So my buddy has this ARC-180 Harbor Freight Special welder. We've been trying to get some welding done and none of the welds are good. We get no penetration if we can even get a bead going. We have tried both 1/8 6013 and 3/32 6011 rod to no avail. The welder sticks a lot no matter how much it is turned up, and then when we do get what we would like to think is a bead going it has no penetration, sometimes cracks upon cooling and just looks like crap.

The welder is hooked up to his dryer outlet in the house and the cord is about 10 feet long. We have been grinding the area clean where the ground lead will be, and we have really been trying to make sure we have an overall good hookup with the welder.

We are getting horrid welds if you can even call them that, that dont hold up to anything, anyone got any suggestions? Is it just the cheap quality of the Harbor Freight special welder? Or is there a possibility that something else could be wrong? Thanks for any help

Wes

sounds like your welder is shot.......you should have no problem buring a 3/32 6011 with the welder on high. i have never heard of that kind of welder, so maybe its just a POS. :confused: you could take it to a shop and get it looked at, maybe its something easy that they can fix.

good luck, jesse

ya, its a 99.99 special 220 chicago electric style welder, so you think its just a ghetto welder and we need to get a real one? thanks for any help

wes

I dont know your welding ability but the welds that you describe sound like what mine used to look like when I first started welding. If so keep practicing soon you will figure it out. **If you know how to weld with arc allready, sorry, disregard my comment**

edit: I dont think you need a better welder but you should have checked your options a bit further before you bought one. I bought a lincoln buzzbox for just a little more than that.

first of all what amperage are you running and ar you obtaining a good ground

we are running it at the amperage specified in the manual, (i know real men dont read directions, yada yada yada). both me and my buddy have arc welded before, and this welder just doesnt feel right. we had another friend who is a professional fab guy come over and he said something didnt seem right to him either.

i didnt buy the welder, my buddy did, i too would have put down a little extra to get a much better welder.

thanks for the help guys

wes

dc + or - or ac?

post some pictures of the weld's that may help determine whether it's the welder or your skills.

I would guess if its laying a bead down then the welder should be good enough to hold two pieces of metal together. Have you tried using 5-P?? its a VERY simple rod for beginners and practically sticks to anything. AFter you learn how to use 5-P easly then start laying down to 7018 for the stronger stuff....

Are you sure the welder is getting 220 volts to it?

we had another friend who is a professional fab guy come over and he said something didnt seem right to him either.

This is what happens when you buy cheap import junk..


Harbor freight :laughing: :laughing:

dc + or - or ac?
I was wondering the same thing...however on the 6013 it shouldn't matter...BUT on the 6011 it could be either AC or DC electrode positive...if its electrode negative then that could be the problem with the 6011...BUT, just guessing, since its a chepa HF machine I will say it only has AC so either stick should be working...

This is a VERY good point. If you miswired your extension cord (I assume you have one, or at least, a converter of some kind), there's a possibility that you're only running 110V. Use a voltmeter in the proper receptacle to measure the voltage. Be careful there!!!

JP

Are you sure the welder is getting 220 volts to it?

sounds like the welder is AC only. Go pick up AC specific rod and try that.

7018AC is sold at TSC and should be good for just about anythign you would need.