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Posted By: sonny flux core welding - 11/28/2022 11:20 PM
Is flux core always nasty looking or am I doing something wrong? Cant tell what the bead looks like cause there aint one visible ,--its covered with the flux beads. As for holding,--well MOOSE couldnt tear it apart and the parts have a high pitch ring to them after welding.
The plow I modified for the cub is holding and its had some rough use this fall in dry hard ground.
Posted By: JIM Re: flux core welding - 11/30/2022 01:46 AM
yeah there's slag just like stick
Posted By: bunkclimber Re: flux core welding - 11/30/2022 01:32 PM
flux core wire gives a nasty appearance as compared to solid MIG wires. The shield flux is in the center of the wire and burns as you weld to make the shield gas cloud over the arc..makes for a mess its even messier than stick! Ive seen an automated setup running MIG flux core wire,.045dia,350amps and it used shield gas as well over the flux core wire,multipass welding heavy 2"structural plate sections.Why they ran shield gas with flux core I don't know. They were ending the run, the guy I knew gave me a couple 4or5 35lb rolls of the wire and I tried it on my MIG machine and it didnt run for squat here,had to make adjustments and change out my liner to run it too.I think it's still out back in the storage container..why do I keep that stuff? I tried many different settings and feed speeds,just couldnt make it work..so ER70-S6 solid core it is for me for 90% of what I do.. I'd go back to using stick over flux core,at least I know where I'm at with running a stick electrode
Posted By: sonny Re: flux core welding - 11/30/2022 02:31 PM
I dont have any trouble with it once I got the feel of wire. I never had/used wire til I got this Century 200 a few years ago-----tried it and hated it, BUT tried some test welding at different settings and now it aint bad. I cant afford to go solid wire and gas for it. I think thats what former owner had set up on it. I had to get new feed rollers and a couple other parts for it but it makes some hard/strong welds if you watch what you are doing with it.
I still love my stick jobbers but how much longer will we be able to get rods for them???? Thats why I decided to start learning myself the wire stuff.
It has been interesting so far! LOL!
Posted By: bunkclimber Re: flux core welding - 11/30/2022 04:32 PM
I think there will always be stick electrodes(rods) available Sonny, its a weld process that can go anywhere,farm field or battlefield if you must,with ease of use and utility..the small wire feed fluxcore or MIG machines have really taken off in the past 10yrs,it seems everyone has one now with the proliferation of the handyman and car craft TV shows featuring them they are very popular..plus anyone can use one with little to no training..go hand a stinger and a couple rods to the average newbie and watch what happens..biggest thing I can tell ya is to watch the puddle behind the arc(when pushing)-thats the weld metal thats holding it together..and run it hot enough to get good fusion
Posted By: sonny Re: flux core welding - 11/30/2022 10:37 PM
Ya,--took me a while to figure out how high to run the settings but I got that part down fairly decent. On wire its a whole different animal! gotta figure the heat PLUS the wire feed speed! LOL! Its not just grab a rod, hit the dial for the heat and weld! So far the stuff I welded has been holding so I will have to keep the wire around!
Posted By: Stan Bennett Re: flux core welding - 12/01/2022 01:53 PM
I bought one of those toy flux core welders from Harbor Freight about 12-13 years ago and after trying for a while to make something look decent, I slipped it back on the shelf. Pulled it out again this year and tried my best to run a decent bead and ended up putting it on marketplace for $50. Some other old guy like me bought it and loves it. Maybe I wasn't meant to use anything other than 6013 or 7014. I have an old Miller Thunderbolt that I converted to AC/DC last year and just leave it on about 125 amps and DC+. The conversion was about 75 bucks with rectifier and including all new plugs and receptacles etc. Bought a new helmet that I can see the puddle with so that helped a lot. I can still weld out of position as long as I can lay the parts horizontally. LOL
Posted By: sonny Re: flux core welding - 12/02/2022 12:08 AM
I never had one of them but did use one that a friend had a couple times. With flux wire you dont ever actually see the bead,--or I never did. My Century 200 I run the heat up probably 3/4 of the way on the dial and the wire speed about the same and its hot! Thats for thick metal, never messed with thin stuff since I always burn thru so I have a lot of test setting to do before I tackle thin with it!
Posted By: JIM Re: flux core welding - 12/02/2022 02:13 AM
HF welder with flux core wire... good enough for what I need.

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