Anyone have a hobart mig welder?

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I bought this about a year ago and haven't really used it because it doesn't put any metal down. Even after talking to the Hobart guys, he basically said you're pretty limited using the 115V setup and 1/4" steel is about as thick as you can do with it on 115. It's the Hobart 210MVP (multi volt plug)

I ended up setting it at 7 for the voltage and 5 for the wire speed, (I may have that backwards) Anyways it comes standard with flux core wire and I've verified the polarity is correct, so what's the deal? I can hold it in one spot and it doesn't even build up any metal. Do I need to be completely inside when mig welding?
 
At first I was thinking it was the wind, but I did it on a day it wasn't windy at all and still didn't have any luck.
 
I have a Lincoln 135SP, (pretty close in size to yours) and it'll weld 1/4" thick pretty well when using .035" flux core with LOTS of heat and LOTS of wire speed.

Duty cycle sucks at those settings, though.... it'll over heat fast and takes a long time to cool down.

You aren't using an extension cord, are you?
 
Yeah a 100ft 12 gauge cord. It will run a bead, but it's only about 1/8" wide and doesn't penetrate.
 
I have a Hobart 140, am using .030 flux core, and have no problem welding 1/8" and 3/16" material. I have confidence I could do 1/4" as well.
I did modify it a little. It had a pathetic 14ga 15amp cord. I opened it up and replaced it with 10ft of 10ga SJOOW with a L5-30 plug on the end. Then that plugs into a 50ft 10ga extension running to an L5-30 outlet I added to my garage which gives me anywhere in my garage and then a little bit out of it. My generator has that particular plug for remote locations as well.


Across 100ft of 12ga extension, you are losing 6 or 7 volts. Depending on where your at on the circuit and how far it is from the breaker would could be losing another 3 or 4 volts there.

Heres some things I welded recently.
Boxing a control arm. The plate Im adding is 1/8", but the control arm is not...is probably 12ga or close to it.

Here I added a 3/16 brace to one of the control arm mounts.
 
Originally Posted By: Driz
https://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/forum.php

Give it a try here. It's a slow kite these days but the die hards are still around. It also links to manuals and other info.




And yes that's supposed to be SITE not kite but can't change i.e. , [censored] autospell!
For anything bigger than fenders and like I always grab the good old Tombstone arc welder. It's just easier to switch electrodes than changing reels. You never have penetration issues with one of those but you need a 220 dryer outlet or similar to plug in. Always cheap on Craig's list for a song as guys have to move up to a mig rig to weld better, or so they think.
FYI I have to always run my hh135 at least a setting higher than the recommended setting always it seems.
 
I have the Hobart 140 mig welder. It is 120volt and I have no problem with something that thick using flux core wire. I normally turn a box fan on to blow the smoke away from me as flux core is designed for outside windy areas. I would think the 100ft extension cord is killing your welds. Try it without the 100ft cord.
 
Is it sputtering? Do you have enough drive roller tension? I use a Millermatic 211 inverter mig with Steel Mix gas on 125 for thin stuff and it goes like a house on fire, thicker gets the 220v. For the automotive work I do it more or less lives on 125V, it does sheet metal really nice.
I have an old regulator (works great) here if you want it, just buy a gas bottle and trade in when its empty at Airgas. Let me know and I will send it to you.
 
Can you not run it with 75\25 instead of flux. As other have said lose the extension cord, put it on its own 20 or 30 amp circuit.,if you insist on an extension cord hf has a cheap,heavy duty cord if welded with. My Lincoln welder from home depot works great!
 
This is why I was looking at an engine driven welder. That way I could power it off a 50amp outlet. Any setting less than 6 or 7 it sputters, yes the wire feeds out quick.
 
I'd love to see a video of what's going on.

You are losing more than 6-7 volts from that 100' cord. As it heats up, resistance increases.

Get a heavier cord (10 gauge)
Keep playing with the settings. On the Lincoln SP135, I think the heat knob is maXxed out when on 1/4" steel - and the wire is really, really flowing!
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
This is why I was looking at an engine driven welder. That way I could power it off a 50amp outlet. Any setting less than 6 or 7 it sputters, yes the wire feeds out quick.


Hold it a an inch away from the metal and trigger it with no ground clamp so it doesn't fire, if it doesn't start bending the wire and continue to feed under pressure tighten the drive roller till it does.
 
I guess that's what the guy I worked with meant when he said they got an engine driven welder so it can be taken anywhere. I figured since it was a shop it would be cheaper to just have a unit you plug into the wall with a heavy gauge cord.
 
I'll try and just plug it directly into the wall. Generally I use the extension cord so I can use the welder outside to prevent catching something on fire.
 
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