Yes I know MIG welders are the way to go and i did in fact do a short course which unfortunately was pretty rubbish as there were too many students but I just fancy being able to do occasional agricultural quality repairs and small fabrications like motorcycle racks etc...nothing fancy /intricate or delicate. I'm not going to be using it much at all so thought a cheap lidl job made sense at £80 but are they really hopeless or quite useful for simple outdoor jobs? I Can always return the unit . Your advice please.
thanks
Bill
Chat Forum
just bought a lidl flux core gasless welder for occasional use ..bad idea?
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Posted 2 days ago #
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If its any help. I have also just bought the fCAW in lidl.
Tried it and its not too bad in fairness. only done some practice welds on fairly heavy plates.
gonna try some thin exhaust tpye pipe tonight.
apparently the main problem with them is the wire feed will not work correctly for long.
also the duty cycle is not great....but i will never be welding enough to make that an issue for me i think
Posted 16 hours ago # -
Probably the wire feed suffers from exactly the same problem as all Migs do... rust on the wire. Unless you are using the thing all day every day the wire will start to oxidise and cause it to stick in the feed and the lining to the torch causing it to burn-back in the tip and ruin your abilty to get a smooth weld and will result in constantly having to change the tip. The only way to stop this really is to remove the reel of wire after each use (you will have to cut off and throw away the wire in the torch feed) and to store it in your airing cupboard.
Posted 15 hours ago # -
Another one here for storing in a sealed empty ice cream tub in the airing cupboard.
Posted 13 hours ago # -
You can turn the reel backwards by hand to save wire in the lead, just snip the end first to make sure the wire is clean end. Secure the end to avoid a rat's nest.
Posted 12 hours ago # -
I've not used flux core for a long time but it was hideous when I did.
Really, really bad.
Posted 11 hours ago # -
I never used flux core so (lidl one)it didnt interest me
90 Amps is on the light side, I'd want 120-160A iirc
Or is gasless different?Posted 8 hours ago # -
I've got a Sealey Mighty Mig 100 flux cored job which I imagine is similar.
It joins bits of metal together but it's very hard to do anything pretty.
I'm currently on a welding evening class and using big mig machines and tig too.
Its made me want to chuck mine in the bin
But yeah, it cost £100 and for that and the fact it's 'plug and play' without gas bottles etc, makes it worth having.
Just takes a bit more thought to get what you need, and a willingness to accept a sketchy looking bead..
Posted 3 hours ago # -
Just because it's a welding thread and there anren't many and I'm proud of her, here's Jr welding for the first time!
Posted 31 minutes ago # -
Can’t believe your bleating about Flux core!
Luxury compared to my 20 year old stick arc welder.
Posted 28 minutes ago #
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