90 amp mig enough?
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Elder User
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From: TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!
90 amp mig enough?
I have a chance to buy a 90 amp snap on mig welder for $200 and I am staring to wonder. How much can that do? Like can I do exhaust systems with it? What would be too much for it?
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From: chicopee us
Drew,
If you are on a tight budget and only need to weld body panels and exhaust stuff then I would buy it. You can always upgrade later. Or buy a stick welder for the thicker stuff. I have a cheapy 220 volt welder, it only puts out 140 amps max but I have done a ton of stuff with it, if I'd have waited until I could afford a REAL unit, I'd still be waiting. I'm working on a 53 F100, the only thing I've run across which is thicker than 1/8" is the hinges I made for my tilt nose. Heck, even the frame of my truck is only about 1/8" thick.
So in other words, there is alot you can do with that welder.
If you are on a tight budget and only need to weld body panels and exhaust stuff then I would buy it. You can always upgrade later. Or buy a stick welder for the thicker stuff. I have a cheapy 220 volt welder, it only puts out 140 amps max but I have done a ton of stuff with it, if I'd have waited until I could afford a REAL unit, I'd still be waiting. I'm working on a 53 F100, the only thing I've run across which is thicker than 1/8" is the hinges I made for my tilt nose. Heck, even the frame of my truck is only about 1/8" thick.
So in other words, there is alot you can do with that welder.
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Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Central Kali
With my .035 diameter wire the machine has to put out 100 amps of current to weld. 90 amps would not be enough. .023 wire would take less current.
.023 would work on exhaust systems. It is a little small for stuff using 1/8 thick material. Every welder has a duty cycle rating. This is how many minutes out of 10 that you can weld before you need to let it cool down. As the amps go up, the cooling time increases.
My Hobart has a 60% duty cycle at it's max output of 200 amps. At 100 amps it is much higher. Some welders are 20% duty cycle at max output.
.023 would work on exhaust systems. It is a little small for stuff using 1/8 thick material. Every welder has a duty cycle rating. This is how many minutes out of 10 that you can weld before you need to let it cool down. As the amps go up, the cooling time increases.
My Hobart has a 60% duty cycle at it's max output of 200 amps. At 100 amps it is much higher. Some welders are 20% duty cycle at max output.
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From: TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Originally posted by tgregoire
Drew,
If you are on a tight budget and only need to weld body panels and exhaust stuff then I would buy it. You can always upgrade later. Or buy a stick welder for the thicker stuff. I have a cheapy 220 volt welder, it only puts out 140 amps max but I have done a ton of stuff with it, if I'd have waited until I could afford a REAL unit, I'd still be waiting. I'm working on a 53 F100, the only thing I've run across which is thicker than 1/8" is the hinges I made for my tilt nose. Heck, even the frame of my truck is only about 1/8" thick.
So in other words, there is alot you can do with that welder.
Drew,
If you are on a tight budget and only need to weld body panels and exhaust stuff then I would buy it. You can always upgrade later. Or buy a stick welder for the thicker stuff. I have a cheapy 220 volt welder, it only puts out 140 amps max but I have done a ton of stuff with it, if I'd have waited until I could afford a REAL unit, I'd still be waiting. I'm working on a 53 F100, the only thing I've run across which is thicker than 1/8" is the hinges I made for my tilt nose. Heck, even the frame of my truck is only about 1/8" thick.
So in other words, there is alot you can do with that welder.
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If your going to buy a welder buy as big a welder as your pocket can stand and then some. Sure you can weld a lot of things at 90 amps, but your going to be welding at 90 amps most of the time and your not going to get much welding done. The duty cycle on that machine at 90 amps is more than likely about 20% ro 30% i.e weld 2 or 3 minutes set and wait for the unit to cool for 7 or 8 minutes. Cheap is as cheap does.
Later Larry
Later Larry
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: chino valley az
a 90 amp will do what most people want to do at home. i have a 125amp in my shop. i have no problems with it welding 1/4" plate. my brother in laws 90 campbell hausfeild will do the same with a little tinkering. v cut and a 90 amp will do 5/16. it isn't always the size of the wave, but the motion of the ocean. this also applies to welders. anything heavier than 5/16 and i always bust out the arc. mig doesn't have the best penetration with large gage steel like an arc does. what do you think built the liberty ships in the oakland ship yard during WWII? anything larger than 125 amp is nice, but strength will be a real problem, expecially with a novice welder. i have yet to see a novice welder get poor penetration with an arc welder. a 90 amp welder will do if you are keeping in under 1/4 or 3/16 plate. do you really realize how thick those metals are? mine has a 35% duty cycle 3.5 minutes is alot of welding on 3/16 plate. like 32 inchs of an unbroke weld. anything below 20% is way to slow though. but a simple external squirrel cage fan can easily double the duty cycle for less than 30 bucks.
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From: TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: welder
Originally posted by shortbed1
Hey drewcoolness, What model welder is that i can tell u all about it with a model # old snappy dealer
Hey drewcoolness, What model welder is that i can tell u all about it with a model # old snappy dealer
with the bottle, he got a good deal from the body guys when he worked at a ford dealership. so I got it for $200
