Another welder

[OnlyStihl]

I found the Lincoln Electric Date Manufacture Code.

From another site:

All other Lincoln welders are easy. A serial number of U10506XXXXX
The letter is the country code. U =USA, C = Canada, M= Mexico, I = Italy, P= Poland.
The first number is the plant number. The next 2 are year and the next 2 are the month.

Mine is stamped C10008 00035

C = Canada
1 = Plant Number (no idea what 1 means as a physical locale)
00 = 2000
08 = August
xxxxx = a serial number, no meaning to me.

I got the Ground Cable all cleaned up.
Ordered a new Lincoln Striker.

Machine is in real good shape. I also ordered some Heavy Duty Husky 4" metal wheels Casters. When those come in I'll build a platform out of some big Pressure Treated Highway guard rail wood. About 30 miles of these were replaced a few years ago. I only got ~25 of them. Hopefully they will be accessible after all the snow melts.

At the service panel I have a 60Amp 240V breaker marked for the garage. So I can safely replace the 50Amp in my garage breaker box with a 60Amp if needed. If that is not enough, I'll see about pulling out and replacing the wire with a higher current pair of cables.

 

[Sloughfoot]

I found the Lincoln Electric Date Manufacture Code.

From another site:

Ordered a new Lincoln Stricker.

I agree with your priorities.

 

[OnlyStihl]

Built the platform with the Husky casters. 350lbs is a lot of weight to get atop of the platform. Ladder, a 4:1 game hoist, and the ATV winch got it done. Rolls around real nice. New stinger arrives tomorrow and I'll remove the welder's cover and compressed air blow it all clean and lube any/all moving parts.

I did run some beads and this welder is powerful. With the Century I always had to set the Amps at the max or near the upper range for the diameter of the stick. With this new welder I could easily get an arc with the lowest setting of range.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

for just about anything a homeowner wants to do in his shop a mig or core wire will be fine. When you start getting up into heaver metal
3/8< ( like 1/2" & above ) your gonna want the penetrating strength of the arc welder with probably a low hy. rod like 7018

You can multi pass anything with wire and be just fine, no different then multi pass with 1/8 or 5/32 rod. We weld 2-3” thick sections of steel on 41 yard buckets with 1/16” 80 nickel wire all the time. The 80 nickel is equivalent to an 8018 b2l low hydrogen electrode.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

I have a 120V flux core welder. And honestly, I use it more than my stick welder. However I wouldn't make a 2nd pass with the FC welder. The Arc welder can be a PITA to get an initial Arc, and that is on me. Clean metal, a good ground and a clean rod tip and it sparks up just fine. I might not have enough saddle time on the FC, cause the Arc welder lays down a very professional bead.


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You’re more than fine to multi pass inner shield wire like a Hobart fab shield in 35/45 thousandths. This is no different then having to clean slag off a stick weld inner shield is basically the wire version of stick welding for outside where you can’t hold shielding gas. Just wire wheel between passes and go, I’ve welded 1” thick I beams with .045 fab shield wire multiple pass. Small wire penetration is just fine and you only need to turn the voltage up a little which the thick plate can handle.

 

[OnlyStihl]

You’re more than fine to multi pass inner shield wire like a Hobart fab shield in 35/45 thousandths. This is no different then having to clean slag off a stick weld inner shield is basically the wire version of stick welding for outside where you can’t hold shielding gas. Just wire wheel between passes and go, I’ve welded 1” thick I beams with .045 fab shield wire multiple pass. Small wire penetration is just fine and you only need to turn the voltage up a little which the thick plate can handle.

IMO, you get one pass to fuse the two core work pieces together. Piling on additional metal over a previous pass does little.

Consider this analogy. How do you glue two pieces of wood together? 1. You coat the two mating surfaces and clamp tightly. Right! 2. You DO NOT clamp the pieces together and then pour glue along the edges where the pieces come together.

An additional welding pass is #2. It is #1 where you get all your strength. #2 is filler.

At least that's how I view it.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

IMO, you get one pass to fuse the two core work pieces together. Piling on additional metal over a previous pass does little.

Consider this analogy. How do you glue two pieces of wood together? 1. You coat the two mating surfaces and clamp tightly. Right! 2. You DO NOT clamp the pieces together and then pour glue along the edges where the pieces come together.

An additional welding pass is #2. It is #1 where you get all your strength. #2 is filler.

At least that's how I view it.

You can view however you want but multi pass is a thing on thicker metals. Is one pass over the other on a piece of 1/8” steel going to add a bunch of strength ? No not really, but on 1/4” or 3/8” ect you are far better off to put multiple passes in and keep them smaller than trying to fill one pass strength wise. I’ve been welding close to 30 years as a job and have been certified in many different procedures and positions over the years including the d1.1 bridge certification with multiple pass stick and flux core wire all x-ray when done.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Built the platform with the Husky casters. 350lbs is a lot of weight to get atop of the platform. Ladder, a 4:1 game hoist, and the ATV winch got it done. Rolls around real nice. New stinger arrives tomorrow and I'll remove the welder's cover and compressed air blow it all clean and lube any/all moving parts.

I did run some beads and this welder is powerful. With the Century I always had to set the Amps at the max or near the upper range for the diameter of the stick. With this new welder I could easily get an arc with the lowest setting of range.

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The welder is still putting out roughly the same amperage as the older one but buzz box style welding machines have very low starting voltage compared to the big industrial machines and that is why it’s harder to light the rod on a buzz box. 1/8” rod runs between 100 and 135 amps or so. Some welders may even have an adjustment for hot start and dig which can have a fairly large effect on your weld.

 

[OnlyStihl]

You can view however you want but multi pass is a thing on thicker metals. Is one pass over the other on a piece of 1/8” steel going to add a bunch of strength ? No not really, but on 1/4” or 3/8” ect you are far better off to put multiple passes in and keep them smaller than trying to fill one pass strength wise. I’ve been welding close to 30 years as a job and have been certified in many different procedures and positions over the years including the d1.1 bridge certification with multiple pass stick and flux core wire all x-ray when done.

I have a 120V Flux Core Forney welder. It gets used on metal 1/8 and less. That and above the Arc welder gets called. I'd like to know more about wire feed welders and their capabilities. I've tried to recruit my neighbors in to becoming welders. They keep telling me, I'm their welder, so no need to buy or learn anything about welding. They are missing out on the fun factor.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

I have a 120V Flux Core Forney welder. It gets used on metal 1/8 and less. That and above the Arc welder gets called. I'd like to know more about wire feed welders and their capabilities. I've tried to recruit my neighbors in to becoming welders. They keep telling me, I'm their welder, so no need to buy or learn anything about welding. They are missing out on the fun factor.

That 120 v welder is probably 130 amp or so and you actually would have no problem multi pass welding 1/2” plate with it and 35 thousandths wire. Ideally for home style welding if you could just get a 220v wire feed you could weld everything with it. A Hobart Ironman 230 amp would be plenty for anything you need to weld and cost about 1600$ new. Hobart is basically a stripped down miller, both machines are owned by ITW and the Hobart is a manual set style miller built overseas vs in Appleton Wisconsin. Still good welder and 1/2 the price of miller.

 

[OnlyStihl]

That 120 v welder is probably 130 amp or so and you actually would have no problem multi pass welding 1/2” plate with it and 35 thousandths wire. Ideally for home style welding if you could just get a 220v wire feed you could weld everything with it. A Hobart Ironman 230 amp would be plenty for anything you need to weld and cost about 1600$ new. Hobart is basically a stripped down miller, both machines are owned by ITW and the Hobart is a manual set style miller built overseas vs in Appleton Wisconsin. Still good welder and 1/2 the price of miller.

I did modify a Riding Mower trailer hitch that was about 1/4 in thickness. The support brackets were too long which pitched the entire thing backwards at an angle, and just looked weird. The FC Welder did a very good job, which surprised me. The weld puddle is tiny compared to the Arc welder. Nor is it nice to look at. But a year+ later having towed quite a bit with it, it seems to be plenty strong. To me the FC welder's BIG advantage is its portability and simplicity. Had I bought the FC first I very likely would never have boughten an Arc welder. There was a big learning curve with the Arc welder, which I mastered over a good long time. Basically, I feel invested.

 

[Bill G]

IMO, you get one pass to fuse the two core work pieces together. Piling on additional metal over a previous pass does little.

Consider this analogy. How do you glue two pieces of wood together? 1. You coat the two mating surfaces and clamp tightly. Right! 2. You DO NOT clamp the pieces together and then pour glue along the edges where the pieces come together.

An additional welding pass is #2. It is #1 where you get all your strength. #2 is filler.

At least that's how I view it.

Your wood analogy does not apply to welding.

 

[OnlyStihl]

I pulled the panel off to inspect, blow clean, and lube anything I could find. Looks like I have the Power Factor Capacitor/Condensers installed. This reduces the input by 30% for any load. I'm thinking I can safely use the machine at full power and use my 50Amp without worry of having to upgrade. A good thing.

Big Capacitors ->

 

[OnlyStihl]

After a few days of working at this, the welding setup is now complete. On top of the breaker box is a 60Amp breaker ready to install, if ever it becomes necessary. I cut up a Kubota cab roof that mostly survived a run-away tractor accident on a steep hill. I get an extra shelf and some strengthening that was cut to size with the plasma cutter. Most extensive use of the plasma cutter to date. Very nice machine for doing a lot of cutting. The extra helmet is the upper of the two. Very nice. I now have an extra for people that want to watch their stuff getting fixed.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

After a few days of working at this, the welding setup is now complete. On top of the breaker box is a 60Amp breaker ready to install, if ever it becomes necessary. I cut up a Kubota cab roof that mostly survived a run-away tractor accident on a steep hill. I get an extra shelf and some strengthening that was cut to size with the plasma cutter. Most extensive use of the plasma cutter to date. Very nice machine for doing a lot of cutting. The extra helmet is the upper of the two. Very nice. I now have an extra for people that want to watch their stuff getting fixed.

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Just watch what projects you take, frames on vehicles or even trailers can open you to liability on them so watch what you do because if an accident happens you may get to talk to the insurance company.

 

[OnlyStihl]

Just watch what projects you take, frames on vehicles or even trailers can open you to liability on them so watch what you do because if an accident happens you may get to talk to the insurance company.

Agree!