I have a Lincoln pro-mig 135; it was like $400, 110volts. When I did my Lincoln locker me and my friend were just taking turns welding with it cranked up all the way, not giving the welder any break at all for over 30 minutes and it worked flawlessly. Sometimes it will blow the breaker if there is allot of lights plugged in with it, and there is far less power if itÆs going though a thin extension cord but other than that it works great. It does have a fan that runs all the time though.

remember, duty cycle is the number of minutes in a 10 minute period the welder can weld, the remaining time it must be cooling. it doesn't matter whether you weld continously for 1.5minutes or spot weld for 20secs numerous times within that same window, duty cycle (15%) remains the same (welding technique does not change this). The welder will only operate 1.5 minutes worth of welding in every 10min window, regardless of whether its continous or not.

why does this matter you ask? well, the stuff we do, say fabricating a front or rear heavy duty bumper may require lots of long seam welding (i know lots of the stuff i've done does). So say you have 10mins of total welding to do on that bumper you've just made. well, 15% duty cycle, it now takes over an hour to weld it up as opposed to 10 minutes of welding at 100% duty cycle. sure, you can be doing other things during the cool down period, but how often do you wanna be stopping and coming back? thats duty cycle.



be careful, when talking about 220v welders, 12 might not even be sufficient. I realize his particular welder only pulls 15amps, and you could probably get away with a short 12 extension cord, but most 220v welders will pull close to 40-50amps... way too much load for 12 guage.

Another words, use extreme caution when putting a welder on an extension cord, making sure you have the right guage wire for *your* welders input requirements and the distance you're spanning.

-Rob

awww man, another person pulled in by the harbor freight box of death. I made the same mistake and all I got from it was a nice set of cables for trail welding. Those things are practically worthless. I'm not sure how they even got a 15% duty cycle rating, cause I couldn't even get that out of it. oh and BTW they do not have the automatic cut off like the name brand welders. mine just started to smoke after 10 min. I started welding some more after the smoke stopped and it caught fire. Needless to say I replaced it with a name brand welder and haven't had a problem since.

Dallas

Right, but you kind of took that quote of out context...
I did say that for a hobby welder that it would probably be fine. I also stated that welding in 20 second bursts and resting, that rest time counts. Welding technique does not change the duty cycle, as you state, however, your welding technique change your productivity rate with the same duty cycle welder. I think it would be safe to assume that since he bought this welder that he is a beginner and wants to learn to weld... probably not going to be trying to fabricate a heavy duty bumper soon.

It will be a good welder to learn on and like I said, while he's learning, he can be putting money in the bank to buy a bigger unit after he's gotten the hang of it.

BTW, I keep hearing everyone talk about proper gauge wiring when welding and using extension cords and how big they need to be... (previous welding thread)...

The welder he bough draws 15amps @ 230volts input.
That's only 7.5 amps on each leg of the 120volt at full load.
A 12 gauge extension cord would handle that just fine up to 25ft or so.

I have a Millermatic 175 that draws 19.5 amps at full load.
That's less than 10 amps per leg. That could easily be run on a standard 15amp set of breaker and run on 12 gauge extension cord. I had to change the plug on my welder. When I cut the wire, the wire on the stock cord from Miller was only a 14 gauge wire. Granted, the farther you run the extension, the heavier wire you'll need, but a 12 guage wire would be more than enough for at least up to 25ft if not more.

Just for another comparo, my new Hobart welder is also a 230V unit with 180A max output. The wiring is specified to be a minimum a 14AWG and no longer than 67 ft and protected by 30A braker. Seems high for the wire size, that's why i will run it from 12AWG cord, should be enough.

luckily i have a manufacturer warranty. then im paying 70 bucks for an extstended warranty <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />
also, my cousin bought a 110v at harbor freight 3 years ago, now, with no problems, it is still running strong.

ya im no pro at welding, ive never even held one before. Ill be doing an SAS on my rodeo, but that doesnt require long beads like bumpers do. So, new thing learned on the thread, amps are more important than volts????

kevan

there always exceptions.... and harbor freight does have its place in a shop, but i still have to agree with Dallas, for anyone looking at welders, hobbiest or more serious, steer away!


again, this why i say anyone looking at a welder, pony up the extra cash and buy more machine than you need. the inexperienced quickly become experienced and turn into the season'd fabricators and how many welders do you wanna be buying?

you're right, SAS you won't have long continuous welds like building a bumper, but rest assured, you'll have plenty of welding to do in fabrication, attaching, and supporting your front hanger bar. a low duty cycle will still get the job done, but is going to try your patienance throughout the project.


exactly... output amps = penetration. most manafactors have numbers following each model that is a rough (not exact) indication of output amperage and corrilates directly to the maximum thickness of the metal you can work with.

-Rob

luckily my bday and christmas just passed.
ive already got

sawsall
hand held grinder
bench grinder
torch kit
2 pairs of gloves
bench vise
helmet

I know ill need more (it will never stop) but what i am going to shoot for now are some tanks. I dont want to tiny ones, i WANT the big ones. All i need to do now is find a town full of ladies and go work the corner <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> (lol once my girl allows me too)

kevan

does your harbor freight welder have provisioning for gas? if so, i highly recommend getting a tank and gas setup. MIG welding with gas is 10x better than flux core wire.

-Rob

sounds weak, but it will do the job