New toy

K

KenH

Well-Known Member
I did it! Been wanting and talking about a mig welder for a good while, but couldn't convince myself to turn loose of the money. I've been using an old Lincoln industrial 250 amp, AC/DC welder for the last few years.
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My Dad purchased that old welder used more than 50 yrs ago. I've rebuilt the diode bridge more times than I can count over the years. It's a good welder, but for small welds, especially seal welds on San Mai billets I wanted a mig welder. Talking with Joe Cross & reading reviews convinced me to order the Forney Easy Weld 140 which is mig only. I didn't need the model with the arc welding and TIG ability. I've got a perfectly good arc welder, and the cost of argon tank and associated equip isn't worth it for me. I got this one:
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I have been very impressed with how well it welds. The big concern I had was 120 vac only. Just seems a welder needs 240 vac. Well, 120 vac does just fine for lower amp use. Forney says it will weld 1/4" thick metal just fine, and thicker if using more than a single pass.

My experience (very limited) is it will weld all I need just fine. I've welded 3/16" and didn't have it max'd out and just fine. Mig is surely different than stick and I'm having to learn - but learning is going MUCH faster than learning stick welding. I can already lay a decent bead. So far, I think I'm pleased with the welder and glad I ordered. Only $230 shipped, but for some reason it cost me almost $300 {g}. That comes from ordering welding wire, extra tips, etc. I'll be ordering welding wire in 10 lb rolls, less expensive that way. About $3/lb vs $7/lb.

Later
 
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Congrats. I've got an AC/DC buzz box for bigger work, but more often that not I'm doing relatively light tacks and beads, so I'll grab my cheap HF flux core wire welder. (That, and I'm just not nearly as good with stick.) It's a little 100amp 110vac welder, but I converted it from ACEP to DCEN, and it lays a much cleaner and more consistent bead.

I've also found that good wire and a quality welding hood makes a world of difference for these lower priced machines as well. It's amazing how much your welds improve when you can actually see what you're doing, and these days, even the cheaper ($40 to $75 range) hoods are remarkably better than they used to be.
 
Drew, you've got me, how did you convert from ACEP (I don't know ACEP), maybe it's just AC?) to DCEN on a MIG welder? Isn't DCEN a "DC Electrode Negative"? Did you put a diode bridge in the circuit somewhere? I suspect the Forney Easy Weld 140 FC-i is an AC machine - I don't see anywhere it says inverter. Not sure, Just put the DVM on ground and wire and it reads both AC and DC. Black lead on ground and red lead on wire gives a negative voltage, is that Neg Ground? It also reads AC voltage, but different than the DC voltage.

With wire feed set on 1 it's basically zero feed rate. Wire on 2 it's about 31" /minute.

Meter on AC volts: 1 = 7vac; 5 = 10vac; 10 = 16VAC

Meter on DC volts: 1 = -16 vdc; 5 = -19vdc; 10 = -23vdc

OK, I just read a comment from Forney that says "The minimum power output is 32A at approximately 14 volts." Then another place Forney tech says "This machine plugs into AC voltage and has a DC voltage output." so I guess it's DCEN, and that confirms with my voltage check.

edit: OK, found another Forney tech comment that says "Forney Easy Weld 140FC-i runs off of 120V AC. The power is then converted in the internal components to create a DC output. " Another comment from Forney says "This is a DC inverter based machine. "

The voltage is the same on 1 as on 5 wire feed rate. I thought the voltage would vary more than that. Is that anywhere near normal? On the voltage reading on both AC and DC I suspect it's just a poorly filtered DC voltage and the AC is reading a heavy ripple on the DC voltage. I need to put on 'scope to check it out.

Anybody tell me about this?
 
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Sounds like you are pretty much getting the hang of the MIG! I knew you would. They are great little welders, so much easier to learn than stick. I put down my old buzz box about 30 years ago and never looked back.
 
I think more and more welder manufacturers are going to DCEN these days, as it has become somewhat of a selling point. It’s been a while since I converted, but if I remember right, the older harbor freight flux cores were AC with a positive electrode. Basically you just add a rectifier and a large capacitor or 2, and switch the leads so that the electrode is negative. Gives it a much smoother output. I also tossed the end nozzle on the stinger since there’s really no point as mine doesn’t have a gas hookup, and it was really more of a spatter catcher than anything useful. Just seemed to get in the way.
 
Drew, thanks for the info on how you switched to DCEN with the older HF mig machine. That's what I did to a Lincoln 225 amp AC buzzbox many years ago, except I didn't use any capacitors, just the diode bridge for output.

It only makes sense for manuf's to use the same DC polarity, and DCEN is good. Then all the flux wire manuf's can standardize on a DCEN flux for the wire for better welding. I was surprised that Forney didn't list in the specs that the Easy Weld 140 FC-i was DCEN with inverter power. The next higher end machine by Forney is touted as being "inverter", but nothing is said about the 140 FC-i. I had to really dig to find comments by Forney tech support to confirm it was inverter using DCEN.

My only concern is with all those electronic components and circuit boards in an inverter going bad. The old Lincoln 250 amp AC/DC welder I've got weights a ton and no electronic components except for the diode bridge that's easy rebuilt.
 
Drew, your comment about tossing the end nozzle got me to thinking, and saw on a couple of youtube videos where they didn't have that big diffuser nozzle on and decided that might be good. I removed the end nozzle today for some welding, boy can you see better. I made a brass protector for the threads and end. I think that's going to be good.

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KenH said:
Drew, your comment about tossing the end nozzle got me to thinking, and saw on a couple of youtube videos where they didn't have that big diffuser nozzle on and decided that might be good. I removed the end nozzle today for some welding, boy can you see better. I made a brass protector for the threads and end. I think that's going to be good.

View attachment 72922
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Yeah, I found that not only could I see better, but it gives better access to tight spots. I like the brass protector idea. Well done!
 
KenH said:
Drew, your comment about tossing the end nozzle got me to thinking, and saw on a couple of youtube videos where they didn't have that big diffuser nozzle on and decided that might be good. I removed the end nozzle today for some welding, boy can you see better. I made a brass protector for the threads and end. I think that's going to be good.

View attachment 72922
Click to expand...
Looks great. can you share how you made this?
Thanks!
Scott
 
Sure, not a problem. Just chucked up a 3/4" diameter brass rod in lathe, drilled out size for nozzle, with size for threads (M11X1.5) and tapped for fit. Then free handed the outside to shape. Took me about an hour from start to finish.

Hard to imagine how useful a lathe is until you've had one a while. Then you wonder how'd I ever get by without lathe. Same with milling machine. I enjoy my tools {g}
 
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