MIG welder 250 Amp from H/F

[GuglioLS]

I finally got the deal I was looking for on a new MIG welder. First a little background - A while back Brad got a flyer for a Homier sale with a 299.00 ? 250 amp MIG welder. Brad was going to buy at least three of them, one for him, his Bro and me When he arrived and inquired about the smoking deal, As suspected it was a phantom and conveniently "discontinued", none were to be had at any price. A month or two later Brad sent me an Email stating he saw a 250 amp MIG at his Local Harbor Freight for 599.00. It was the same unit I've been looking at online selling for 999.99. I checked online to buy it @ 599.00 and found it too was discontinued, so I called my local H/F store to check stock, they had two but @ the old 999.99 price and would not price match the store in Brad's home state. The manager said selling it at 599.00 it would be at a loss. So I forgot the hole deal and kept my eyes open. Last Saturday I went to pick up my Hydraulic 20 ton press, and saw they had the 250 amp MIG on display in the box discounted to 599.99, It was the last one, needless to say I snatched it up on the spot:



It's a 250 amp Gas or Flux MIG and DC stick welder all in one, 8 amperage settings from 80 to 250 amps, infinite wire speed control, 100% duty cycle @ 120 amps, 30% duty cycle @ 250 amps, with overload / over temperature protection (I'll fix the 30% duty cycle with an aux cooling fan) ;D
It will hold the 10#, 25# or the giant 44# spools of wire.


Larry

[GuglioLS]

After putting it together I realized I did not have a plug to wire onto the power cord So I jumped on my motorcycle and rode off to Home Depot.



After getting the plug installed and trying it out, The wire feed wheel is a POS, the wire slips against the resistance of trying to push it through the 8 foot long gun liner. Now I know why this thing has been discontinued. Not to be defeated I decided to fix the wheel........



Larry

[GuglioLS]

The feed wheel is hardened with a wimpy (shallow) channel for the wire and dull grabbing teeth. There are two steel disks to form the drive wheel, they are sandwiched together. I took the wheels off, chucked them in the lathe, cut a 60* V grove, then knurled the edges:



Now were talking sharp edges with a deeper grove to grab more surface area of the wire. The drive mechanism now pushes the wire through the gun, even under extreme resistance.

Larry

[GuglioLS]

Next was to take the whole darn thing apart and make sure nothing is loose and to check any other areas of concern, plus I wanted to add another 110 CFM cooling fan to double the cooling capacity and improve the % duty cycle rating. Hum, check out the writing on that transformer, I'm no linguist, but I think that's Russian? yep it's Russian alright, In fact the whole thing is made in Russia. I guess this is a Russian copy of a Chinese Copy of a Hobart. It has the "Infamous" Chicago Electric brand name Harbor Freight is so famous for. After installing the cooling fan and switch, I got to test it out. Man it's nice, talk about power! I'm used to only 105 amps or so, with 250 amps, it can just about burn right through 3/8. If enough are interested, I'll post some of the welds it's capable of.

Thanks for checking this out-





Larry

[biggkidd]

Larry,


Not a bad deal about $2 an amp COOL. Yes please post some welds if you have time. Been so busy here its hard to get anything done (when its not raining). We haven't even been up to the property in ages, rain again. It sure is April.

Larry

[stumpy]

Wow! Larry, I'm constantly amazed with your ability to turn cheap tools into good tools. Yes. Please post more pics...

Tom

[FLICK]

Nice welder Larry, the knurl job on the feed wheels is impressive

Matthew.

[quikduk]

Larry:

I see what you were talking about. That thing is nice. I really like your mods too.

I have been looking at the plasma cutter but I am doubtful whether it can really cut almost 1/2". Let me know if you decide to pick that up and modify it. ;D

Ken

[GuglioLS]

Thanks Kidd, Tom, Matthew, Ken -

Except for the cheesy drive wheel it is a nice unit. With the drive wheel fixed up, (thank you Matthew for the compliment on the micro Knurling) I did a few test welds. Below are a few of the very first so there not all that great. First on the left is 3/32" thick sheet, then welded @ 80 amps (lowest setting at a very slow wire feed rate). Middle pics are 3/8" angle that's very rusty with rough edges, then welded @ 250 amps (max). The last are a few beads @ various amps and wire feed rates, notice I also filled one of those 1" dia holes. Overall for the $ I like it, so I guess it's a keeper. The welds will get better with more practice.



Larry

[bradblazer]

Larry,
Glad you held out for the good price! Last month I stopped at the HF store in Pineville south of Charlotte and they had that welder for $599 too. I wish I could justify it!

That should be a super versatile welder with high power stick and Mig welding. Great mods. You sure didn't let the crappy wheel slow you down! What's next, a TIG adapter?

I like that it's Russian. I ordered a big backpack from HF a few years ago and it is Russian - pretty good quality.

By all means show some pics of MIG and stick welds!

[bradblazer]

Welds look nice - 250 amps is impressive.

I get a kick out of the eagle and flag on the Russian welder!

[GuglioLS]

Brad I see we were both posting almost to the exact second, what are the chances of that?

Yea it's cool being made in Russia and coming with the American Eagle and flag printed on the box and welder, the world sure has changed.
I've never MIG'd above 120 amps - wow 250 amps, that is some serious power.

OK Stick welding with DC, I have a question - what polarity should the rod be? Oh and I am almost ready to get a refill on gas, are you still happy with 100% CO2? I'd like to try that.


Larry

[bradblazer]

DCEP for almost everything. The specs for the rods spell it out. For some reason I really enjoy stick welding. My SA200 is a little cranky to get running sometimes so I got that HF 85amp inverter for little inside work. Right now a friend is borrowing that one teaching himself to weld.

100% CO2 is working fine for me. Supposedly there is more splatter and more penetration but I'm too much of a hack to notice much difference. Did yours come with a CO2 regulator? The bottles have male threads.

I like your integral bottle holder. I still need to make a new cart to hold the big bottle. It is tied to a workbench right now.

Synchronized posting - I didn't notice how close the times were!

Brad

[GuglioLS]

DCEP - is that Direct Current Electrode Positive?

It did not come with a Regulator, right now I'm using the one off my HF 151. I'm waiting on a new gun and hose assembly. So CO2 has male threads?, just great. I've got about 6 of those little tanks you see in the pic. Got them from Kirtland AFB in the late 70's They used to be filled with N2O they are dated something like 1947.

Larry

[baknblack]

Apr 23, 2008 18:37:18 GMT -5 quikduk said:

I have been looking at the plasma cutter but I am doubtful whether it can really cut almost 1/2".

I've got one of the cheap chinese cut 40 units. It can cut 1/2" if you use it in a sawing motion. What they call a sever cut I think. It will burn through 3/8 like butter.