Welded up a test with my Titanium 125 FCAW machine

[Gary Fowler]

I had some 1/4" rusty old piece of plate laying around so I cut it into 2 pieces with my plasma cutter and ground a quick bevel then welded it up with the Titanium 125.
I ran a down hill root pass then filled it and capped it uphill. #48 is the back side of the open butt root pass which was ran downhill.
#51 is front side of root prior to power brushing
#52 is after brushing and # 54 is the cap pass. It is a bit rough but not bad for my first attempt on some very roughly ground rusty metal.

 

[Gary Fowler]

All welding was done in vertical position with plate tilted back about 10 degrees.

 

[Yomax4]

All welding was done in vertical position with plate tilted back about 10 degrees.

Are you using 71-TGS or 71T-11 ?

 

[Gary Fowler]

That was Harbor Freight Vulcan 71T-GS wire that came with the machine. I looked for some Lincoln NR211 at my local welding supply but they only had it in 18# rolls.
I still have a roll of Chicago electric to use up. I will see what the difference is between the Vulcan and CE wire. The Vulcan seems to weld pretty good.

 

[2Strokin]

Home Depot is a good place to get 211 wire if you have one in your area.

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[Gary Fowler]

Thanks, I do have a Home Depot about 40 miles from me. I might also be able to find something online.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I tried the Chicago Electric and it refused to feed more than a few inches before freezing in the contact tube. I cleaned the contact tube, tried again and same thing. I put my INWELD spool of wire in and it worked fine. It does seem to weld hotter than the Vulcan wire. It is .035 compared to .030 on the Vulcan so I would have expected it to require more amps but that doesnt seem to be the case.

 

[California]

Long ago I went looking for the origin of some really awful Chicago Electric 71T-GS wire that came with an early blue CE flux welder. I thought a MSDS or something might lead to the source.

I discovered two interesting things:

1) The spool sticker on the HF flux wire certified compliance to something. However - after some digging - the website of the 'testing agency' in Asia making the certification offered, for a fee, to issue whatever certificate the applicant requested. Without sending in any material to be tested.

2) Not so sure about this one but I think what I found indicated that '-GS' spec means the wire conforms to a spec declared by the manufacturer rather than to something uniform across the industry. Apparently HF's purchasing spec for that batch was just 'find the lowest cost vendor'.

 

[bplayer405]

Long ago I went looking for the origin of some really awful Chicago Electric 71T-GS wire that came with an early blue CE flux welder. I thought a MSDS or something might lead to the source.

I discovered two interesting things:

1) The spool sticker on the HF flux wire certified compliance to something. However - after some digging - the website of the 'testing agency' in Asia making the certification offered, for a fee, to issue whatever certificate the applicant requested. Without sending in any material to be tested.

2) Not so sure about this one but I think what I found indicated that '-GS' spec means the wire conforms to a spec declared by the manufacturer rather than to something uniform across the industry. Apparently HF's purchasing spec for that batch was just 'find the lowest cost vendor'.

My first welder was the CE flux 125. Came with their wire also, of course. That wire was a joke, wouldn't weld to a previous weld. It would just slide to the side and leave a cobbled mess with jagged cracks between the welds. Wouldn't multi-pass for anything. That's when I did some research and found that GS wire is basically wire that a manufacturer won't pay to put through the rigorous testing requirements or won't pass those tests. It's why I steer clear of them now. Hobart E71T-11 worked well in that machine as well as in my new machines. NR211-MP from Lincoln works good as well. For me, no reason to look further. I have heard that the Vulcan fc wire works well. May try some once I run out of fc wire.

 

[California]

My first welder was the CE flux 125. Came with their wire also, of course. That wire was a joke, wouldn't weld to a previous weld.

Following up on that ...

A decade ago the flux wire next to the blue AC 90 amp flux "Mig-100" welders was clearly labelled 'For DC Only'. I asked the clerk for AC flux wire, he said there's no such thing. No wonder those things splattered.

HF quality has certainly improved from the old days when everything they sold was cheap. Now they seem determined to fill the gap left by Craftsman's absence, if not exceed that level. Its good to see.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I just received the HF July catalog and they have the Titanium 125 FCAW machine on sale for $179. I caught mine for $159 which is why I have it, it was just too cheap to pass up but it works fine on the thin stuff and even with multi-passes on the thicker stuff.

 

[bplayer405]

I just received the HF July catalog and they have the Titanium 125 FCAW machine on sale for $179. I caught mine for $159 which is why I have it, it was just too cheap to pass up but it works fine on the thin stuff and even with multi-passes on the thicker stuff.

I got mine on the same deal you did. Leaps and bounds better welder than their ac fc welder.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The Titanium is the first FCAW welder I have bought. I read a lot of bad press on the Chicago electric brand so I was considering a Hobart 140 when I found this one. A friend visiting helped me do some welding and he said the Titanium welded better than his Hobart with FCAW. He hasnt a bottle to run it on MIG yet so the only comparison is with the flux wire. Almost $500 to get the Hobart 140, so is it worth $350 more to weld both MIG and FCAW with one machine and get 15 more amps?

 

[2Strokin]

The Titanium is the first FCAW welder I have bought. I read a lot of bad press on the Chicago electric brand so I was considering a Hobart 140 when I found this one. A friend visiting helped me do some welding and he said the Titanium welded better than his Hobart with FCAW. He hasnt a bottle to run it on MIG yet so the only comparison is with the flux wire. Almost $500 to get the Hobart 140, so is it worth $350 more to weld both MIG and FCAW with one machine and get 15 more amps?

The Titanium probably does weld better than the Hobart. It is an inverter machine whereas the Hobart is a transformer.

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[California]

And to get the 15 more claimed amps you likely need to rewire for a 30 amp 110v outlet. Not practical.

Inverter vs transformer might push a few more amps, but in each category I think output is limited only by the wall circuit amps not the brand of welder. Look for a footnote in the manual describing input current required to attain claimed output.

My 'Century 130' 110v mig needed a special-order twistlock cord then a 30 amp circuit to do the claimed '130'.

 

[bplayer405]

These Titanium fc welders do pull some amps for sure. I ran mine at 80% of max to weld some 5/16" material and blew my non-dedicated breaker twice. Ran 220 to my garage since and a dedicated 10 gage circuit with a 30 amp 120v breaker and 20 amp outlet (since the machine has a way lighter gage input cord with 15 amp plug). Should be plenty safe for it or any other 110v welder I may get.

 

[California]

These Titanium fc welders do pull some amps for sure. I ran ... a dedicated 10 gauge circuit with a 30 amp 120v breaker and 20 amp outlet ...Should be plenty safe for it or any other 110v welder I may get.

Way to go! That's doing it right.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My Titanium 125 will occasionally trip my 20 amp breaker (I think twice since I have had it) but I think both times I had my Everlast plasma cutter running (but not cutting)on the same circuit.

 

[bplayer405]

I keep forgetting how good these Titanium 125 fc welders weld... .030 NR211-MP on 1/8"... and great for getting into tight places!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Next cool morning, I will make some sample runs with my Titanium 125 using HF Chicago electric wire, some INWELD, some Vulcan and Lincoln NR211 for comparison. I dont have a GoPro camera to video it but maybe some still shots will work a little bit.