Harbor Freight MIG/ FCAW wire

[Gary Fowler]

I guess it could have been the hole size was not accurate, off by a thousandth or so. They are just copper so that should not be an issue

 

[erty67]

It definitely helps to have the 10 pound spools. Just have to figure out how to keep this Arkansas humidity out of the wire.

Maybe throw some silicone moisture packets in the bottom of the welder?

 

[A-one]

I've found that the ammo box from Harbor Freight and moisture absorbers from Dollar Tree work wonderfully.

I bought the ammo box with a tray and storage in the lid. It has a rubber seal on the lid that seals pretty good from what I can tell. I can fit a couple of 10 pound spools of flux core wire, a 2 pound spool of solid wire, and a moisture absorber inside with a little room to spare.

The moisture absorber has been in there since the end of July, and it is nowhere near being done. I'm guessing it'll last until the spring. As it pulls the moisture in, water is collected in a space under the pellets. After 3 months, I only have about a teaspoon of water collected in the bottom. I haven't had any problems with my wire. No porosity other than when I'm welding something really dirty. I need to do better at prep.

 

[A-one]

Maybe throw some silicone moisture packets in the bottom of the welder?

I would be swapping packets every other day.

 

[PILOON]

Re splatter, glad I read all this thread!
My el cheepo splattered so badly that I was fearing a shop fire
Mind you that was with the Chinese no brand wire that came with the welder. .
Now I know a lot has to do with wire quality so must purchase a good brand and try again.

Heck I'd not even wanted to weld outdoors for fear of starting a forest fire and I'm not in California.

ALSO, on my ever 'to do list' is a rod oven that I must change the title over to "ROD/WIRE OVEN", I guess.
Kinda lazy as even a tight wooden sealed box C/W a 60 watt bulb should even do the trick.

For my rods, I store them in the plastic cases they came in but always seal with duck tape and so for that's worked out just fine.
Also my shop/garage is always heated @ 45 F or so mainly to prevent rusting of tools etc., besides it is attached to the house and sports the same insulation standards.

 

[California]

[FC wire] .... none is as good as the Welcote E71T-11 I got from Yomax4. I was going to hook up my C25 and solid wire but this welds so good, I am just going to use that for now and save the gas and wire for thin stuff.

I learned something from this comment you posted back in July.

I got a roll of Hobart E71T-11 from Tractor Supply. I like this best of anything I've used. Low splatter, no porosity, and the flux chips/brushes right off for a clean second pass. Thanks for posting your experience!

 

[Lennyzx11]

I had that happen one time. Mostly I just arc out the tip but the wire doesnt fuse to the tip. I do take a oxy-acetylene torch tip cleaner to the contact tip sometimes to clean out the carbon build up and that makes it feed much better. I also chuck up the tip in my drill and then sand the end down to make a new round end after arcing it several times. I did the same thing to the electrode in my Plasma rig. It had quit starting the pilot arc. The electrode had a pit burned into the center. A little sanding to remove the pit and it then worked fine. I only have one spare for it and need to make them last.

Good idea to try.
I have a tip that I traded out on my Hypertherm plasma cutter that is pitted and the pilot arc won’t start with it.
Things are so expensive, you have to get what you can out of them.

Back to the thread.
I run a wood stove that keeps humidity down. I think I’ll move my extra spools over closer to that corner. I never knew or thought about mig wire absorbing moisture like welding rods till reading this thread.

 

[Gary Fowler]

When sanding, work the electrode for the plasma cutter around so that the contour remains concentric just like a new one. That way the air flow will still be like it has a new tip. Any flat spots might cause an erratic cut line. That is why I chuck it up in a drill so I can sand all of it the same. By working the drill up and down about 90 degrees against the sand paper while the drill is rotating fast, I get a perfectly shaped tip.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I've found that the ammo box from Harbor Freight and moisture absorbers from Dollar Tree work wonderfully.

I bought the ammo box with a tray and storage in the lid. It has a rubber seal on the lid that seals pretty good from what I can tell. I can fit a couple of 10 pound spools of flux core wire, a 2 pound spool of solid wire, and a moisture absorber inside with a little room to spare.

The moisture absorber has been in there since the end of July, and it is nowhere near being done. I'm guessing it'll last until the spring. As it pulls the moisture in, water is collected in a space under the pellets. After 3 months, I only have about a teaspoon of water collected in the bottom. I haven't had any problems with my wire. No porosity other than when I'm welding something really dirty. I need to do better at prep.

I have one of those but I use it to store my tempering oil for my knife making activities. I think I will pick up a couple more next time I am at HF. I have been keeping my wire in a ziplock plastic bag. I have a dehumidifier running full time at the back of the shop. It collects about 2 gallons of water per day on average.

 

[A-one]

I have one of those but I use it to store my tempering oil for my knife making activities. I think I will pick up a couple more next time I am at HF. I have been keeping my wire in a ziplock plastic bag. I have a dehumidifier running full time at the back of the shop. It collects about 2 gallons of water per day on average.

I haven't done any welding in about a month. I just took a peek inside the ammo box the other day to see how the moisture absorber was doing. There was quite a bit of water collected at the bottom of it. It's been in there 4 or 5 months, and the water that's been collected is probably more from the opening and closing to get the spools out and put them back. I probably should go back and see if Dollar Tree still sells them. That $1 could save a lot of headache.

I need to get another ammo box too. I've been entertaining the thought of getting one of the cheaper inverter stick welders. I figure the box might be able to keep some 7018s in good shape. I have doubts about building my trailer bbq pit with flux core. But that's a whole other thread.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I haven't done any welding in about a month. I just took a peek inside the ammo box the other day to see how the moisture absorber was doing. There was quite a bit of water collected at the bottom of it. It's been in there 4 or 5 months, and the water that's been collected is probably more from the opening and closing to get the spools out and put them back. I probably should go back and see if Dollar Tree still sells them. That $1 could save a lot of headache.

I need to get another ammo box too. I've been entertaining the thought of getting one of the cheaper inverter stick welders. I figure the box might be able to keep some 7018s in good shape. I have doubts about building my trailer bbq pit with flux core. But that's a whole other thread.

You could do away with the moisture absorbing gel completely by just using a bit of your MIG welding gas. Just put your torch into the ammo box for a couple seconds and the argon being dry and heavier than air will displace any moisture laden air and give a completely inert atmosphere. To keep the wire from feeding, just release the tension roller first.

 

[A-one]

You could do away with the moisture absorbing gel completely by just using a bit of your MIG welding gas. Just put your torch into the ammo box for a couple seconds and the argon being dry and heavier than air will displace any moisture laden air and give a completely inert atmosphere. To keep the wire from feeding, just release the tension roller first.

I haven't gotten around to getting set up for MIG yet. Another reason that I'm shooting for a stick welder. I want to try my hand at some other metals also. I was looking at trying the Titanium Stick 225 from Harbor Freight. The thought i had earlier was about aluminum being welded with AC though. Probably a way around that. I just haven't done the homework yet.

 

[A-one]

I stand corrected. I thought aluminum was AC with SMAW. Apparently I hadn't done any homework.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I haven't gotten around to getting set up for MIG yet. Another reason that I'm shooting for a stick welder. I want to try my hand at some other metals also. I was looking at trying the Titanium Stick 225 from Harbor Freight. The thought i had earlier was about aluminum being welded with AC though. Probably a way around that. I just haven't done the homework yet.

I just added the aluminum spool gun to my OmniPro 220. What little I did with it seems to work pretty well. I do have to remove the wire from the MIG gun and then remove the MIG gun then hook up all the attaching points of the spool gun A bit of a pain but it works OK.

 

[A-one]

I just added the aluminum spool gun to my OmniPro 220. What little I did with it seems to work pretty well. I do have to remove the wire from the MIG gun and then remove the MIG gun then hook up all the attaching points of the spool gun A bit of a pain but it works OK.

I could do the same with this Lincoln that I have, but a $200 spool gun and a small argon bottle would set me back a little too far. Then I'll want a cylinder of tri-mix for stainless. I could get a stick welder and do stainless, aluminum, and cast for that $300+. I don't have enough going on to justify a specialty purchase.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I wanted the 100% argon to use with my TIG so it also works with the spool gun. I bought the 75/25 for MIG welding. I actually traded in a spare oxygen bottle to get the Argon and only had to buy one bottle. The oxy-acetylene torch just used now for heating mostly since I got the plasma torch so one bottle is fine for that.

 

[A-one]

I wanted the 100% argon to use with my TIG so it also works with the spool gun. I bought the 75/25 for MIG welding. I actually traded in a spare oxygen bottle to get the Argon and only had to buy one bottle. The oxy-acetylene torch just used now for heating mostly since I got the plasma torch so one bottle is fine for that.

TIG is out for me. I have a hard enough time with a soldering iron. I know trying to repeat that process moving along a joint would be frustrating to say the least. I figure a stick welder would let me try out some different metals without having a lot invested. I haven't had any stainless since I started this hobby I have run across aluminum, but could do anything with it. I might be able to braze it with some of those rods from Harbor Freight.

I haven't even made it to 75/25 yet. I'm still getting my kicks out of flux core. I could see where MIG would help with the thinner material, but I very seldom see anything thinner than about 1/8". I plan to get a small cylinder for the occasions that the 18 gauge and thinner show up. I'm not the best welder to start, so flux core is fine by me. It won't be pretty, but it won't come apart either.