Best type of welding Machine for Repairs?

[bullet]

I am looking to buy the best type of welder to do small reapirs. It has to be resonable. For example I broke the lower left radiator mount and want to weld it back on to my 250r. Can i use an Arc welder???

[Night Rider]

I Have A Lincoln Electric Wirematic 255 its about 4 years old and is the best machine ive seen in a while

[badass250r]

buy a MILLER we got a 30 yr old miller it run like brand new also make sure u get a mig

[bullet]

from what i hear mig is easy to use but Tig
is the ebst. Majority of frames are chromoly are they not? So then i believe a tig for that would be better wouldn`t it??

[Night Rider]

TIG is very uncomfortable if you are working in tight spaces a MIG would be best because you can do it with 1 hand even blind.

[badass250r]

and u can u a mig on none quad things like ur mabye your exhust with a hole in it

[wvspeedfreak]

Originally posted by badass250r
and u can u a mig on none quad things like ur mabye your exhust with a hole in it
What did you say:huh

[bulkdriverlp]

mig, i have a lincoln 100amp, i swear you can weld anything, thin like auto fenders or thick steel.

[AtvMxRider]

Originally posted by badass250r
and u can u a mig on none quad things like ur mabye your exhust with a hole in it

[chucked]

Originally posted by AtvMxRider


lmao....


2002 yamaha blaster MX redy will eat a 400ex 4 sale $2900 firm will trade fo ra 400ex,

hahahaha!

[badass250r]

i got some big plans 4 a 400ex but i WANT a 250r and i was using that situation as if u had a leak u could use your welder to fix it

[bayou boy]

get one of those little 110v lincoln wire feeders. I got one a while back and I was impressed with it. it really welds pretty good. and with it being a 110 you can take it anywhere if need be. I also have a stick machine but I never use it anymore the feeder is much more convienent. for small fab jobs and repairs you cant beat it.

[chucked]

dont get flux core if you get a mig, gas shielded is the way to go if you want a strong, clean weld.

[badass250r]

Originally posted by chucked
dont get flux core if you get a mig, gas shielded is the way to go if you want a strong, clean weld. yea you do know your ****, thats the way to go

[chucked]

Originally posted by badass250r
yea you do know your ****, thats the way to go well i bought a $100 flux core harbor freight welder, yea it was worth the 100 bucks but you cant do anything with it... My work has an ESAB welder, I think its the same one they use on monster garage. You can weld ANYTHING with that pig. you can tig, mig, and stick with it. But I have never tigged.

[Butters]

yeah i have a lincoln MIG and its awesome. very user friendly and easy to use.

[fire_axx]

ok guys i know this kind of stuff !

mig (wire feed) is good for steel from 1/8 in to 3/4 veary easy to use but diffnatly use a gas tank in stead of flux wire. you might be able to do aluminum (no shur)


now tig is good for the expinsive metals like alumanum(sp)?? and
chromoly and very thin stuff and is good for presion welds but you need to feed the metal rod to the "gun" "torch" thing


arc (stick) is for thick steel "old tech"


brands to get are Miller hobart and Lincoln.

[chucked]

you can do aluminum with a gas shielded mig but you have to change the gas and the wire.

[fire_axx]

ok thats what i thouhght

[bulkdriverlp]

when using a 110 mig make sure you dont use one of those orange twinkie extention cords, youl melt it. buy some thick wire from home depot and put ends on it cause they pull a lot of amps. if ur welding on heat range 'D' you will need to install a 30amp breaker on that circut because it will pop 20's in a couple minutes. lol

[chucked]

Originally posted by bulkdriverlp
when using a 110 mig make sure you dont use one of those orange twinkie extention cords, youl melt it. buy some thick wire from home depot and put ends on it cause they pull a lot of amps. if ur welding on heat range 'D' you will need to install a 30amp breaker on that circut because it will pop 20's in a couple minutes. lol

haha yea forgot about them extension cords.

[NTPracing22]

If you want something with enough power to do what you want, don't bother looking at a 110. get something that runs off 220.

you'll deffinetly just want a mig wire feed with a gas shield. Once you get used to that you can switch to reverse polarity to run the flux core wire with the gas shield, but that may be over kill.

Using a .030 wire will do for what you want to weld, and normally they throw in a spool when you buy the welder.

I have a Miller Millermatic 175 and it works great. It can weld over a quarter inch in a single pass. It retails for around 800 I do believe

Find a good dealer in your area thats wlling to help you out with cost because you'll be in there an aweful lot!

If you've never run a Mig, don't bother thinking about Tig. It's a better all around weld then from a mig, but often it's not worth using for just small repair when it can be done 2x faster wtih a mig.

let me know if you have any other questions

[NTPracing22]

Originally posted by fire_axx

now tig is good for the expinsive metals like alumanum(sp)?? and
chromoly and very thin stuff and is good for presion welds but you need to feed the metal rod to the "gun" "torch" thing


arc (stick) is for thick steel "old tech"


brands to get are Miller hobart and Lincoln.

Hobart is a knockoff of miller. it's like the whole Audi and VW deal.

Tig isn't just good for expencive metals. It's good for anything really. You can go by the theory that if the weld looks good, it is. (With mig you can have a good looking weld that didn't penetrate the metal at all)

Your feeding the metal rod to the actual meterial your welding, but your "melting" it with the toungston at the end of the gun thats controled by a foot pedal. It's very easy to forget about the foot pedal, put too much pressure on it and melt right threw your material.

Tig is mroe expensive all around. the unit itself is about $1,100. then you have tyo buy your gas, rods, and you have to keep up on the toungstons which are very expencive.

arc welding was really big back in the day, but it's still used a lot. The rods (sticks) that your using is the only thing that makes contact with the material your welding (no gun). All it is- is a rod like you'd use for TIG, but there is a shielding gas that they made into a powder and coated the rod with it. So essentially, you can weld in a 50mph wind and still get a perfect weld.

[YLW400]

2/4 inch steel with a MiG? That sounds a little thick to me

[YLW400]

oops sorry 3/4" I meant

[bullet]

Never used a tig used an arc before. Is it better to get used to usung a tig? Or should i start with a mig? My primary welding would be done on cars,Motorcycles, ATVS etc. let me know Thanks.

Owe yeah Most frames are welded TIG or MIG?

[lil400exman]

Originally posted by fire_axx
ok guys i know this kind of stuff !

mig (wire feed) is good for steel from 1/8 in to 3/4 veary easy to use but diffnatly use a gas tank in stead of flux wire. you might be able to do aluminum (no shur)


now tig is good for the expinsive metals like alumanum(sp)?? and
chromoly and very thin stuff and is good for presion welds but you need to feed the metal rod to the "gun" "torch" thing


arc (stick) is for thick steel "old tech"


brands to get are Miller hobart and Lincoln. LOL you are a quick one man!

Anyways dont blabber about stuff you dont know about bro.
SMAW or arc welding is still very much in use today. What do you think pipewelders and structual joints are done with? Majority is with stick. Stick can weld many many metals. Only ones i can think of is magnesium and copper. Other than that you can get specality rods for these. Also compared to a O/A weld a SMAW is the strongest with proper cool down procedures at well over 70,000lb tensile.

Mig is a good all around process. It can wel most metals. Most lower-end welders is a wire-feed only which means it cant run gas unless specifcally stated. Stay away from these as they really limit your welding. Get a MIG machine. a full MIG outfit can still use flux core. Flux core is excellent for outdoor welding like stick. It is fairly "low-tech" as you throw it on push the trigger and tap the slag off.You can usually do 22 gauge all the way to 3/16" or 1/4" with most small MIG's with ease. Just dont exceed that duty cycle.

TIG is a very high quality/low speed process. It has great qaulity (easy X-ray spec) and can be used in situations where filler CAN NOT be used like if a frame cracks push the joint back together and use ther TIG so it wont keep the "off" line when it cracked. It is a extremely hard process to learn. It will take a long time to get proficent with TIG. It also can weld any conductive metal. Copper, brass, mild steel, aluminum and the like.

Also make sure you do excellent prep. The rule of thumb is harder the prep easier the weld. Make sure on steel when you weld you dont have any craters or area that are divoted all up that hold rust before you weld. These will kill the integrity of the weld.

I reccomend you first buy a stick machine. These can be had cheaply at around 100 dollars used in mint shape. The most common wleder in this range is the AC-225S lincoln arc welder. Tough as nails and almost impossible to kill. Make sure its a older model for sopper windings. Better arc;)

Then move onto your other machines. They say if you can Stick weld you can weld anything.I find that true. Also buy a pack of every common rod. Buy 6010, 7018 AC, 6013 and others im forgetting. buy in the industry standard of 1/8. Also some rods do well with a inverter unit. Very nice to have for a stable arc. also a flip switch reverse polarity is good to have.

Any brand of welder should be good for home use. Easab, Hobart (my favorite) Miller, Lincoln,Century should do well for you. Now start melting those rods!!!!:macho

[NTPracing22]

Originally posted by bullet
Never used a tig used an arc before. Is it better to get used to usung a tig? Or should i start with a mig? My primary welding would be done on cars,Motorcycles, ATVS etc. let me know Thanks.

Owe yeah Most frames are welded TIG or MIG?

I would start with a wire feed mig for what your looking at, but thats just my opinion. you should look at both and see what works best for you.

frames from the manufacture are usually machine mig welded. After market products are usually all tig

[lil400exman]

Originally posted by NTPracing22
I would start with a wire feed mig for what your looking at, but thats just my opinion. you should look at both and see what works best for you.

frames from the manufacture are usually machine mig welded. After market products are usually all tig

IIRC alot of aftermarket frames are robotic? I think they are since they are so consistant. Setup a perfect weld and a perfect weld is what you get. Its not usually robotic in low-production situations though.

I would reccomend to buy a old stick welder and a small MIG unit. Not a wire feed with gas capabilites. A true metal inert gas is a higher quality unit for the most part. I also reccomend using your local welding shop if at all possible. Establish that good working relationship so down the road they are more likely to help! Buy your consumables,gas,helmets and almost all you can. They will sometimes do you favors and stuff. One time i was there and they gave me a free tank! brand new they just said just as long as you use us to fill up. It pays to be loyal!

;)

[NTPracing22]

when I first started going to the place I go, I already new one of the salesmen, and he too is a fire fighter so we go out back and he puts two tanks in the back of my truck, didn't charge me to fill them of for the tank! and I got neerly 200 off. Gotta love it!

I know aarens switched to robotic not too long ago, I know walsh isn't robotic, not sure about others though. If you set u jig you can get just as good of results as a robotic arm.

[brian350rx]

whatever you get, GET A MILLER !!!