But maybe I have to go 220v with this material? If so, anyone have a recommendation for an economical welding machine that is sufficient to do this (I'd prefer to stick with flux-core)? Thank you for your help!!! So if this machine can handle this project, even if it is at the edge of this machine's capability, I'd *really* rather not have to put down serious money and buy a bigger unit at this time. Those have to be at least semi-legit to withstand the continual tension of the fence.Īlthough I'm sure I will have future projects where I will need a welding machine, I don't think I will ever be working with material any thicker than this. I am almost inclined to accept weak welds on the cable clips as they don't need to withstand that much force but these cold welds absolutely won't work when I have to weld the pipe-to-pipe fishmouth joints for the H-braces. I also do not own a torch or anything to pre-heat the material before welding (and I'd really prefer not to have to buy one and do that either, as I'm on a tight budget and have hundreds of welds to do). So it's either a problem with my technique, a problem with the machine, or the machine is simply not powerful enough to weld this thickness of material? I am running off an extension cord because I pretty much have to, but I have already tried different cords and different power outlets. After just a few seconds with the wire wheel to clean up the pipe, you can hardly tell I ever tried to weld there. Afterwards I can sometimes pry the welded clip off the pipe with a flathead screwdriver and a hammer with minimal effort. I then weld the other side of cable clip (not the other end, the same end but the other side). The puddle just sits on top and doesn't go into the pipe, a cold joint. The cable clip gets red hot, like its nearly going to melt away, but the pipe doesn't get hot enough and doesn't melt. I very slowly drag the weld towards me, no side-to-side motions, with maybe 1/2" distance from the tip of the gun to the pipe. I focus my weld on the pipe with the angle of the gun more towards the pipe than the cable clip. My pipe and cable clips are all between 3/16" and 1/4" thickness. The chart says that this machine can weld up to 3/16" single-pass, and 1/4" and 5/16" with multi-pass. There is a chart provided on the inside of the machine that shows the recommended settings for different thicknesses of material and I have my settings set accordingly. I have the wire feed speed set to 3 (wire feed knob goes from 1 to 10) and the heat set up to D (power knob goes from A to D). I have the wire feed gun set to electrode negative and the ground set to positive (previous owner ran solid wire with gas and had them set reverse of this). The ground clamp appears to be in very good condition and is kept clamped to shiny, clean metal, usually as close to the area to be welded as possible. I have used a wire wheel on my angle grinder to clean the pipe to shiny, clean metal for both the welding areas and the area to attach the ground clamp. Good welds here are crucial as the H-braces hold the continual pull/tension of the barbed wire spanning in both directions over the longterm. Both ends of the crossbar are fishmouth joints where they meet the legs. *This* is what I mean by an "H-brace", although mine with have a crossbar that is the same length as the legs. I am using two sizes of clips, 3/16" and 1/4" diameter.Ģ) Weld H-braces. No real forces act upon the clips, other than maybe a cow trying to scratch itself against one now and then. The clips are used to hold the barbed wire up at different certain heights, so the wire does not sag. I basically need to be able to do two things:ġ) Weld cable clips along the sides of the pipe. The pipe is 2" schedule 80 (2 3/8" OD) pipe, which has a wall thickness of. I bought a used Lincoln-Electric 110v Easy-MIG 140 in what seems to be very good condition to do this project, as it was much cheaper than buying a bigger, more powerful unit (I am trying to do this project on a tight budget). I need to do some welding on some pipe posts for a barbed wire fence. Hello everyone, first let me say that I'm very new to welding but I've tried to inform myself.
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