Hi, do you guys think that one of those Harbor Freight 90 Amp 120V Mig Welders - I have questions about these and would be thankful if some of you guys who have actually used this type or similar would care to chime in ...

1. Would be good enough to securely weld together a turbo downpipe made from 409 Stainless and Mild Steel flanges and weld exhaust piping as well made form Stainless Steel 409 or 304?

2. Can I weld aluminum intercooler piping with it?

If not, I guess I will have to take it to a shop because I can get a great deal on one of these ones locally at a pawn shop hehe ...




Modified by pcguy760 at 10:24 AM 8/8/2008

 

 

lol, does anyone who knows about these welders or has one, know if this will work for my applications? If it would that would be great and I can go get it before someone else does - it's on "sale" at the pawn shop for $60 btw and comes with some wire, etc!!

 

it will "work" for your downpipe, but will be tough to make consistent/clean welds...those machines aren't very efficient either

 

Hmmm... so would I be better off giving it to a shop to weld the pieces together or just do it with the cheap welder? The shop wants $15 per round / per pipe to weld and I am not sure if they use tig or mig ...

 

I wouldnt bother with that welder...

If its flux core only, it blows and no it wont weld aluminium.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flashmn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wouldnt bother with that welder...

If its flux core only, it blows and no it wont weld aluminium. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah last night I read nothing but bad reviews all over the internet for that welder and variations of the same thing - seems like I would be better off just gettin it welded by a professional shop OR gettin something better than that... I guess I will have to go with the shop for now...

 

You're better off cutting the sections/marking them for fitment- then having a muffler shop weld together for you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Evs-One &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You're better off cutting the sections/marking them for fitment- then having a muffler shop weld together for you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL, that was my plan after the exhaust shop here told me that a 3" dp would not fit but then I saw this welder going so cheap and now I figured out why it was so cheap haha. Yeah, I am gonna just have the shop do it - I mean they would not possibly tell me they could not weld steel right??? LOL - (damn I hope not haha).

Honestly, here in Springfield, its almost impossible to get good advice or find anyone when it comes to having custom work done... sucks.

 

That is a junk welder.

Even a good welder with that amperage is really just suited for tacking exhaust stuff in place so you can go back and weld it for real with a good machine.

I just bought a 170 amp Lincoln Mig for $350 on craigslist. Its great for general exhaust work.

If you want to do aluminum with a Mig, you really need a spoolgun to do it without driving yourself nuts. And, it will really only be useful on med. to thick aluminum; charge pipes will likely burn through with a Mig unless you have a LOT of practice and can really scoot the gun along.

Best of luck.

 

Yeah I am just gonna get it welded professionally - from most of the reviews I read around the net about that welder its like 99% junk . Sad but true I guess this goes back to the old theory of "You get what you pay for!"

 

Buy a used brand name welder; you won't regret spending a bit more for something that works right and doesn't break.

 

Go buy a Miller autoset 140 or 180 depending on budget.This is the mig machine for newb welders and you could add a spool gun for alum or in the least to tack it together etc.

 

LOL Funny thats exactly what I did today - gonna take it to get professionally welded tomorrow hehe. Hobart 140 same as Miller 140 I guess cos I used a Hobart. I will take some pics when I get it back - my tacks look terrible haha but at least its holding it together for them to Tig it