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Welding inverted , overhead , you need to use a FLUX core wire , no gas

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This is BS ! Do you think all welders or welding shops switch units to do overhead welding ?

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Lighten up Francis , with that Hobart welder he has he should to switch to a FLUX CORE wire for overhead stuff , not that the extra current is going to help when welding thinner metals ...

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purge the gas line

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A very good point that many occasional welders forget. Turn on the gas at the regulator, turn on your welder then hit the trigger for a couple seconds. Snip the excess wire off and you're good to go.

Although a lot of people don't do it, try to get in the habit of snipping off the little ball on the end of the wire before starting each weld. This is actually contaminated metal that will contaminate your weld. Yes, its a nuisance.

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If you're not interested in wasting wire (not that it's much to purge the lines), pop open the side of the welder and lift up the drive roller, squeeze the trigger on the gun for a couple seconds and replaced the drive roller. But as mentioned, it is important to have gas at the gun the second you start welding.

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Welding inverted , overhead , you need to use a FLUX core wire , no gas , that's why you are having problems with that weld , that type Hobart is a marginal machine at best, we have one at work , it bites.

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so no welding with gun below weld on gas?

Just curious what would be a good one at $450-500 range on 120v? My old man has a 220v bigger brother to mine and you can tell it MUCH hotter but I like the portableness and the fact I only have 120v in garage.

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...I bought it in the early 90's and it was over $500 then , it wasn't too long after that the POS big box store units came out with the 4 position volt/ current switch so they would meet the cheapy price point.

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$500 in the early '90 is like a grand now

Elwell me and my pos will continue to screw up till I get it right.

Keep it coming guys.

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Lighten up Francis , with that Hobart welder he has he should to switch to a FLUX CORE wire for overhead stuff , not that the extra current is going to help when welding thinner metals ...

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And don't forget when your done welding to add the famous "Kilroy was here".

I couldn't resist.

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purge the gas line

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A very good point that many occasional welders forget. Turn on the gas at the regulator, turn on your welder then hit the trigger for a couple seconds. Snip the excess wire off and you're good to go.

Although a lot of people don't do it, try to get in the habit of snipping off the little ball on the end of the wire before starting each weld. This is actually contaminated metal that will contaminate your weld. Yes, its a nuisance.

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If you're not interested in wasting wire (not that it's much to purge the lines), pop open the side of the welder and lift up the drive roller, squeeze the trigger on the gun for a couple seconds and replaced the drive roller. But as mentioned, it is important to have gas at the gun the second you start welding.

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Or turn the wire speed setting to Zero... if you have that capability.

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Well I guess I know why I don't weld! I have actually been thinking about taking a class, but it looks like welding may be more stressful than I thought!

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Not as stressful as staring at rust or a broken part.

but when you take rust out be prepared to take even more.

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Another mistake I've seen over the years is people trying to use a big dark helmet for a wire welder. When using a small welder on sheet metal I like a light lens about like you'd use for for a cutting torch- helps a lot being able to see what you are doing...And no flux-core ever...

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Mistake? If you can't see a mig weld with an #11, #10, or a number 9 lens then YOUR eyesight is already done. Don't advise anyone else to use an oxy-acetylene lens for arc welding unless you want them to be blind too.

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Ok been an amateur welder for about 3years now. Im using a hobart 140 (120v) with 75/25 gas set at 20cfh and .023 wire.


The main question is: once in while when I start my weld the wire starts to melt back on itself and not place itself on the metal. It leaves glowing little ball of material on the wire and you have to start again. This is VERY annoying and often causes a bad next weld. What is causing this? Unclean metal? Ground to far from weld? (maybe an amateur )

Another thing would it be advantageous to switch to 0.030 wire for panel work?

Enlighten me so I can be a good amateur!

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Lighten up Francis , with that Hobart welder he has he should to switch to a FLUX CORE wire for overhead stuff , not that the extra current is going to help when welding thinner metals ...

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John, John, John, the flux in the wire does nothing other than provide a sheilding gas when it burns off under the heat. In other words it does EXACTLY what the sheilding gas does.

The ONLY advantages to a flux core wire in a small gauge wire is that:
a) it saves the hobbyist from having to rent a bottle and buy a flowmeter.
b) it will provide better sheilding if welding outdoors.

Otherwise there is no advantage to fluxcore.

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