SMAW/Stick machines - options?

[General Zod]

What did you weld that with? What machine/set up?

HTP Pro Pulse 220 MTS. 035 diameter 4043 wire, 20lb spool loaded up inside the machine. Set-up is as described in the previous post.

 

[General Zod]

I misspoke, it was actually my HTP Pro Pulse 200, not 220. They look identical, (and for MIG they are identical, as the 220 superseded the 200)

This here plus Argon is the whole "setup". On aluminum, it's rated for up to 0.312" thickness (depending on the wire selection and synergic program chosen). LED gooseneck lamp is not included, I added that, lol.

Oh and it goes down to 0.032" on aluminum as well.

 

[FlyFishn]

I'm thinking realistically the smartest thing I could do is have an "old school" transformer-based stick machine.

The reason being that they are rugged and don't have complicated circuitry - rather, bare bones basic analog stuff. So if we ever had the zombie apocalypse, an EMP blast, or what ever disaster it would be there ready to go for what ever needed done. Or, in case an inverter machine decided to take a dump there would be a way to keep going, albeit without being as pleasing of a result.

That leads me back to the Lincoln AC/DC 225.

I did find a really nifty device called an "Arc Pig" (link below). It turns an AC machine in to a high-frequency capable TIG machine. The down-side is with the power supply having fixed amperage you can't feather the current as you go. The other down-side is it, alone, is $350. By the time you throw in there a decent TIG torch, gas reg, hose, cables, and the parts to make the modification tie in to a welder you're looking at about $600.

So why not get a dedicated TIG machine? On top of that - TIG machines do stick also. So that would give me 2 stick machines and what I need is stick. Redundancy on what I need is a very good thing.

That line of thought really doesn't change the discussion a whole lot, other than it dilutes the necessity of the stick functionality somewhat and puts the focus on TIG.

With TIG being the focus - AC would be a must so I can do aluminum, as opposed to before potentially having a stick machine capable of doing basic DC TIG also.

That takes out the Everlast PowerArc 210STL from the equation as it does not do AC.

The Primeweld TIG 225x and AHP AlphaTIG 201xd are still contenders.

As for Everlast options now - I am not sure I like the lower end TIG machines of theirs that do AC. Those are the PowerTig 185DV and PowerTig 200DV. They don't have much flexibility in waveforms for TIG and have auto settings for hot start, not adjustable. The PowerTig 255EXT and PowerTig 210EXT have a lot more flexibility it looks like, with the 255 more so than the 210. But the price is getting way up there...

Lots to think about.

 

[DavidR8]

Adding more to think about I have confirmed with a number of folks that the Primeweld 225 will run 6010.

This is an example of 6013. By a 10 year old.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cathead]

It's hard to beat an old AC welder with copper windings, the transformer about the size of a salt block.
Mine doesn't even have a fan in it. I added a bridge rectifier setup to it with a home made inductor(filtering)
so I can run on DC if I want to. Reversing the cables gives either polarity and the current is controlled
using the plug in taps on the transformer. I welded on a new cutting edge on my Bobcat with no
problems using DC checking periodically to see of the diodes or inductor were getting hot. They
were warm but still could hold my hand on them when I was done. The bridge rectifier is on the left mounted to an aluminum heat sink and affixed to the inductor on the right.
I machined tapered brass fittings(plugs and sockets) so it would be easy to reverse polarity. The white piece
is a chunk of plastic table top(UHMW or similar) used as an insulator to facilitate mounting the parts. My only
expense was for the 400 ampere bridge rectifier I bought on E-bay for $50. The inductor was a transformer
in it's previous life and rewound with heavy insulated wire. The DC adapter setup weighs about 60 pounds
and has a handle on top if I want to set it out of the way and use the welder on AC.

 

[General Zod]

It's hard to beat an old AC welder

Bring it! I'll put up my little lunch box against any tombstone.

 

[FlyFishn]

It's hard to beat an old AC welder

Bring it! I'll put up my little lunch box against any tombstone.

A good friend of mine sails on Lake Erie. We were talking about sailing one year and he said he would put his sailboat in a race against any speed boat on the lake in a trip to Cleveland, OH (from Port Clinton).

How is a sailboat going to have any chance of beating a speed boat you think?

Easy. The speed boat will run out of fuel. A speed boat won't go with no fuel. At which point it runs out it will be dead in the water.

As for welders - when things go down - how do you "raise the sails" to keep on keepin' on? Thats where the old school stuff comes in to play.

Speaking of which... there are a couple inexpensive Lincolns around here. One is a round top Idealarc 250 - AC/DC version - that looks to be in decent shape for its age. I'll let ya know what I come up with there.

 

[General Zod]

A good friend of mine sails on Lake Erie. We were talking about sailing one year and he said he would put his sailboat in a race against any speed boat on the lake in a trip to Cleveland, OH (from Port Clinton).

How is a sailboat going to have any chance of beating a speed boat you think?

Easy. The speed boat will run out of fuel. A speed boat won't go with no fuel. At which point it runs out it will be dead in the water.

As for welders - when things go down - how do you "raise the sails" to keep on keepin' on? Thats where the old school stuff comes in to play.

Speaking of which... there are a couple inexpensive Lincolns around here. One is a round top Idealarc 250 - AC/DC version - that looks to be in decent shape for its age. I'll let ya know what I come up with there.

I get your point, and reading between the lines, you're already grouping all the new & modern welders into one unreliable category the likes of the $119-Shipped welders you can get on Ebay/Amazon (which are indeed throwaways). Rest assured the power supply alone in my lunchbox welder is worth more than some entire welding machines in the $500-$1000 range. So in this case, my sails are are made from carbon-fibre skin-sandwiched Kevlar Honeycomb, bolted onto masts made of titanium-nickel-niobium alloy. These sails be strong.

 

[gr8legs]

Later down the road I want to be able to do TIG and MIG, but I don't want either as options on a stick power supply. I just want stick, thats all. It will be a good back-up machine if I get a better unit for MIG and TIG later.

If that's the case then immediately go look at the Lincoln IdealArc 250's you mention above. A bulletproof stick-only machine that your grandchildren will pass on to their heirs.

I learned to stick weld using one of these 250's at our local community college 40 years ago; when I audited the course to refresh my skills this year they had replaced the IdealArcs with 3-way 'modern' machines and usually at least one of them in the lab was 'out of service' every week.

I have an IdealArc 250 in my home shop and it's my 'go-to' welder for most projects. I also have a Syncrowave 180 perched on the top of it, a Miller MIG machine under the workbench and a suitcase Lincoln flux core hiding under another bench. The stick machine is still first choice cor most projects. The only downsides to the Idealarc are a bigger footprint and it's heavy. Get cables long enough to reach where you're working, then add other machines as needed.

Check out this thread to see what others have done:

Show Us your Welders!

I thought it might be fun to see everyones welding set-ups. The little Cricket is set up for stainless. The 210 can do both steel and aluminum. Here are my welders and bench. Now! let's see YOURS!

www.hobby-machinist.com

Have fun!

Stu

 

[FlyFishn]

If that's the case then immediately go look at the Lincoln IdealArc 250's you mention above. A bulletproof stick-only machine that your grandchildren will pass on to their heirs.

Working out the details now.. For the price its still a cool old machine. Case is in great shape (surface rust, no dings/bends), cables, clamp, stinger are all in great shape. I don't see much scratching on the info tags/plates. Only thing is the guy can't test it as it won't plug in anywhere. If it ends up needing some work I'm not opposed to that at the price. That was one of the theories I had is they are robust and easy to fix from the get-go.