 18 gauge sheet metal with stick welder , the real thin 1/16" sticks are more money than standard 1/8" rod, I welded mostly with 6011 rod. Some rod require ac voltage and some rod require dc voltage. I think 6011 rod works with the cheaper ac arc welders.6011 rod works good with ac or dc volts, and is good for rusty dirty metal welding , dont need be perfectly clean metal. THERE is nothing like the speed of mig welding with a good mig weld machine, after stick welding for years.
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I’m primarily a stick welder, being a dinosaur and all, but if you are like me and think work is fun then Running TIG, once you get the hang of working two handed, is fun. In truth, I enjoy it all but I will say that working with good equipment is a definite plus. You can weld with cheap machines and lord knows I do now, but it gets frustrating.
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I’ve welded and brazed for 45 years now. I’ve used many of the various processes and used some less common alloys.
Much of the metal joining work needed for a gasifer can be done with gas welding, brazing or silver soldering. It can actually be easier to obtain joints that are strong and free of any leaks using these processes rather than by electric arc welding.
MIG welding has gained popularity over the years. It is fast and can be cleaner and produce less smoke than other arc welding processes. However - it is very easy to produce poor results using MIG. So much so that MIG welding is not accepted for aircraft structures.
Much of the problem is failure of the initial part of the weld to have sufficient heat to wet out the weld deposit.
Using a power source with high frequency add on or a high frequency inverter power source helps initiate the arc and increases the wetting and penetration of the weld for the same amount of amperage. I’ve used both for decades. For MIG - it is not required. However - once you’ve had a high frequency power source - you desire it.
Inverter power sources are not all the same. If you have a choice the higher frequency units work nicer. I had Thermal Arc welders that I lost to the fire. I really liked them. I also had a Hobart 120 MIG that I ran a lot of wire through that was also lost. I wanted another 110v machine and preferred one that would also operate on 220v. I decided I was going to try a low cost inverter MIG. I bought a YES welder 205DS.
There are many items I can complain of. To start with - they did not connect the wires to the power switch correctly. The cooling fan operated any time the unit was plugged into an outlet. They offered to have me return it or direct me how to reconnect the wires with the claim that they would refund some money to my credit card. I corrected their mistake but they did not issue the refund credit.
While inside the welder to correct their mistake I looked at how it was made. Whew. I was surprised. The electronics are all mounted on a copper clad circuit board. The thin copper is not capable of conducting the current output. Thus they simply applied copious amounts of lead solder to the copper traces to increase the current carrying capability and conduct heat from the components. The output leads are simply bolted against the lead solder. The convex solder deposit does not make a good contact surface and the heat from this was evident when I was finally able to get instructions on correcting the assembly error. The fragile circuit board limits how tight the bolts can be tightened to increase contact with the lead solder.
The sheet metal case is very thin. This saves weight but it is really easy to bend the wire access door by the plastic latch. The face of the machine is plastic. The clear door for accessing the settings is obviously fragile.
The wire feeder utilizes “aluminum” for the structure which is definitely preferred over the plastic that some companies use.
I DO NOT like the synergistic control settings. Had they included better instructions AND a settings chart it might be less of an issue. Personally - give me a separate knob for current and one for wire feed rate. How does it weld? I am happy with the welding capability of the machine. Welds on 110v definitely have more effective penetration than any transformer based 110v MIG that I have used. Exactly what I expected from an inverter MIG welder based on my prior experience. I’m an old fart - I just do not like the synergistic controls.
I generally use 75/25% Argon/CO2 shielding gas. The argon conducts electricity which improves welding performance. This is notable with transformer machines and even more so with an inverter.
I ran out of solid filler wire near the end of a project last year welding 3/16 wall tube. I quickly tried using flux core “wire” with the 75/25 gas. WOW! The flux core plus argon in the shielding gas was surprising. Very strong arc. I had to turn down the output as it was repeatedly tripping the 110v 30amp breaker. This was apparently because if I held the gun too close to the part then the arc could jump directly from the contact tip to the part rather than have to pass through the filler wire. I’ve not experimented with it more since. I had concerns of overloading the welder.
I have some concern of the lack of robust construction in the long term but I have used it for 2 years now. If it lasts 7 years then I will likely have a machine with more options available to me to replace it with for a similar purchase price and then again 7 years later and will have spent less money on all 3 machines than for one name brand machine today.
The O-ring that seals the gas fitting of the whip to the welder outlet failed. It simply broke - obviously not high quality nitrile. I was surprised to find that YES welder not only did not have replacement O-rings available - they also could not state what was the proper size to obtain. This is one issue with YES welder - limited customer support.
I would buy from them again for what I’m using the machine for.
Of note - I have a true 30amp 110v weather proof outlet that I installed for my motor home that I use for the welder. I used 25ft of 8 gauge wire to supply it with power from the main fuse panel. I am thankful that the power center has a 30 amp breaker in it as I have tripped the breaker a number of times. Particularly when using the flux core with shielding gas. I’d not like to have to go into the house repeatedly to reset the mains. I have considered adding another wire so that I can have a 220v outlet outside for the welder to plug into.
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Tim; in the class ask to be taught how to weld thin sheet metal—20 gauge. When I took a class at a college, all they taught us was how to weld 1 inch thick stuff. As I wrote earlier, I am just now learning to weld sheet metal and I took the class and have been welding with oxy/acy and stick for over 50 years. Welding the 1 inch stuff gets you prepared for “certification’s”. If you are getting into woodgas, you will be doing a lot of welding on material that is closer to 20 gauge. I am leaning welding ! inch steel has little to relate to welding sheet metal. TomC
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Another tricky skill is welding thick to thin, usually perpendicular or butted up.
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I doubt anyone is going to teach sheet metal joining in a welding class. It’s not really welding. It’s tack stitching and you would learn it in an auto body class. Anywhere you can get access a non-conductive backer of some sort will prevent a lot of blow through. I have mentioned before that I use old brake shoes or pads.
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Same with me Tom, when I took welding in college, but at work at U & I Sugar company in Moses Lake we were weld up vent tubing for the sugar beet piles 3 barrels with spacers weld in and rebar for crossbracing. Lol I just realized that I was getting welding training on the job back in the early 70’s for build gasifiers now. What goes around comes around in life. And we were using stick welders back then.
Bob
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We did in our HS metals class. It was called spot welding. LOL
I will have to try a brake pad. I am gifted, I can blow through holes through just about anything. I swear I have almost mastered the fine art of knowing how to use a MIG welder as a plasma cutter. 
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I use a piece of 3/16 copper to back up, it was an old piece of electrical buss bar
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Thanks for all your guys imputs! I appreciate it!