small "oriental" wire welder

[JohnKing]

I bought a small wire welder { from my computer repairman who thought he wanted to learn how to weld which didn't work out for him.​

I have been a "garage taught welder" {stated lightly } and have never used a wire welder.​

I bought a Lincoln "cracker box" 45 years ago and have welded a LOT with it -- welds might not look too good, but they hold -- and I like the wire one due to being able to weld smaller items -- but the splatter is WHOA!​

I did get a manual with this purchase but don't speak Chinese/Japanese/French etc. so am lost as to what the dial, two switches {obviously one is "ON/OFF" and was able to figure that out without the manual } so any help would be appreciated.​

I have been looking for a Lincoln {preferably used as I don't make a living welding} and have seen welds with those that look really good.​

An option {as per my neighbor who has a Lincoln with gas bottles?} is to "break into the piggy bank and buy what you need" -- but again, this is not an income producing tool.​

Thanks.​

 

[John Renk]

Use an inner shield wire you don't need a gas, keep the tip moving only takes a small amount of movement. Might have to use a smaller wire dia.

 

[CA_Bgrwldr]

The knob will be the wire feed speed, the Min/Max and 1/2 switches is for the Amp range. Would assume Min/1 would be for .095 and thinner, Max/2 would be for .250, if the machine can actually weld that thick.

Fluxcore spatters, cheap fluxcore spatters a lot. Might try a 2lb roll of Hobart, some like the Vulcan brand from Harbor Freight.

Check youtube, plenty of how to fluxcore welding videos.

 

[California]

That welder is a near twin to Harbor Freight's Flux 125 Welder. Download the HF manual.

But - recognize it's hardly worth it to start with that one. With those specs it's mostly a frustration maker. BTDT!

If you want to get into flux or MIG welding start with something decent.

 

[SidecarFlip]

As like everything else in life, buying cheap only gets you cheap. If you must have a China made welder, get it from Harbor Freight as it has a guarantee and return is as near as your local store whereas buying cheap online will have no guarantee and it it dies, returning it will be an exercise in frustration to say the least.

Having said that I sold both my Lincoln Versa TIG machine and my Hypertherm plasma cutter and replaced both with a HF Pro Tig 205 and a Titanium 60 amp cutter. Both are high quality machines with iron clad guarantees. Interestingly, the Pro Tig welds better than the Lincoln ever did and the consumables for the plasma cutter are 1/4th the cost of the Hypertherm consumables. Actually bought 2 of them. One is on my CNC plasma table and the other is on the Vulcan welding cart I also bought at the same time. Charged everything on my HF credit card and got a year to pay it off with no interest. Hard to beat.