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cheap welder

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 10:51 am
by rogerk
just bought one of these little welders and can not believe how powerful it is. I am not a professional welder and can make some really nice looking welds with it. I just used it to make some repairs to my lawn mower deck and frame. http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Grade-Ultra-P ... pd_cp_hi_0 I know everyone with a cub is going to need some welding done at one time or another and thought I would share a good and cheap welder with every one. I have a separate circuit in my garage that runs my compressor it is a 30 amp breaker on 10/2 wiring .I have been using the welder on that circuit with a 15 foot 12 gauge cord and have no problems. and can reach any where I need to in the garage! :{_}: The welder I got is exactly the one in the picture...some of the reviews say they got a different one. anyway thought I would share a good product.

Re: cheap welder

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 10:54 am
by oronc
Pay close attention to the duty cycle on these"buzz boxes",They are made with aluminum windings and will overheat and burn it up,

Re: cheap welder

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 11:09 am
by rogerk
although this little welder is about the size of a lunch box it weighs about 34 pounds. and has a cooling fan in the back that is the same size as the housing it is in and comes on when you turn it on.. you can look through the vent louvers in the sides and see that the windings are copper. :-:-):

Re: cheap welder

Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 6:53 pm
by thebigron
You do need to pay attention to the duty cycle. Do NOT push it or you will discover that the copper looking windings turn into an aluminum puddle. A lot of well pump motor windings are the same thing, you only think you have copper. They sure make them look like copper, even on close examaination, or at least until you cut into it. In addition to the transformer windings you have some diodes that do not like heat so do yourself a favor and take an extra sip of coffee between welds, hey, maybe even a cigarette.

Re: cheap welder

Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 8:17 am
by Smokeycub
I read the reviews listed with the welder and it seems most were happy with the machine. Several commented that it's barely hot enough to burn 1/8" rod, they had better success with 3/32". It should be ok for most sheet metal repairs and work ok for material up to maybe 1/4" but if you want to weld anything heavier it won't be very satisfactory. My experience has been hotter is better for good penetration and strong welds, especially on heavier metal.

Re: cheap welder

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:28 pm
by Mr Ziffel
I was once an iron worker and welder, We used the heavy duty stuff. After many years of not welding much, my wife pulled her car out in front of a truck and dented in the right rear quarter panel . I cut out the dented part and went to the junk yard, had them cut out a piece from an identical car. I matched them up and used a Campbell Hausfeld mini welder from Wal-Mart.
to splice them together. Worked fine since it was sheet metal. I don't know if those welders are wound differently or not , but worked fine for what I was doing. I wouldn't use it for heavy stuff or where safety was an issue. Hope you have good luck.