Great job sir! I love it when someone takes a machine that is budget line equipment and gets their mind ahold of it and makes it more like it should have been to start with! Good work!
I just finished converting my HF 90 amp FC to DCEN. It works great now. Many thanks to you. Of all the UA-cam videos on this I found yours to be the most helpful. I must’ve wanted it a dozen times. Thanks for your help,!
That was a great tutorial for the conversion. I've watched a couple others and didn't fully understand how to get this done. There is a surplus store near my house where I'll be able to get everything I need at a very low price. Knowing now what I need to buy and how to install the parts I'm feeling quite confident about this project being a success. Thank you very much I appreciate your tutelage. Eddie Duenez Jr.
10lb spool of lincoln electric wire fits in my machine quite well, but leaves no wiggle room, no need to stick to the tiny 2lb spools. I agree a good ground clamp is a good cheap improvement, and simply installing a rectifier makes a noticeable difference in performance.
Great video, thank you. I saved myself all the time & money (the parts + a new HF welder would have been more than the welder I bought). So 3 years ago I just bought a 15 lbs. Century FC90 by Lincoln Electric, from my local Home Depot.
When u just swap the leads from the control handle makes a 155÷ better hands down fr fr this is with out the rectfire and it started to stick like there was no tomorrow I don't doubt this method what so ever cause before I swapped the leads it was just spotting everywhere and wouldn't hardly even stick and I welded with it today and oweee I'm highly impressed I can't wait till I add a few other items and it will hang with some of the top brands on the market listen to this man he knows exactly what he is talking about fr fr grats !!!
Just a comment on your peak voltage numbers. The 120V value is technically called 120V RMS (Root Means Squared). The peak voltage for the 120V wall outlet is about 170V. 120V x square root of 2 = 120 x 1.414 = 170. The voltage on your meter agrees with this, 35 VAC x 1.414 = 50V and your meter reads about 36V which is good because you are loading the power supply and you get 36V. Overall a great presentation. If you looked at your rectified peaks on a scope, each peak would be about 50V.
my wires for this project were #6 cables with ends sourced from my collection of bad booster packs. the new lead to ground was also #6 wire from a set of HF booster cables i never used. it had a great battery clamp i could barely squeeze. rectifier is 150 amps and filter cap is 470000 mfd many.thanks for addressing the value of the bleed resistor needed.
I've just got to say that I've owned a HF Flux125 for about a year now, and that I have taken some professional welding courses at a local trade school, and I have no problem with the machine, my weld performance , overall strength and "eye" appeal. I can certainly attest that when I 've used superior shop machines in the DCEN mode, that the weld quality is better, no doubt. The videos I am seeing on YT who are doing DC conversions, can't seem to run a decent weld to begin with. So before all you Flux125 owners think you need to convert to get a decent weld, consider practicing a constant 1/2" "stick out", 5 - 10 degree drag angle, correct wire feed speed and voltage setting (hi -lo). I had to tweak settings for different steel thicknesses. I had to play with wire feeder tension. I make sure my base metals are well prepped and fitted up. All these factors can make a big difference in weld quality. The main modification that I think would be quite helpful, would be to swap out the ground clamp to a bronze unit that HF sells. I just haven't yet on my machine, because it welds quite nicely for me. Oh and I use Lincoln NR-211-MP .035"wire.
A ground clamp made a huge difference for sure. Biggest difference I noticed after adding the rectifier and cap was a lot less splatter, and welds wanted to lay a a bit flatter. Mostly just less splatter from a smoother arc. Thanks for the insight!
I totally agree with you, it's user malfunction, I have never had a problem running it whatsoever. I also question whether these machines are AC output and not "clipped" DC. The number one reason I say that is, show me ANY manufacturer that makes innershield flux-core wire that runs AC, it is ALL DC straight polarity. All the modification does is smooth the DC spike voltages and allow power to smooth out and be continuous non-spiking DC. It already has DC, that drive roll motor runs 24 volt DC, not AC. I am going to do this mod just to see what really happens, whether it is user malfunction or what. When I open it up I also intend to check voltage output and see whether it is really VAC or VDC with a meter, no one has shown this in any video I have watched. Open circuit voltages will tell the truth, VDC or VAC. His ground clamp idea has merit though as a cheap fix.
@@slick1rick1 The output the the electrode is AC, as are ALL the cheap 90ish amp machines....the rectifier for the drive motor is built into the same board as the wire feed speed control...
If you run a separate wall wort power supply from you mains input to the wirefeed motor instead of letting it sap the voltage from your transformer should help also.
I spent 26$ and got a 200 ma dc bridge and a nice ground clamp. I just used my new 125 welder with no mods today.yes I hope both me and machine will get better.im saving this video in case I come across a big cap.
@@davidfellows6250 I bought a 90 amp one at the scrap yard for $5. It was chopped up on the wiring, but I'll make the best of it. I have a 130 amp alternator ill make an engine welder with, and I can do stick and tig with it if I have had for that.
What capacitor values do I look to buy? What exact capacitor specification numbers do I type into eBay to buy the correct voltage, uf and whatever else is needed. Electricity is not my strong suit at all. I need to be told exactly what to buy. I can do everything in this video. Thanks for posting.
@@eighthacremaker7129 are you sure it makes a different over 500k mfd? @questions 121 forum.driveonwood.com/t/modifying-the-harbor-freight-120v-welder-if-you-already-own-one/64
The important number to pay attention to is the voltage rating. You need one with a rated working voltage of at least 50 volts. One rated at 63 volts or higher would be better. The capacitance value isn't critical, but aim for 40,000 micro Farads or more.
Hi, so I went and did the conversion with a 100 amp rectifier and a 50V, 68,000 mfd capacitor. Went and started a weld and it lasted about 10 seconds then quit. Going through different You Tube vid's I figured the rectifier was too small and went to a 200 amp unit. Tried a weld and all I have is power to the fan and wire feed. Tested the voltage going into the rectifier from the transformer and all I have at best is 1.3V. Did the transformer puke on me or is something else causing such a low voltage problem ?
Your plus and minus line on a sine wave aren’t +120 a -120v. That’s RMS (root mean square). Peak voltage is about 170v ac. RMS voltage ac is .707 x peak voltage (170), or to find peak voltage, use the formula RMS X 1.41. ~ maybe too “techie” for a welder conversion, but interesting nonetheless. PS. Love the conversion. I’ve done it myself. Makes a cheap welder much more useful. 👍
Mines gotten pretty warm but it’s been ok. Probably because big heat sink. I have run it pretty hard a number of times. I’d agree though a 150a would probably be better.
I did the bleed resister thing but for some odd reason, it takes longer for the capacitor to bleed off. I went with a low ohm resister because the information I read was the lower the ohm the faster it discharges. Seems that is not the case. I was wondering if I could put a second fan to help with cooling the heat sink attached to the rectifier.
You can both use a bigger heat sink and have whatever fans you need. You could even run a stand alone fan pointed at or across the heatsink. Use some heatsink compound for best results making a heatsink work. Just takes a little between the metal surface of your rectifier and the mating surface of the heatsink, and make sure they’re tight against each other for the thermal wicking to occur. Saw someone left an airgap intentionally and thought that would help somehow. Look at your PC, the heatsink is held tight against the processor, not slightly over it but firmly against it.
Yea i put a big ass choke on mine with about 800k μF worth of caps on it.. only regret is i never put any bleed down resistance on the caps so theyd stay energized.. and 800k μF @ 55vdc is a hell of a lot more power than you'd think.. i discharge it by snapping it to the ground after welding but i guess either i didnt do that one time or didnt completely discharge it and damn thing killed my girlfriends cat.. guess it brushed up against it and zapped the thing.. died on top of my welder.. she left me because of it.. so put bleed downs on your caps, just might save a cats life, and a relationship.. trust me, shit will happen no matter what, just makes shit happen a little less when you try to prevent it..
I've been posting videos on my MIG130 modifications, but decided to dive into the HF welder like yours. I honestly like both and wish I could combine them in to one awesome welder. The gun on the MIG130 is always hot, but has a bit more functionality. Merry Christmas brother
Very informative video 👍 thanks for sharing. Does anyone know if microwave oven capacitors will work? I have several large ones I salvaged a while back. (I'm not much of an election I'm afraid)
He is using 2 capacitors. Each is 40V and 20,000uF. If you add capacitors to your welder, I'd suggest getting several at 50V and 20,000uF each. Wire them in parallel and you'll get 60,000uF. That should be enough to give you a noticeable improvement. When deciding on a capacitor, its a good idea to get a capacitor that is rated approximately 35% higher voltage than the operating voltage of your project. Cheers
Could u help me do this to my welder. I use mine so much its insane. Build car parts for fun but the welder is a splatter machine. I'm always on my grinder knocking the splatter off and I noticed I can't really weld thin sheet cause just when I feel like I got it to not burn through it burns through like it's more power than I set. I got a good method for thin metal welding to. Also I built intercooler pipes and I spent a day knocking off splatter cause i had to gap weld
Get some 1/4", copper, water line and it can be use to make butt connectors as well as terminals. You can refer to one of my videos to see what I'm talking about. Cheers
You don't really want much inductance on a wire feed welder. Too much inductance will give you a constant current output, which is not what you want. Capacitors are all you really need for a constant-voltage wire feed process.
With a Choke inductor will put more of a load on the transformer i would like to try both and see how they work only thing is to do is test or get a schematic from a proven build not many people put a schematic in there videos as a engineer this is the first step is to draw out a wiring place and parts location take note not to put parts so they can get hot or short out
Tim Perdue I don’t know the rating it’s a “quiet” fan meaning not a lot of air. Had it laying the parts pile so it got used. Something with more CFM would be ideal. It’s actually a 120v fan with a plug of its own and I haven’t taken the time to connect it to the power leads in the welder. I just plug it in... 😂
You didn't draw a 60 hertz dc output. Thats a 120 hertz DC output which is the actual output ripple frequency from a Bridge rectifier. The only rectifier type that would give you a 60 hertz DC output would be a half wave rectifier.
I like this video ! This one of the few that touch the value of linear DC and how to obtain it ! Linear DC is more powerful and smooth compared to AC Course you know :) And TNX
Too small a resistor, 100-500 ohms is good enough, resistor is just a safety to drain the caps when you turn off the welder so there is no voltage across the capacitor leads after a minute or so. Also you would be dissipating 90-120 watts in the resistor which means that the 100 watt rated resistor would get very hot and probably fail.
Thanks for sharing! Interesting seeing these modified into more uses. Was thinking the same to make an arc or TIG welder from a cost effective MIG or technically flux core welder hacked out.
@@308dad8 Great electronics design study project and the parts aren't that expensive. Plus can possibly be done with a made in the US rescue welder found for under $100 if you go old school analog design or maybe even under $100 with the newer digital IGBT designs. For the DC conversion alone, you can get the full bridge rectifiers for like ~$10 for five 50A ones. The capacitors cost more and inductors you can technically re-wind free microwave oven transformers and he bleed resistor can be found free in the microwave. The other parts will cost... though can be found cost effectively patiently hunting around or online new. More a DIY Hack projects that's rewarding if you know what you're doing.
@@308dad8 Yes sir, trying to inspire more to rescue, re-use and/or re-purpose ideally made in the U.S. tools/equipment, though others makes are better to be saved from the trash or even recyclers. Great, if not excellent, learning experiences for all ages where the youth being exposed if not hands on helps correct the "throw away" mentality. Most all my videos are something to do with that paradigm of thinking, albeit not the best productions since impromptu. Though I do have some other PSA and videos I did edit and get more detailed regarding, though not so much lately since not bored.
Has anyone out there run into this problem with this Chicago Electric 90 Amp Flux Core Welder? When I press the trigger to start welding the wire feeder comes on for about a second and then stops. It does it even when I remove the wire. I took a shot in the dark and replaced the wire feeder with a new one that came with the small electric motor on it. It did not fix the problem so I lost that gamble. It still only runs for a bout a second then stops dead although the welder is energized. What is the problem? Can anyone help me here?
A bigger resistor, in terms of higher resistance would bleed the cap slower. If you want to discharge it faster you would need a lower ohm value. With the same value like in the video it just would need longer.
Can anyone explain to me WHY I get such a great feeling from welding?? I got this welder and first time I used it two months ago it made me feel fantastic! Now I want to weld even more!!
Any chance you could link me to a good step by step video on how to do this? haven't found a very in-depth video yet. I have a HF flux 125 and am very interested in doing this upgrade. Thanks for the video!
A small correction, if you connect capacitors in parallel you will have half the capacity. You need to connect them in series to add the capacity. It works exactly the opposite to resistors.
My experience is it’s not a bad welder as packaged. It might get better with a DC conversion but I get good penetration with it now, and your before beads all looked user related. Trying to drag too fast, low wire speed, varying stick out, and stick out matters, keep that steady and get your drag speed down and you’ll be alright either way. I still plan on doing the conversion but I don’t expect a dramatic difference it might be better to buy a used 120V MiG from the pawn shop and run flux core wire through it. When I first got mine it took some learning, welds do spatter a lot but yours did too so not much change there huh.
Have you considered deleting the min/max button for a potentiometer? By no means am I an electronic expert just thought having more precise control on total power could help. Your thoughts?
You Don't really Need a Capacitor on these Low Amp welders just a 150amp rectifier is all you need for DCEN i have converted a few and tested with Capacitor 30K-50K uf and without and there was no real Noticeable Diffidence , One other upgrade i do on there welders is replace the 16ga AC Power cord to a 14ga or Better 12ga cord .
@@KaloyanDobrev the fact of the matter is both can be used together this is what is referred to as an LC circuit. L is the inductor and C is the capacitor. The latter is called a filter. I just don't have room in there for both, so it is normal under most circumstances to used a capacitor after a rectifier. Commercial welder applications would have both designed into them.
All the things you are saying is for general electronics, not for welding. Capacitors buffer voltage and welding is all about current. Just make a calculation how many Farads do you need to be able to support 50Amps for 1/60second at say 20V? Here is a guy who is doing the better thing. www.hildstrom.com/projects/ac-225/
@@KaloyanDobrev a friend of mine just serviced my Miller welder, and it has a bank of capacitors on the output. Consider this. www.ebay.com/itm/203092862083
Try searching eBay or any other search engine by typing mu and F. Most keyboards do not have this symbol. Therefore, uF is the alternative, and equally understood as Microfarad.
I was a huge makita guy but I grabbed a cheapy ryobi kit a few years ago and I've liked the versatility of their "2 million tools" or whatever. Not really full tradesmen quality, but I haven't really found a worthwhile complaint yet either.
Ironically.. all this work to make it weigh even more, or you can just get the titanium flux for $100 more and it is 1/3rd the weight and size and all DC. ;) Always fun modding gear like this, though!
@@eighthacremaker7129 Wondering about making an external microwave oven max spec inductor or maybe variable inductor to make more a CC design add on external box with the Dense connections.
90 amps at 35 volts. for caps.. 5 volt drop... is 150,000 uFs... amps times 8.3 is half cycle / by voltage drop = uf..... higher voltage drop lower caps.. what does this meen?? if 35 volts with 150k uF caps at 5 volt drop.. is 30 volts out .... just tossing it out there..voltage drop is up to you.... if u want 5 volt drop or you want 10 volt drop.. if you wanted .. you could make a few banks and switch out the voltage drops for diff welding needs.. hey lol
If its made in China, its not uncommon. Some resistors are made with aluminum rapped around the resistor to act as a heat sink. Swap out the resistor and make sure its wired correctly. Semper Gumby (Stay Green and Stay Flexible)
U did all of this upgrade stuff and didnt put a toggle switch that's got the 2 way clicker to where the only place it will stay is in natural and will allow you to reverse your wire outage and so ur not wasting and wire because after awhile of cutting it off like that could make for a big project but u ant gotta listen to what I'm talking about but nothing like having reverse on ur wire feed because what would happen is u accidentally hit the trigger feed and not pay it no never mind then what u gonna cut off all of that wire or when u could have a switch that allows u to reverse the motor of ur wire feed then that's a life saver because u will be able to run out wire or run it backwards to save u from ever having to cut it off ya kno but ur grown do what u want to its ur welder I just figure while ur upgrading what's another 10$ tops for the 2 way clickable toggle switch that allows u to reverse the polarity on just the wire feed nothing else but like I said I would and if u want to get really technical u could drill out a couple holes about the size of 2 stick welder hook up so ur able to reverse the polarity on it as well but u could add those ends to the bottom of ur unit and wire them online with ur transformer leads to ur binding posts for ur stinger as well as ur ground but there removable leads I like the ones with the spring loaded face covers so u are safe from anything being able to get fouled up between ur leads or ur standard binding contractor leads it's no different then what ur using here just with a upgrade that it didnt offer before and if u wanted to keep the stick and mig working separately would take a plane heavy duty toggle switch made to hold some amps and volts but this would very between a 100$ machine and a 300$ any machines higher usually already has the needed switches all besides the reverse feed motor I've not really see any machines having this and its beyond me fr fr idk what they was thinking not putting some type of bump button that will pull the wire back into that machine because that wire is anything but cheap especially if u use the most better and expensive brands out here but engineers are smart but most doesn't have good walking around since they are highly book smart and when designing something for ur everyday guy to have or use especially beginners the over run there wire out alot and that would just save a new starters from looking like there wasting more wire then what there weldin and just this way there not cutting off and wasting any wire at all and not wasting is saving money to me but like I said its ur machine u do what's best for u and what fits ur needs fr good luck tho fr I'm in the middle of trying to find a replacement wire feed board that will work with my turbo 130 mig welder because I've looked every where including the manufacturer so I guess I'll have to wait and see what one coats this is what leaving it a ac bs welder does to one with out doing this CONVERSATION to be honest this or get ready to except the really bad welds one fr because with the conversion what it does is it isnt anymore pushing the welds to the metal like it is wired to ac now once u do the swap and add the components as u see in ur video above now what dc does is it reverse the 2 where ur wand used to be the hot well now its ur Neg and this in turns makes ur ground clamp ur hot then and now when ur welding is pulling ur welding material to whatever ur welding and makes for 300÷ better welds idc if u never have welded before ur welds will always stick and run a boatload smoother but like I say ur grown do as u please I've gotta find out what all that board really ran weather it's just wire feed or it's some kinda CPU of some kind if not both idk maybe I'll get it figured out but good luck on any other add on's u may or may not do have fun and dont electrocute your selfs later lol
Great job sir! I love it when someone takes a machine that is budget line equipment and gets their mind ahold of it and makes it more like it should have been to start with! Good work!
You weren't lying, you are not good at making UA-cam videos😁 That being said, excellent video! One of the best on the subject. Thanks
I just finished converting my HF 90 amp FC to DCEN. It works great now. Many thanks to you. Of all the UA-cam videos on this I found yours to be the most helpful. I must’ve wanted it a dozen times. Thanks for your help,!
Hey! I’m so glad it was so helpful. That’s the reason I got in to making videos in the first place. Weld on!
That was a great tutorial for the conversion. I've watched a couple others and didn't fully understand how to get this done. There is a surplus store near my house where I'll be able to get everything I need at a very low price. Knowing now what I need to buy and how to install the parts I'm feeling quite confident about this project being a success.
Thank you very much I appreciate your tutelage.
Eddie Duenez Jr.
10lb spool of lincoln electric wire fits in my machine quite well, but leaves no wiggle room, no need to stick to the tiny 2lb spools. I agree a good ground clamp is a good cheap improvement, and simply installing a rectifier makes a noticeable difference in performance.
Great video, thank you. I saved myself all the time & money (the parts + a new HF welder would have been more than the welder I bought). So 3 years ago I just bought a 15 lbs. Century FC90 by Lincoln Electric, from my local Home Depot.
When u just swap the leads from the control handle makes a 155÷ better hands down fr fr this is with out the rectfire and it started to stick like there was no tomorrow I don't doubt this method what so ever cause before I swapped the leads it was just spotting everywhere and wouldn't hardly even stick and I welded with it today and oweee I'm highly impressed I can't wait till I add a few other items and it will hang with some of the top brands on the market listen to this man he knows exactly what he is talking about fr fr grats !!!
Just a comment on your peak voltage numbers. The 120V value is technically called 120V RMS (Root Means Squared). The peak voltage for the 120V wall outlet is about 170V. 120V x square root of 2 = 120 x 1.414 = 170. The voltage on your meter agrees with this, 35 VAC x 1.414 = 50V and your meter reads about 36V which is good because you are loading the power supply and you get 36V. Overall a great presentation. If you looked at your rectified peaks on a scope, each peak would be about 50V.
Jim Sherbundy my hat is off to the real engineer 🙌
So what's the best cap and resistor for this set up?
my wires for this project were #6 cables with ends sourced from my collection of bad booster packs. the new lead to ground was also #6 wire from a set of HF booster cables i never used. it had a great battery clamp i could barely squeeze. rectifier is 150 amps and filter cap is 470000 mfd many.thanks for addressing the value of the bleed resistor needed.
I've just got to say that I've owned a HF Flux125 for about a year now, and that I have taken some professional welding courses at a local trade school, and I have no problem with the machine, my weld performance , overall strength and "eye" appeal. I can certainly attest that when I 've used superior shop machines in the DCEN mode, that the weld quality is better, no doubt. The videos I am seeing on YT who are doing DC conversions, can't seem to run a decent weld to begin with. So before all you Flux125 owners think you need to convert to get a decent weld, consider practicing a constant 1/2" "stick out", 5 - 10 degree drag angle, correct wire feed speed and voltage setting (hi -lo). I had to tweak settings for different steel thicknesses. I had to play with wire feeder tension. I make sure my base metals are well prepped and fitted up. All these factors can make a big difference in weld quality. The main modification that I think would be quite helpful, would be to swap out the ground clamp to a bronze unit that HF sells. I just haven't yet on my machine, because it welds quite nicely for me. Oh and I use Lincoln NR-211-MP .035"wire.
A ground clamp made a huge difference for sure. Biggest difference I noticed after adding the rectifier and cap was a lot less splatter, and welds wanted to lay a a bit flatter. Mostly just less splatter from a smoother arc. Thanks for the insight!
I totally agree with you, it's user malfunction, I have never had a problem running it whatsoever. I also question whether these machines are AC output and not "clipped" DC. The number one reason I say that is, show me ANY manufacturer that makes innershield flux-core wire that runs AC, it is ALL DC straight polarity. All the modification does is smooth the DC spike voltages and allow power to smooth out and be continuous non-spiking DC. It already has DC, that drive roll motor runs 24 volt DC, not AC. I am going to do this mod just to see what really happens, whether it is user malfunction or what. When I open it up I also intend to check voltage output and see whether it is really VAC or VDC with a meter, no one has shown this in any video I have watched. Open circuit voltages will tell the truth, VDC or VAC. His ground clamp idea has merit though as a cheap fix.
@@slick1rick1 how did it go?
@@slick1rick1 The output the the electrode is AC, as are ALL the cheap 90ish amp machines....the rectifier for the drive motor is built into the same board as the wire feed speed control...
Wow. Looks a lot better than ac. I have the exact same one. I was thinking about throwing it out but I think I’ll try this. Thanks.
If you run a separate wall wort power supply from you mains input to the wirefeed motor instead of letting it sap the voltage from your transformer should help also.
They are 24 VDC , try putting 110 VAC through that motor, let me know how it goes.
@@slick1rick1 Work on your reading comprehension....."wall wort power supply".....
You did very good job on the upgrade. Thanks for sharing
Most comprehendible explanation. Thnx
Thanks for the video. I know this is a D/C tutorial; but I actually found welding cast iron worked best with A/C.
Great video explaining how to do this. Thanks
I have a 200a alternator that I'm going to take the rectifier out of and try that.
Awesome Idea!
The ac voltage is actually around plus minus 170v. 120v is the average or rms
Great explanation! Thank you.
Stay safe, Joe
what an amazing mod and video. great job man....
Great explanation! Just the confidence booster I needed to tackle this modification.
i luv your style and video skills ......
I spent 26$ and got a 200 ma dc bridge and a nice ground clamp. I just used my new 125 welder with no mods today.yes I hope both me and machine will get better.im saving this video in case I come across a big cap.
I missed my chance to get some sweet caps from a scrapped MRI machine.
@@Farm_fab to bad but you can still find um out there. Or like everything else Ebay or Amazon
@@davidfellows6250 I bought a 90 amp one at the scrap yard for $5. It was chopped up on the wiring, but I'll make the best of it. I have a 130 amp alternator ill make an engine welder with, and I can do stick and tig with it if I have had for that.
What capacitor values do I look to buy? What exact capacitor specification numbers do I type into eBay to buy the correct voltage, uf and whatever else is needed. Electricity is not my strong suit at all. I need to be told exactly what to buy. I can do everything in this video. Thanks for posting.
questions 121 the bigger the better. There isn’t an exact spec. Copy what’s in the video if you want. 👍
@@eighthacremaker7129 are you sure it makes a different over 500k mfd? @questions 121 forum.driveonwood.com/t/modifying-the-harbor-freight-120v-welder-if-you-already-own-one/64
The important number to pay attention to is the voltage rating. You need one with a rated working voltage of at least 50 volts. One rated at 63 volts or higher would be better. The capacitance value isn't critical, but aim for 40,000 micro Farads or more.
How wide is the transformer ? I want to put one of these welders in an pc case ... yes im a bit of a scientist.
Very good explanation. Thanks.
Muy buen video apredisaje al 100X100 gracias muy educativo y espricado
Hi, so I went and did the conversion with a 100 amp rectifier and a 50V, 68,000 mfd capacitor. Went and started a weld and it lasted about 10 seconds then quit. Going through different You Tube vid's I figured the rectifier was too small and went to a 200 amp unit. Tried a weld and all I have is power to the fan and wire feed. Tested the voltage going into the rectifier from the transformer and all I have at best is 1.3V. Did the transformer puke on me or is something else causing such a low voltage problem ?
You're a badass..thank you for this!!
Your plus and minus line on a sine wave aren’t +120 a -120v. That’s RMS (root mean square). Peak voltage is about 170v ac. RMS voltage ac is .707 x peak voltage (170), or to find peak voltage, use the formula RMS X 1.41.
~ maybe too “techie” for a welder conversion, but interesting nonetheless.
PS. Love the conversion. I’ve done it myself. Makes a cheap welder much more useful. 👍
A lot of people are saying not to use anything lower then a 150amp rectifier because most of the 100amp's were failing.
Mines gotten pretty warm but it’s been ok. Probably because big heat sink. I have run it pretty hard a number of times. I’d agree though a 150a would probably be better.
I used a 200amp rectifier & heatsink. An amazing difference in welds.
did you add the capacitors?
@@steven33068 no it finally died before I did but I am considering buying another one just to try it.
Fantastic video!
I did the bleed resister thing but for some odd reason, it takes longer for the capacitor to bleed off. I went with a low ohm resister because the information I read was the lower the ohm the faster it discharges. Seems that is not the case. I was wondering if I could put a second fan to help with cooling the heat sink attached to the rectifier.
You can both use a bigger heat sink and have whatever fans you need. You could even run a stand alone fan pointed at or across the heatsink. Use some heatsink compound for best results making a heatsink work. Just takes a little between the metal surface of your rectifier and the mating surface of the heatsink, and make sure they’re tight against each other for the thermal wicking to occur. Saw someone left an airgap intentionally and thought that would help somehow. Look at your PC, the heatsink is held tight against the processor, not slightly over it but firmly against it.
Great video! Im about to do my conversion tomorrow. Did you connect your second fan with in parallel with the original one??
Yea i put a big ass choke on mine with about 800k μF worth of caps on it.. only regret is i never put any bleed down resistance on the caps so theyd stay energized.. and 800k μF @ 55vdc is a hell of a lot more power than you'd think.. i discharge it by snapping it to the ground after welding but i guess either i didnt do that one time or didnt completely discharge it and damn thing killed my girlfriends cat.. guess it brushed up against it and zapped the thing.. died on top of my welder.. she left me because of it.. so put bleed downs on your caps, just might save a cats life, and a relationship.. trust me, shit will happen no matter what, just makes shit happen a little less when you try to prevent it..
Great video.
Cheers
cri8tor thank you!
I've been posting videos on my MIG130 modifications, but decided to dive into the HF welder like yours. I honestly like both and wish I could combine them in to one awesome welder. The gun on the MIG130 is always hot, but has a bit more functionality. Merry Christmas brother
Great video and explaination! Makes sence now how it all works! Would a transformer work simuliar to a capcitor?
No, a transformer converts one voltage to another and/or isolates the load from the source....they don't store energy like a capacitor.
@@TheWingnut58 okay that makes sence. Thank you!
I’m in the middle of doing this, I cut the wires after the ac supply to the board as you did but I’m not getting any voltage on those. Any idea why?
Folgers fan shroud looks familiar!
Very informative video 👍 thanks for sharing. Does anyone know if microwave oven capacitors will work? I have several large ones I salvaged a while back. (I'm not much of an election I'm afraid)
Is a electronic Chicago welder 170 conversion kit AC to DC
lol those mods are rad, I think I'll tear into mine looks fun. cant wait for the look when i show up on site with it lolololol
A professional welding site lol?
Hmmmm.... can I use the capacitor from ac units.....
Working out what settings?? There’s only a wire feed setting and a min/Max button.....
Friend, the idea is good, but you really will get great differences with the welding results if you install a shoke coil.
what value caps did you use? voltage and uf. tnx Dan
He is using 2 capacitors. Each is 40V and 20,000uF. If you add capacitors to your welder, I'd suggest getting several at 50V and 20,000uF each. Wire them in parallel and you'll get 60,000uF. That should be enough to give you a noticeable improvement. When deciding on a capacitor, its a good idea to get a capacitor that is rated approximately 35% higher voltage than the operating voltage of your project. Cheers
How much did this cost to do? I like the idea of doing this versus upgrading to a Titanium, because the Titanium only takes the smaller spools..
Could u help me do this to my welder. I use mine so much its insane. Build car parts for fun but the welder is a splatter machine. I'm always on my grinder knocking the splatter off and I noticed I can't really weld thin sheet cause just when I feel like I got it to not burn through it burns through like it's more power than I set. I got a good method for thin metal welding to. Also I built intercooler pipes and I spent a day knocking off splatter cause i had to gap weld
I wonder how big the terminals need to be?
Get some 1/4", copper, water line and it can be use to make butt connectors as well as terminals. You can refer to one of my videos to see what I'm talking about. Cheers
You don't really want much inductance on a wire feed welder. Too much inductance will give you a constant current output, which is not what you want. Capacitors are all you really need for a constant-voltage wire feed process.
Awesome! Thank you!
MIG welder yes, ARC welder needs a reactor.
With a Choke inductor will put more of a load on the transformer
i would like to try both and see how they work only thing is to do is test or get a schematic from a proven build not many people put a schematic in there videos as a engineer this is the first step is to draw out a wiring place and parts location take note not to put parts so they can get hot or short out
What is the PC fan rated at & is it running directly off the rectifier or using a resistor??
Tim Perdue I don’t know the rating it’s a “quiet” fan meaning not a lot of air. Had it laying the parts pile so it got used. Something with more CFM would be ideal. It’s actually a 120v fan with a plug of its own and I haven’t taken the time to connect it to the power leads in the welder. I just plug it in... 😂
Do you still have this, and if so, how is it holding up for you?
Yep run a few spools of wire through it since the video and it’s been great 👍
Not really right now I’m deep in a few other projects. Trucks down pulling injection pump tomorrow. It’s always something.... good luck 👍
You didn't draw a 60 hertz dc output. Thats a 120 hertz DC output which is the actual output ripple frequency from a Bridge rectifier. The only rectifier type that would give you a 60 hertz DC output would be a half wave rectifier.
I like this video ! This one of the few that touch the value of linear DC and how to obtain it !
Linear DC is more powerful and smooth compared to AC
Course you know :) And TNX
will a 100 watt 15 ohm resistor work for this mod?
Too small a resistor, 100-500 ohms is good enough, resistor is just a safety to drain the caps when you turn off the welder so there is no voltage across the capacitor leads after a minute or so. Also you would be dissipating 90-120 watts in the resistor which means that the 100 watt rated resistor would get very hot and probably fail.
Thanks for sharing! Interesting seeing these modified into more uses. Was thinking the same to make an arc or TIG welder from a cost effective MIG or technically flux core welder hacked out.
Why? You can buy DC arc/Tig machines around the same prices.
@@308dad8 Great electronics design study project and the parts aren't that expensive. Plus can possibly be done with a made in the US rescue welder found for under $100 if you go old school analog design or maybe even under $100 with the newer digital IGBT designs. For the DC conversion alone, you can get the full bridge rectifiers for like ~$10 for five 50A ones. The capacitors cost more and inductors you can technically re-wind free microwave oven transformers and he bleed resistor can be found free in the microwave. The other parts will cost... though can be found cost effectively patiently hunting around or online new. More a DIY Hack projects that's rewarding if you know what you're doing.
@@jafinch78 Fair enough, it is great electronic study. Include the kids to boost their home grown STEM studies.
@@308dad8 Yes sir, trying to inspire more to rescue, re-use and/or re-purpose ideally made in the U.S. tools/equipment, though others makes are better to be saved from the trash or even recyclers. Great, if not excellent, learning experiences for all ages where the youth being exposed if not hands on helps correct the "throw away" mentality. Most all my videos are something to do with that paradigm of thinking, albeit not the best productions since impromptu. Though I do have some other PSA and videos I did edit and get more detailed regarding, though not so much lately since not bored.
Has anyone out there run into this problem with this Chicago Electric 90 Amp Flux Core Welder?
When I press the trigger to start welding the wire feeder comes on for about a second and then stops. It does it even when I remove the wire.
I took a shot in the dark and replaced the wire feeder with a new one that came with the small electric motor on it. It did not fix the problem so I lost that gamble. It still only runs for a bout a second then stops dead although the welder is energized.
What is the problem?
Can anyone help me here?
Nice
one question why not rectify que main 110v that run cooler (less amps)
Then the transformer would burn up and kill the welder.
If I had a bigger cap 47000 uf 50v how much bigger resistor would I need?
A bigger resistor, in terms of higher resistance would bleed the cap slower.
If you want to discharge it faster you would need a lower ohm value.
With the same value like in the video it just would need longer.
I got a zeny 130 mig welder with a 100V 10,000mfd cap. w/o a bleed-off resistor Anyone know what size of resistor I would need?
200-500 ohms is good enough 10-20 watt rating.
As I type this I just came in from doing this to this very same welder. I dont have a capacitor though so its still not quite right
You get full wave rectify? What max DC output
You just multiply you AC voltage with 1.41 and you will know the DC voltage...
@@tynix1 You actually measure DC output with your meter or just calculation?
Wait,do I need ac capacitors or dc capacitors?
DC Capacitors. AC caps are used in electric motor starting circuits. (they have other applications as well)
you described 60Hz AC voltage with your sine wave picture.. .NOT CURRENT
My brain hurts.. Great video
I see HF sells a DC welder for $175.
Can anyone explain to me WHY I get such a great feeling from welding?? I got this welder and first time I used it two months ago it made me feel fantastic! Now I want to weld even more!!
Any chance you could link me to a good step by step video on how to do this? haven't found a very in-depth video yet. I have a HF flux 125 and am very interested in doing this upgrade. Thanks for the video!
just want to make sure I dont cross wire the capacitor
Also, dumb question, but what would happen if you wired the capacitor in series with the dc output of the rectifier instead of parallel?
Search Matt Heere he does a great video series.
Ben Baribault search Matt Heere he does a great video series. You want his advanced steps in his play lists.
@@benbaribault424 you'd block the dc signal ;)
A small correction, if you connect capacitors in parallel you will have half the capacity. You need to connect them in series to add the capacity. It works exactly the opposite to resistors.
Your right they are opposite resistors which add in series. Capacitors add in parallel.
Wrong! You series resistors to add resistance and parallel capacitors.
You're 180° opposite. Parallel capacitors add capacity while parallel resistors drop resistance.
Any way to.put a dial(pot) for the power instead of switchs?
My experience is it’s not a bad welder as packaged. It might get better with a DC conversion but I get good penetration with it now, and your before beads all looked user related. Trying to drag too fast, low wire speed, varying stick out, and stick out matters, keep that steady and get your drag speed down and you’ll be alright either way. I still plan on doing the conversion but I don’t expect a dramatic difference it might be better to buy a used 120V MiG from the pawn shop and run flux core wire through it. When I first got mine it took some learning, welds do spatter a lot but yours did too so not much change there huh.
Have you considered deleting the min/max button for a potentiometer? By no means am I an electronic expert just thought having more precise control on total power could help. Your thoughts?
You Don't really Need a Capacitor on these Low Amp welders just a 150amp rectifier is all you need for DCEN i have converted a few and tested with Capacitor 30K-50K uf and without and there was no real Noticeable Diffidence , One other upgrade i do on there welders is replace the 16ga AC Power cord to a 14ga or Better 12ga cord .
Why a capacitor and not a coil?
A coil would work as an arc reactor, but the capacitors filter the DC and smooth out the flow, where the benefit is a cleaner weld.
What you say seems the opposite from what they say here www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/faq-what-does-inductance-do
@@KaloyanDobrev the fact of the matter is both can be used together this is what is referred to as an LC circuit. L is the inductor and C is the capacitor. The latter is called a filter.
I just don't have room in there for both, so it is normal under most circumstances to used a capacitor after a rectifier. Commercial welder applications would have both designed into them.
All the things you are saying is for general electronics, not for welding. Capacitors buffer voltage and welding is all about current. Just make a calculation how many Farads do you need to be able to support 50Amps for 1/60second at say 20V? Here is a guy who is doing the better thing. www.hildstrom.com/projects/ac-225/
@@KaloyanDobrev a friend of mine just serviced my Miller welder, and it has a bank of capacitors on the output.
Consider this.
www.ebay.com/itm/203092862083
It's NOT U F, it's micro-farads..... It's not a U it's a 'mu', (mew) a greek letter for micro
Try searching eBay or any other search engine by typing mu and F. Most keyboards do not have this symbol. Therefore, uF is the alternative, and equally understood as Microfarad.
I was going to skip once I saw the Ryobi drills but I'm glad I didn't LOL
I was a huge makita guy but I grabbed a cheapy ryobi kit a few years ago and I've liked the versatility of their "2 million tools" or whatever. Not really full tradesmen quality, but I haven't really found a worthwhile complaint yet either.
Ironically.. all this work to make it weigh even more, or you can just get the titanium flux for $100 more and it is 1/3rd the weight and size and all DC. ;)
Always fun modding gear like this, though!
Ima Crazy Guy I had this exact thought reading the HF catalogue with my son a couple days ago. Scrounged is cheaper then bought I suppose 😂
@@eighthacremaker7129 Wondering about making an external microwave oven max spec inductor or maybe variable inductor to make more a CC design add on external box with the Dense connections.
If the 125 amp is like the 90 amp, I would prefer the modified 90 amp.
90 amps at 35 volts. for caps.. 5 volt drop... is 150,000 uFs... amps times 8.3 is half cycle / by voltage drop = uf..... higher voltage drop lower caps.. what does this meen?? if 35 volts with 150k uF caps at 5 volt drop.. is 30 volts out .... just tossing it out there..voltage drop is up to you.... if u want 5 volt drop or you want 10 volt drop.. if you wanted .. you could make a few banks and switch out the voltage drops for diff welding needs.. hey lol
can i send you mine? :)
My resistor gets hot as hell and starts smoking!
If its made in China, its not uncommon. Some resistors are made with aluminum rapped around the resistor to act as a heat sink. Swap out the resistor and make sure its wired correctly. Semper Gumby (Stay Green and Stay Flexible)
good video but to much hand in the way
why,..? old technology welding machine. Not IGBT or Mosfet
LOL... If you don't know how to solder then you have no business welding.
Two completely different skill sets. That's like saying if you can't work the wood you have no business working metal. (innuendo not intended)
LBCAndrew your 100% right , I am a certified welder and never got into soldering. But I have welder on everything from trailers to rollercoasters
i shoulda baught the valcan
U did all of this upgrade stuff and didnt put a toggle switch that's got the 2 way clicker to where the only place it will stay is in natural and will allow you to reverse your wire outage and so ur not wasting and wire because after awhile of cutting it off like that could make for a big project but u ant gotta listen to what I'm talking about but nothing like having reverse on ur wire feed because what would happen is u accidentally hit the trigger feed and not pay it no never mind then what u gonna cut off all of that wire or when u could have a switch that allows u to reverse the motor of ur wire feed then that's a life saver because u will be able to run out wire or run it backwards to save u from ever having to cut it off ya kno but ur grown do what u want to its ur welder I just figure while ur upgrading what's another 10$ tops for the 2 way clickable toggle switch that allows u to reverse the polarity on just the wire feed nothing else but like I said I would and if u want to get really technical u could drill out a couple holes about the size of 2 stick welder hook up so ur able to reverse the polarity on it as well but u could add those ends to the bottom of ur unit and wire them online with ur transformer leads to ur binding posts for ur stinger as well as ur ground but there removable leads I like the ones with the spring loaded face covers so u are safe from anything being able to get fouled up between ur leads or ur standard binding contractor leads it's no different then what ur using here just with a upgrade that it didnt offer before and if u wanted to keep the stick and mig working separately would take a plane heavy duty toggle switch made to hold some amps and volts but this would very between a 100$ machine and a 300$ any machines higher usually already has the needed switches all besides the reverse feed motor I've not really see any machines having this and its beyond me fr fr idk what they was thinking not putting some type of bump button that will pull the wire back into that machine because that wire is anything but cheap especially if u use the most better and expensive brands out here but engineers are smart but most doesn't have good walking around since they are highly book smart and when designing something for ur everyday guy to have or use especially beginners the over run there wire out alot and that would just save a new starters from looking like there wasting more wire then what there weldin and just this way there not cutting off and wasting any wire at all and not wasting is saving money to me but like I said its ur machine u do what's best for u and what fits ur needs fr good luck tho fr I'm in the middle of trying to find a replacement wire feed board that will work with my turbo 130 mig welder because I've looked every where including the manufacturer so I guess I'll have to wait and see what one coats this is what leaving it a ac bs welder does to one with out doing this CONVERSATION to be honest this or get ready to except the really bad welds one fr because with the conversion what it does is it isnt anymore pushing the welds to the metal like it is wired to ac now once u do the swap and add the components as u see in ur video above now what dc does is it reverse the 2 where ur wand used to be the hot well now its ur Neg and this in turns makes ur ground clamp ur hot then and now when ur welding is pulling ur welding material to whatever ur welding and makes for 300÷ better welds idc if u never have welded before ur welds will always stick and run a boatload smoother but like I say ur grown do as u please I've gotta find out what all that board really ran weather it's just wire feed or it's some kinda CPU of some kind if not both idk maybe I'll get it figured out but good luck on any other add on's u may or may not do have fun and dont electrocute your selfs later lol
why dont yo buy dc welder ?
wtf