Thanks, I like the wire below the best for my flux core welding. Gasless Flux Core Welding Wire, .030" E71TGS Carbon Steel Spool, 10LB Spool - yeswelder.com/collections/accessories/products/welding-wire-e71tgs1008?ref=DIYHP10%25
Awesome job. You make it look easy. I'm still trying to dial in my settings with the HF 90 amp welder that was gifted to me. I will be doing the DC conversion upgrades soon too. Just waiting for the resistors. btw, what technique did you use as you dragged the gun? Hard to tell from the arc shots. Straight drag, side to side, little e's. Thank you and look forward to your next video.
Thank you jm, I appreciate that. I like to use the small e's technique especially with a fillet joint. I think it helps push the puddle up the vertical piece so I get good fusion on the toes (edges) of the weld and minimizes undercut. I had a little section of poor toe fusion on my second weld in this video. I believe that was due to poor torch angle. I was favoring the vertical piece and not quite at a 45 so the bottom didn't wet at the toe like I hoped it would. Hope that makes sense. I'm just a hobby welder so I really don't know all the correct terminology. Good luck with your welder mods! 👍
@@DIYHomesteadProjectsDIYHP10 Thank you for your response and I fully understand your reasoning and explanation. I was practicing welding t-joints on scrap metal pieces and same thing happened to me. Interestingly I had my machine setup same way at 4.5 and High. I think my drag speed and stick out from work piece needs revising. I am using 1/4" stick out and think I should increase it to 1/2" judging from your technique. I usually get stabbing with the wire or hard to maintain arc at 1/4" stick out. I do have a good ground since I upgraded the ground clamp. Will keep practicing. Thanks again.
That's funny, I have experienced the same thing with the stick out being too short. I recently discovered I was using too short of stick out and have been trying to maintain as close to 1/2" as possible. When I was using 1/4" or so my slag coverage over the weld was not good. I had spots where there was no slag coating and the weld was oxidized. Supposedly the flux inside the wire needs a little preheat time and it doesn't get that with a "too short" stick out. Since I have been trying to maintain the 1/2" the slag coating is good across the weld so I've really been working on that. That's what I love about this hobby, always something to work on to improve the technique. Take care and keep in touch. It's nice to chat with someone going through the same learning process.
@@DIYHomesteadProjectsDIYHP10 Yes sir thank you for the input. I too noticed very little slag coating and oxidation on parts of the weld using 1/4" stick out. I tried messing with the wire speed, preheating the metal with heat gun, removing all contaminants such as mill scale and rust, cleaning metal with acetone, tried different flux core wires (Lincoln, INE, ARCRAFT, Forney). Still got the wire stabbing and poor arc. I will now try the 1/2" stick out as this may be the issue I am having since the flux has no time to preheat using 1/4" stick out like you mentioned. It now makes perfect sense because I also noticed the weld was more convex or 'mound like' as if I was laying a cold weld on the surface with very little or no penetration. Very frustrating I am not going to lie but gotta keep pushing along. Thank you again and I will report my results with the hope this may help someone else with similar issues. I'm sure once I do the mods this little welder will produce better results too. Thanks.
I'm anxious to hear how the 1/2" stick out works out for you. From what you described it sounds like a little slower wire feed speed may also help with the cold weld and wire stabbing (IMO). Personally I would try a 1/2 step slower at a time and see if that doesn't help. 👍
Dang Bruce! What a difference a little practice makes. I still remember back when... ; ) Of course the DC Mod didn’t hurt either. I decided that my ability level (too many deviations ; ) wasn’t quite up to making the conversion, so I bought the Titanium 125. It’s one sweet little machine. So what’s up with you arc shots? Seems like that I was seeing your puddle better on some previous vids. I really enjoyed this vid on cope welds. You nailed it. Bty, what blade are you using on your portaband? Looking forward to your next vid. Thanks!!!
I don't own one but I think the Titanium 125 would be my choice today if I were looking for a flux core welder. The only thing I don't like about the Titanium 125 is you are limited to 2lb spools. I think everything else about it is great! I could deal with that but the 2lb spools are quite a bit more expensive than a 10lb spool. The size and weight of that welder is a great benefit and make it worth it I think. Not to mention it's DCEN out of the box and infinite control on the power and wire feed. 👍👍👍 I didn't try to get good ark shots with the flux core due to the spatter. I haven't figured out how to get my camera in there for the shot without ruining it with stick and flux core welding. I really need another lens for that and those lenses are a bit expensive. I don't have the spatter issue with the TIG welding so I can get the camera close enough to get those shots without ruining the camera. I'm just using harbor freight portaband blades. Nothing fancy for sure. Sorry but I don't remember the tooth count I purchased but they do quite well IMO. I'm still on my first blade and have been using it for a year and a half now.
A lot of it has to do with the mods. It produces less spatter and a little more heat. Also flux core wire is designed to run on DCEN not AC. Of course, practice helps too. I've seen some people make descent welds with the stock AC Harbor Freight machines too.
