Rep Power: 718

heres the specs on my welder

its a craftsman wirefeed mig welder. (no gas)
uses .8mm (.030") flux core wire

Primary input volts: 120 vac
Welding Range: 60-120 amps
primary input amps: 20
Phase: single
Frequency: 60 hz
secondary output volts: 17
secondary output amps: 80
duty cycle rating at 80 amps: 20%
open circuit volts (max): 25 vac


manual says its good for steel up to 3/16" with a single pass, 1/4" multi pass.

i just got ahold of some scrap exhaust pipes. i practiced a little bit but my welds are still awful. will this welder work for what im tryingto do? i really want to put together a custom turbo and i would be doing all my exhaust with this welder unless its impossible.

from what i've heard, if i can get it to work, the welds will probably be a bit nasty looking, but im not worried about it being pretty, most of the pipes wond be seen anyway, and ill just clean them up with the grinder if i have to. i just want to know if im going to be able to use this thing to weld some exhaust pipes.

 
Rep Power: 1069

it will work, but with no gas the welds will look like ****, even a pro can't do a good weld with garbage (flux core wire sucks) for exhaust you want a good weld so you don't get rust.play with teh speed, and temp to get a halfway decent weld

 
Rep Power: 718

well, i tried it again today. i've got some pics this time

the welder: http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...6_309_full.jpg

self adjusting mask, this thing is wonderful: http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...6_308_full.jpg

first i just tried to law a few beads across this resonator i picked up. you can see my progress from left to right. http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...6_307_full.jpg

once i felt comfortable with it i tried to actually joined two pipes together. i cleaned up the pipe really well, but the weld still didnt come out all that great looking. id got dirtier as i welded it too. i blew through the metal in a few spots so i would just go around the holes on a low setting and fill it in. when i finished it seemed strong enough, but it didnt look pretty at all. http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...6_310_full.jpg

i grinded it all smooth though, and there really werent very many holes at all. once i had it all smooth again, i laid down another bead and this one looked quite a bit better than the first: http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...6_311_full.jpg
i suppose if all else fails i can just take this approach.

 
Rep Power: 761

If you're doing piping fabrication, try this...

Do small spot welds to keep the piping together, then get someone with a tig to finish the job. That way everything stays together as how you need it to, but you can move it around.

 
Rep Power: 1069

the way you have it is as good as I've seen with flux core wire, a tig is nice, but not needed for exhaust, if it was a chassis I would say do tig. That machine is a pretty basic one, so don't expect great things from it (it's the same as the cheapy harbor freight one made in china)

 
Rep Power: 718

im pleased with my results i think, like i say, im not too worried about having tremendously professional looking welds, i just want them to look decent and hold well, and i think these will.

 
Rep Power: 1069

they should, the biggest thing is because of them being flux core welds there is alot of garbage in there, and it may rust

 
Rep Power: 718

a few coats of high temp paint should take care of the rust problem.