110 v welder

37chief · Jul 1, 2015

I need to do some rust repair on my 52 Plymouth project. I have a couple arc welders, which are too hot for my car body sheet metal work. I was thinking of a 110 v welder. Anyone use one for light work? The next question, what about a Harbor freight welder? They have one on sale for
$90.00. I know you get what you pay for. If I was to get a 800.00 dollar welder, I might as well take my car to a body shop and have them do the work. Appreciate any info. Stan

showcrop · Jul 1, 2015

I have a Lincoln 110 that I have been using a lot for the last five months welding new sheet metal onto my '67 Datsun. Welding sheet metal you have to be on and off placing dots instead of beads. The on and off could be a lot of wear on a low priced unit, but it may not be either.

Greg K · Jul 1, 2015

I had a cheap one dinar to the ones at harbor freight and it only lasted about 10 years. I used it to do some rear quarters and rocker panel repair and did a fine job. However in no body man so maybe it wasn't that good of job

. They sure are handy at times.

RayP(MI) · Jul 1, 2015

I have a cleap Italian unit from Sam's club that lasted a couple years of extremrely light duty. Not satisfactory. Got a Century 120v wire welder with a gas kit. Day and night difference. Moral of the story, you get what you pay for. I chose Century because of positive experiences with FIL's Century stick welder. I'm sure there are good and better brands as well. I would stick with a name brand and avoid the cheapies.

jon f mn · Jul 1, 2015

If all your going to do is one car then you might get by, but then for one car body gas welding or brazing would work fine too. If you want a welder that is usable, then get a name brand that can use hard wire and gas. A 110v from a name brand using hard wire and 75/25 gas will weld up to 3/16" pretty well and be very easy to use.

David G · Jul 1, 2015

It is really hard not to do more damage than good with arc welder on sheet metal.

Fatjay · Jul 1, 2015

I had one, nice and easy to use, used it for welding exhaust systems. As far as welding anything heavier you won't get strong enough welds. For sheet metal and similar, gas less and wire feeds that are cheap generally get the job done.

If you're like me and don't have 220v handy there are gas powered alternatives for heavier welding. 1/4" and up should be stick welded.

notjustair · Jul 1, 2015

I have a Farmhand 110 that I have used the snot out of. It has 4 power settings and does very well with sheet metal, thin wall pipe, etc. It won't replace a 220 stick, but it has been very good to me. I'm sure my folks didn't spend over a couple hundred on it. I've used it with gas, but have run mostly spools of flux core through it. I have never exceeded the duty cycle on it which says a lot. I've used it pretty heavy. You will be surprised how many things you will use it for. Especially things like welding on a verticle surface or upside down. They aren't as forgiving of old rusty metal, by that's why I use mainly 6011 on the Tombstone.

billfromwisconsin · Jul 1, 2015

I have had my century for 15 or 20 yrs. best advice I give is use a 30amp circuit and a very heavy cord, no longer than 25 feet. mine works great as long as I prepare the metal.

mj · Jul 1, 2015

I've had a Lincoln 110v MIG for about 20 years and have run it on both gas and flux core wire - much over 3/16 I use one of my stick machines - The 110 machine works great for sheet metal, chrome-moly motorcycle frames, etc. I've found out that flux core runs 'hotter' so thickness of material to be joined is increased and it is more forgiving on rusty or dirty material. If you go for a HF, or similar, make SURE that the wire is 'cold' until you press the actuating switch OR you will be hating life :roll:

NoNewParts · Jul 2, 2015

I've had a 110 MIG for 20 years or so.
Set it up for flux wire on day 1, never have used the gas.
very handy for light duty stuff.
Too lazy to walk out to see the brand, but it has held up well.
In its day, it was pretty cheap, good quality though. Today you would probably have to buy top of the line to match it.
It's long life is probably due in part to the various lighter duty circuits it's been plugged in to. (15-20 amp)
Hold the trigger too long at higher settings and the breakers trip.

My son has a modern 110 arc welder. pretty useless.
It has helped him out a few times though.
welding a bolt into a stripped head allen screw caliper bolt for example.

MarkB_MI · Jul 2, 2015

I believe the HF welder has an electrode that's always hot. That makes it a pain to use. Better to spend a little more money on a name-brand wire feed welder. A 120 volt welder will do sheet metal fine. You may need to beef up the wiring to the outlet you intend to use.

Geo-TH,In · Jul 2, 2015

37Chief,
As a hobby, I used to do body work 30 years. If you need to make just a small repair, like a rust hole, you can use pop rivets.

I have a 220v mig with a bottle. Flux wire is expensive and it doesn't leave a clean weld, slag, like you would want for body work.

Get a bottle on your mig or use pop rivets.

M-MAN · Jul 2, 2015

A 120 with gas will work fine. The good thing about it is they will run a lower heat which translates to less warpage and the ability to just weld the hole back closed if you have a burn through. Mine is an old no name but it welds thinner sheet metal than I can with a 240 Hobart unit.

Txturbo · Jul 2, 2015

i do a lot of cars. I have a 110v mig that I hardly use for sheet metal. I also have an old Henrob 3000 setup that I use for all sheet metal welding. I can butt weld a large patch in and planish the welds faster with that than doing the million tack welds the mig requires. Way less distortion too.

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black · Jul 2, 2015

I recently bought a 70 A 110 V stick welder and it works good for me with 1/16 rod , but I think for body metal it's to hot -- can't control the amps on mine . I use it for repairing stainless racks on site so I don't need to transport them home .

Larry --ont.

MarkB_MI · Jul 2, 2015

>can't control the amps on mine

The current control on a wire feed welder is labeled "wire speed".

rankrank1 · Jul 2, 2015

Forget that HF or any other cheap wire feeder that is AC only output.

Nothing wrong with an AC output stick welder as there are some stick rods that will work with AC output on stick , but there is not a welding wire made for mig (with gas) or flux core designed to work with AC output. The process by its very nature is a DC only process. Should be illegal for merchants to sell those things but lots of idiots buy them because they think they getting a deal and end up with an expensive door stop.

There are cheap wire feeders out there that do output DC, make sure you get one of those if you intent on a cheapey low cost wire feeder. Additionaly one that can do mig mode (gas) will be so much better for body work. than flux core.

Any mig machine can also run flux core wire. However a flux core only machine can only do flux core.

110 v welder

37chief

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showcrop

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Greg K

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RayP(MI)

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jon f mn

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David G

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Fatjay

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notjustair

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billfromwisconsin

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mj

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NoNewParts

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MarkB_MI

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Geo-TH,In

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M-MAN

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Txturbo

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black

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MarkB_MI

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rankrank1

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