You really should upgrade the fan on that thing. The extra cooling will greatly improve duty cycle. I installed a fan made by Cool Tron 127mm x 38mm 115v that puts out 130cfm. It moves at least double the stock fan and keeps my bridge rectifier and transformer much cooler.
To further smooth out the power curve of the welder you can also put a choke between the capacitor and the tip. I rewound a microwave transformer with about 5 feet of 2 gauge wire. This creates a weak magnetic field to smooth out the power. You could also just wrap the wire around a short piece of steel pipe to get an approximate effect. Mine runs real smooth with very little splatter 8-)
Don't remove the nozzle, because you'll get arcing on the sides, and blow your rectifier. Instead, trim it back, 1/2in, exposing the tip more. I weld "hard" with these things, they are awesome for the money. (Bodyman 25yrs)
I tapped the brass cap with a 90 degree brass fitting. 3/8 npt male to a female air fitting. Also 3/8 npt. Added gas right at the tip. Ran my tubing along the lead, back to the box. Zip tied in place every 10 inches or so. As far back as I could tap the hole without hitting the ceramic shield.
One thing i don't understand is that some older Lincoln welders were AC type and were good. However, what makes this Harborfreight AC welder different in laying a good weld from a top brand welder?
Another mod that you can consider is to check to see if your wire feed motor runs off of your transformer - if it does then get a small wall transformer and feed it off the inlet power source..
Rather than going through all of the possible upgrades I just ended up getting an Everlast inverter mig welder. These modifications are good for those who want to tweak things.
IMO, cutting the nozzle cap down a couple cm nets better results as it still protects the actual tip. And i crushed a copper pipe and cut it in half and screwed the copper sheets into the included clamp to get much better results from the same clamp. Just a couple alternate ways to improve those parts
glad i found your channel, ive been kicking around the idea of a 110v mig, still thinking of going gas, but one thought ive had on these type welders, with the heat/amperage switch. what would it take to run a rheostat vs that switch for better heat control?
I have a Hobart Handler 140 as well and I like it a LOT. I think it is the best 110v for the money but it definitely a bit more than the harbor freight. You may want to look at some of the 110v welders that are already DCEN if you don't already have a harbor freight. I think they start at about $150
I went from a AC welder to an everlast DC inverter and it was like night and day. I'll never go back to AC. The rectifier / capacitor modification is well worth it if you already have an ac harbor freight welder.
dj berg The rheostat and the switch on the machine preform two totally different functions. The switch is selecting from two different taps on the transformer. This changes the wire ratio on the primary side causing the secondary winding to change its voltage as well. The higher up versions of these tranny based welders with the dial switch for voltage do the same thing with a few more taps. The rheostat you want to use would be acting as a voltage dropping resistor or a voltage divider depending on setup. The problem here is that it will be operating on the secondary side which means it will see full welding current. Good luck finding a rheostat that can handle that much current without costing an arm and a dick.
THE NOZZLE KEEPS YOU ISOLATED SO WHEN YOU TOUCH THE TIP ON METAL YOU DONT SHORT OUT THE TIP!!!!!!! Otherwise you will eventually weld your cable inside the gun shut!!
The tips are copper and the wire is steel so it really doesn't seem to weld itself shut. Every once in a while the nozzle gets gummed up and needs cleaned but not totally welded shut
Not the tip! The cable (conduit) that your welding wire feeds through is STEEL it is the same as the outer part of bicycle brake cables! And trust me. They weld shut from the direct short!! Good luck finding a 10 foot brake cable housing when you're in the middle of a job
Do you have pictures of the steps that you took to get to that point I have the parts but when I open up the welder it didn't look like some of the other ones I have been watching on UA-cam yours is just like it but I can't tell how you wired it all up thanks
I don't have any pics off hand but basically you just clip the two big wires coming off the transformer. One goes to the ground clamp and one goes to the gun. Put both of those wires to the input of your rectifier (it doesn't matter which side). Run the +output to the ground clamp and the - side to the gun. Run a big capacitor between the two output wires to smooth out the current and a resistor between the terminals on the capacitor to bleed off any energy when you stop welding.
Cool Stuff Guys Like I just recently bought the harbor freight MIG 170 A 240v welder which is a DC if I were to put a rectifier and a big capacitor would it make it any better? And if so how big of a rectifier and capacitor what I need?
Cool Stuff Guys Like technically should have a rectifier and a capacitor if it is running AC from the wall right? Maybe I can Upgrade to bigger and better
I always hear guys saying'' you can buy these welders for $60 or $70 dollars"" .But not at my Harbor Freight ,the cheapest I've ever saw them was $89 dollars on sale . And they wouldn't even accept one of the 20 % coupons my buddy tried using. No deals at our store .
Can you give details and sources for the electronic parts used in your AC to DC mods to this welder? I'm interested in making these mods to my machine.
The rectifier is a MDS150A three phase. I originally tried a 100 amp two phase but blew one of the diodes. On the 150A three phase you have a spare circuit that you don't need which is nice. The capacitor is a 68000uF from Mouser Electronics. The mfg part number is 661-36DA683F050CC2A. I This seems to be around the size most people are running. You might be even better off to run a two or 3 smaller capacitors that would add up to 50,000 to 100,000uF. The Hobarts and Millers seem to run a bunch of small caps to add up to the right capacitance. I am guessing they would discharge faster than one larger cap. The wire is just 6 gauge from lowes and i got some big copper terminals and heat shrink for them. I also ran a bleeder resistor across my capacitor so that it discharges in a few seconds if I am not welding. I believe I am using two 50 ohm 5v resistors in parallel for that. That should be pretty much all you need.
I just double checked and I was running two 100 ohm resistors in parallel. So you could probably run one 50ohm if you wanted. Depends how fast you want it to discharge after you finish pulling the trigger. Be careful with those big capacitors, PS!
What would happen if you ran two rectifiers. Hooking them up opposite of each other on the input side. But still negative to negative and positive to positive on the output side. Would that give you a smoother output? Since the rectifiers are seeing opposite sides of the transformer.
I'm not sure that it would make much of a difference since the sine wave for the voltage is still crossing through 0. If you look at a diagram for a rectifier, each terminal on the input side is the same. It wouldn't matter which one you are hooked to. Both input terminals have one diode flowing negative and one flowing positive, so reversing the inputs shouldn't really change anything on the other rectifier either.
The resistor should not be across the cap during operation. You should wire the discharge resistors through a NC relay to short the cap only when no power is going to the cap. Also why two resistors? If you have decided on a 50 ohm value just purchase a single 50 ohm of proper wattage rather then two 100 ohms. You can also use a much smaller wattage resistor when simply discharging
This isn't really a mig welder. Mig stands for "Metal Inert Gas" welding. This welder is a "flux core welder" which has none of the necessary parts to weld with shielding gas. The cheapest that you can get a mig welder for at Harbor Freight is around $175. The cheapest mig welder at Harbor Freight is a much better built welder than this one.
I cut 26 inches out a truck frame and drive shaft and stuck it back together with nothing but a youtube education, THATS what the 100 dollar freight welder can do. Its an amazing little machine. If you crank it up and double pass clean your metals and bevel the thick stuff you can weld damn near anything with it, the 220 is a bad ass no doubt you can shoot some filler fast! But the lil 90 amp can get it done, just read the directions/ watch a few vids
Luis U Rodriguez ac tig is for welding aluminum. But you need high frequency start, if you touch the electrode to work, you contaminate both. I Been thinking i could use a 12 volt power source and points type ignition coil to get the spark jump the gap withou touching.....
Thanks! I think 85C caps would be fine since the duty cycle is so low on the welder and it won't be running more than about 30 seconds or a minute at a time. If they are the same price, then go with the 105
Those with the older welders if you don't do anything else put a plastic shroud around your fan it will make your welder so much cooler oh, it will actually pull air in from the back and actually push it out to the vans it's cheap or just buy a computer fan
Don't understand why people are leaving shitty comments. A lot of good advice for people who are just starting out and don't have the extra money for a better welder. It's also a good opportunity for new welders to learn what's going on under the hood. If you can, take a couple of classes in Welding at the local JC. Knowledge is power and the ability to make cool shit.
Appreciate the comment. I don't get it either. It is never going to be a 220V lincoln welder but for the price it will get you in the door and with a few tweeks it performs like a welder that is twice the cost
@@CoolStuffGuysLike Have you seen where you can also convert this type of welder to a stick/arc welder? I have yet to see someone do both any chance of you taking on that project as well?
+Bill Puller the rated voltage must be higher than what you plan to but through it, so in this case about 50v or higher would be more than enough. The capacitance is rated in uf. You will want to be in the ball park there but a little lower or higher is not a big deal. You could also run multiple smaller capacitors that would add up to enough capacitance if you wanted.
I wouldn't worry about a bleeder resistor. The voltages coming out of a welder is low and if you're worried just tap the wire to ground when you turn it off. Instant cap bleed.
Sounds good! Getting some good wire really helps a lot too and it is not very expensive. Plus just making sure your metal and ground area are really clean. I like to get some flap discs for the grinder to shine things up quickly
Dude!!! You have the Electrical side of this Down!!! Did you know Ebay sells the Gas Solenoid for Ten Bucks! there is already a Switch to be used... just mount the solenoid to the wall inside and connect to a bottle!! the torch comes with tubing inside the Sheathing😆😆😆😆
www.ebay.com/itm/U-S-Solid-1-4-Brass-Electric-Solenoid-Valve-DC-12V-VITON-Water-Air-Fuel-N-C/281960425919?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D57921%26meid%3D132bdcd2d1314ad8b3e3d26cb70ef73b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D292179950457%26itm%3D281960425919&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 theres a Full range of DIY welding stuff here too!!! 😉
Sorry but not good advice . Unless your warranty is expired I wouldn't start modifying this machine . If you're going to be modifying something how about showing the finished product and show the weld ? I saw lots of spatter going on with this . Also that tip is there for a good reason . I do agree with replacing the clamp since that thing is no better than a battery jumper cable clamp .Once my warranty is done I plan to replace mine as well .It will do for the meantime . I looked at getting a flux core only machine but decided to spend a little more and went with the MIG 170 instead which is the better way to go if you want DC welding and higher output plus be able to have gas shielding. I got mine for $180 . It's not a Lincoln electric or a Hobart or anything like that but it will get the job done and I can learn along the way and make some money to get a better machine later on . I wouldn't advise anyone to start modifying their machine unless they understand electricity, use caution ,and know exactly what they're doing before starting such a project .
He would show the weld because that was horrible i can lay a better weld without doing all that bs. I got pick to prove it hell ill post a video. But yet again i am certified
You really should upgrade the fan on that thing. The extra cooling will greatly improve duty cycle. I installed a fan made by Cool Tron 127mm x 38mm 115v that puts out 130cfm. It moves at least double the stock fan and keeps my bridge rectifier and transformer much cooler.
Pam cooking spray will make flex core splatter easier to remove. Nozzle Gel to protect your welding tip.
To further smooth out the power curve of the welder you can also put a choke between the capacitor and the tip. I rewound a microwave transformer with about 5 feet of 2 gauge wire. This creates a weak magnetic field to smooth out the power. You could also just wrap the wire around a short piece of steel pipe to get an approximate effect. Mine runs real smooth with very little splatter 8-)
Don't remove the nozzle, because you'll get arcing on the sides, and blow your rectifier. Instead, trim it back, 1/2in, exposing the tip more. I weld "hard" with these things, they are awesome for the money. (Bodyman 25yrs)
Looking for help in choosing a capacitor and value for this project
I tapped the brass cap with a 90 degree brass fitting. 3/8 npt male to a female air fitting. Also 3/8 npt. Added gas right at the tip. Ran my tubing along the lead, back to the box. Zip tied in place every 10 inches or so. As far back as I could tap the hole without hitting the ceramic shield.
One thing i don't understand is that some older Lincoln welders were AC type and were good. However, what makes this Harborfreight AC welder different in laying a good weld from a top brand welder?
Another mod that you can consider is to check to see if your wire feed motor runs off of your transformer - if it does then get a small wall transformer and feed it off the inlet power source..
Rather than going through all of the possible upgrades I just ended up getting an Everlast inverter mig welder. These modifications are good for those who want to tweak things.
IMO, cutting the nozzle cap down a couple cm nets better results as it still protects the actual tip. And i crushed a copper pipe and cut it in half and screwed the copper sheets into the included clamp to get much better results from the same clamp. Just a couple alternate ways to improve those parts
Good idea's...
I drilled a hole in that nozzle for a little gas hose (argon with aluminum) works ok. Also converted to DC
Kinda late. Would this work on the 170 amp 220v model?
glad i found your channel, ive been kicking around the idea of a 110v mig, still thinking of going gas, but one thought ive had on these type welders, with the heat/amperage switch. what would it take to run a rheostat vs that switch for better heat control?
I have a Hobart Handler 140 as well and I like it a LOT. I think it is the best 110v for the money but it definitely a bit more than the harbor freight. You may want to look at some of the 110v welders that are already DCEN if you don't already have a harbor freight. I think they start at about $150
I went from a AC welder to an everlast DC inverter and it was like night and day. I'll never go back to AC. The rectifier / capacitor modification is well worth it if you already have an ac harbor freight welder.
dj berg The rheostat and the switch on the machine preform two totally different functions. The switch is selecting from two different taps on the transformer. This changes the wire ratio on the primary side causing the secondary winding to change its voltage as well. The higher up versions of these tranny based welders with the dial switch for voltage do the same thing with a few more taps.
The rheostat you want to use would be acting as a voltage dropping resistor or a voltage divider depending on setup. The problem here is that it will be operating on the secondary side which means it will see full welding current. Good luck finding a rheostat that can handle that much current without costing an arm and a dick.
I believe old model train ones work well and are not horribly insane price wise
The gas that forms from The Wire catches in the cup and helps create a stronger gas surrounding
good info...i prefer.030 wire instead..flows better with power output
totally agree...Lincoln electric 030 and your rocking
THE NOZZLE KEEPS YOU ISOLATED SO WHEN YOU TOUCH THE TIP ON METAL YOU DONT SHORT OUT THE TIP!!!!!!! Otherwise you will eventually weld your cable inside the gun shut!!
The tips are copper and the wire is steel so it really doesn't seem to weld itself shut. Every once in a while the nozzle gets gummed up and needs cleaned but not totally welded shut
Not the tip! The cable (conduit) that your welding wire feeds through is STEEL it is the same as the outer part of bicycle brake cables! And trust me. They weld shut from the direct short!! Good luck finding a 10 foot brake cable housing when you're in the middle of a job
Do you have pictures of the steps that you took to get to that point I have the parts but when I open up the welder it didn't look like some of the other ones I have been watching on UA-cam yours is just like it but I can't tell how you wired it all up thanks
I don't have any pics off hand but basically you just clip the two big wires coming off the transformer. One goes to the ground clamp and one goes to the gun. Put both of those wires to the input of your rectifier (it doesn't matter which side). Run the +output to the ground clamp and the - side to the gun. Run a big capacitor between the two output wires to smooth out the current and a resistor between the terminals on the capacitor to bleed off any energy when you stop welding.
Cool Stuff Guys Like I just recently bought the harbor freight MIG 170 A 240v welder which is a DC if I were to put a rectifier and a big capacitor would it make it any better? And if so how big of a rectifier and capacitor what I need?
Cool Stuff Guys Like technically should have a rectifier and a capacitor if it is running AC from the wall right? Maybe I can Upgrade to bigger and better
I always hear guys saying'' you can buy these welders for $60 or $70 dollars"" .But not at my Harbor Freight ,the cheapest I've ever saw them was $89 dollars on sale . And they wouldn't even accept one of the 20 % coupons my buddy tried using. No deals at our store .
Same here but that is still cheap for a flux core welder..
If you buy it open box second day of what they call a parking lot sale it’s less than $40
Its not worth 40 bucks!!
Can you give details and sources for the electronic parts used in your AC to DC mods to this welder? I'm interested in making these mods to my machine.
The rectifier is a MDS150A three phase. I originally tried a 100 amp two phase but blew one of the diodes. On the 150A three phase you have a spare circuit that you don't need which is nice. The capacitor is a 68000uF from Mouser Electronics. The mfg part number is 661-36DA683F050CC2A. I This seems to be around the size most people are running. You might be even better off to run a two or 3 smaller capacitors that would add up to 50,000 to 100,000uF. The Hobarts and Millers seem to run a bunch of small caps to add up to the right capacitance. I am guessing they would discharge faster than one larger cap. The wire is just 6 gauge from lowes and i got some big copper terminals and heat shrink for them. I also ran a bleeder resistor across my capacitor so that it discharges in a few seconds if I am not welding. I believe I am using two 50 ohm 5v resistors in parallel for that. That should be pretty much all you need.
I just double checked and I was running two 100 ohm resistors in parallel. So you could probably run one 50ohm if you wanted. Depends how fast you want it to discharge after you finish pulling the trigger. Be careful with those big capacitors, PS!
Thanks, I'm going to mod my welder just as you have done. I appreciate all the data,
I can lay down a beautiful bead with the way it was stock
Yeah most of us can't mine is bad.
What would happen if you ran two rectifiers. Hooking them up opposite of each other on the input side. But still negative to negative and positive to positive on the output side. Would that give you a smoother output? Since the rectifiers are seeing opposite sides of the transformer.
Thank you for your response. The AHP welders look pretty nice.
I'm not sure that it would make much of a difference since the sine wave for the voltage is still crossing through 0. If you look at a diagram for a rectifier, each terminal on the input side is the same. It wouldn't matter which one you are hooked to. Both input terminals have one diode flowing negative and one flowing positive, so reversing the inputs shouldn't really change anything on the other rectifier either.
The resistor should not be across the cap during operation. You should wire the discharge resistors through a NC relay to short the cap only when no power is going to the cap. Also why two resistors? If you have decided on a 50 ohm value just purchase a single 50 ohm of proper wattage rather then two 100 ohms. You can also use a much smaller wattage resistor when simply discharging
This isn't really a mig welder. Mig stands for "Metal Inert Gas" welding. This welder is a "flux core welder" which has none of the necessary parts to weld with shielding gas. The cheapest that you can get a mig welder for at Harbor Freight is around $175. The cheapest mig welder at Harbor Freight is a much better built welder than this one.
Anonymous Stranger get this, i hacked a gas feed to the nozzle and loaded .30 solid wire. This machine has NOWHERE NEAR enough power to melt it....
I cut 26 inches out a truck frame and drive shaft and stuck it back together with nothing but a youtube education, THATS what the 100 dollar freight welder can do. Its an amazing little machine. If you crank it up and double pass clean your metals and bevel the thick stuff you can weld damn near anything with it, the 220 is a bad ass no doubt you can shoot some filler fast! But the lil 90 amp can get it done, just read the directions/ watch a few vids
If my mig welder is AC output. Is possible to connect a tig torch and use as an ac tig welder?
Luis U Rodriguez ac tig is for welding aluminum. But you need high frequency start, if you touch the electrode to work, you contaminate both. I
Been thinking i could use a 12 volt power source and points type ignition coil to get the spark jump the gap withou touching.....
Awesome vid! One question would it be better to run 105 degree C Caps or would 85 degree C be fine?
Thanks! I think 85C caps would be fine since the duty cycle is so low on the welder and it won't be running more than about 30 seconds or a minute at a time. If they are the same price, then go with the 105
Those with the older welders if you don't do anything else put a plastic shroud around your fan it will make your welder so much cooler oh, it will actually pull air in from the back and actually push it out to the vans it's cheap or just buy a computer fan
This is a good post, but yes that is a much better ground clamp. I just bought a punch of small tools, and I posted it on you tube here. Cheers !
Don't understand why people are leaving shitty comments. A lot of good advice for people who are just starting out and don't have the extra money for a better welder. It's also a good opportunity for new welders to learn what's going on under the hood. If you can, take a couple of classes in Welding at the local JC. Knowledge is power and the ability to make cool shit.
Appreciate the comment. I don't get it either. It is never going to be a 220V lincoln welder but for the price it will get you in the door and with a few tweeks it performs like a welder that is twice the cost
@@CoolStuffGuysLike Have you seen where you can also convert this type of welder to a stick/arc welder? I have yet to see someone do both any chance of you taking on that project as well?
What's more the important the number with a capacitor, number of uF or dc volts?
+Bill Puller the rated voltage must be higher than what you plan to but through it, so in this case about 50v or higher would be more than enough. The capacitance is rated in uf. You will want to be in the ball park there but a little lower or higher is not a big deal. You could also run multiple smaller capacitors that would add up to enough capacitance if you wanted.
If electrode is your gripe, run forney. Best electrode ice ever used...
What about choke coil to smooth out ?
Thank you , super helpful
You need to leave the plastic tip on the gun. If not slag will eat it up.
I wouldn't worry about a bleeder resistor. The voltages coming out of a welder is low and if you're worried just tap the wire to ground when you turn it off. Instant cap bleed.
That fan needs a shroud.
A lil to much for me I'll just try to unscrew the tip to see better but thanks for the video
Sounds good! Getting some good wire really helps a lot too and it is not very expensive. Plus just making sure your metal and ground area are really clean. I like to get some flap discs for the grinder to shine things up quickly
Dude!!!
You have the Electrical side of this Down!!!
Did you know Ebay sells the Gas Solenoid for Ten Bucks!
there is already a Switch to be used...
just mount the solenoid to the wall inside and connect to a bottle!!
the torch comes with tubing inside the Sheathing😆😆😆😆
Can you add a link? For the solenoid
www.ebay.com/itm/U-S-Solid-1-4-Brass-Electric-Solenoid-Valve-DC-12V-VITON-Water-Air-Fuel-N-C/281960425919?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D57921%26meid%3D132bdcd2d1314ad8b3e3d26cb70ef73b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D292179950457%26itm%3D281960425919&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
theres a Full range of DIY welding stuff here too!!!
😉
Sorry but not good advice . Unless your warranty is expired I wouldn't start modifying this machine . If you're going to be modifying something how about showing the finished product and show the weld ? I saw lots of spatter going on with this . Also that tip is there for a good reason .
I do agree with replacing the clamp since that thing is no better than a battery jumper cable clamp .Once my warranty is done I plan to replace mine as well .It will do for the meantime .
I looked at getting a flux core only machine but decided to spend a little more and went with the MIG 170 instead which is the better way to go if you want DC welding and higher output plus be able to have gas shielding. I got mine for $180 . It's not a Lincoln electric or a Hobart or anything like that but it will get the job done and I can learn along the way and make some money to get a better machine later on .
I wouldn't advise anyone to start modifying their machine unless they understand electricity, use caution ,and know exactly what they're doing before starting such a project .
Harbor Freight's warranty is 90 days, so that's probably not a big concern :) The rest of your points are completely valid.
He would show the weld because that was horrible i can lay a better weld without doing all that bs. I got pick to prove it hell ill post a video. But yet again i am certified
Buy a dirt cheap welder and spent a fortune converting it! Why not buy a more expensive one with all this already done?
For the fun of it besides the components are dirt cheap
You might want to practice your presentations a bit before you record. Probably 2-3 minutes of hemming and hawing.
Umm umm I umm..😸