The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop What kind of welder is that?

I have a Lincoln Weld-Pac 100 welder. I believe it is the lightest welder they make. I want to weld sheetmetal but have been told I need a MIG welder. I have also heard of TIG welders. What is the difference between the two and can I weld patch panels with my Weld-pac 100?

BIG CHEVY 3600,

After doing a little research, it appears the unit you have is a small, inexpensive wire feed machine without gas capability. Generally speaking, your machine is a MIG welder.

It doesn't have the guts to run shielding gas, therefore, it runs flux core wire (FCAW), which generates its own form of shielding. This type of wire requires more heat input, and this is the stickler...more heat equates to more difficulty when joining thin body panels.

You can weld panels with your machine. Many folks on this site do it. It isn't the VERY best process, but it certainly isn't the worst, and it can be done.

MIG is a acronym for Metal Inert Gas. The wire is the consumable and the component the completes the electrical circuit.

TIG mean Tungsten Inert Gas. A hand held torch utilizes a small rod of Tungsten as the heat sources, and filler material must/can be added much like in oxy-acetylene welding.

You might have seen this process used on many of the TV fab shows...Jesse James, Orange County Choppers etc, etc.

TIG is more expensive to buy, and takes practice to perfect. MIG seems to be the backyard hobby standard.

For most non-technical standpoints, your machine is considered a MIG welder. Because it can't weld with a shielding gas, it isn't as desirable for welding thin body panels.

This doesn't mean it can't. There are small, specialized flux core wires made just for what you want. More folks will be along with better input, and maybe a good lead on where to find this product.

Fool around with what you have before you toss it in the scrap heap, you will be surprised.

And you thought you rambled on!

Stuart

I say the gas is a must. Flux core wire is for welding bridges, not on cars. Move on up to a Miller 130 with gas or something similar and you will never be sorry.

Remember my brothers saying..."I have never said, darn I wish I would have bought the cheaper tool".

Brian

Wow, lots of info here! So in the expert opinions, what would be an ideal starter welder for me? I've not had much of a need for a welder before this, but I have many projects that could certainly use one.

My 65 C10 is the primary project, but I also like building woodburning stoves. So I guess I need something that could handle 1/4 inch plate steel as well as body panels and general repair on my truck. Suggestions?

BTW, I have no idea what the difference is between one type of welder or another. The only one I've used had a clamp that attached to the item to be welded and the other clamp had a rod in it. I made little rainbow-shaped movements across the joint and then had to go behind it and tap the carbon off of the weld. What was that?

Any help, as usual, is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Randy

DearthVader,

The welder you used was commonly referred to as a 'stick welder'. The electrode you put into the holder is the 'stick', which was the filler material.

This type would work perfectly well for your stove building, but might be a beast on your thin body panels...plus, it has a much harder learning curve than the "MIG" welder.

This is a subject fraught with many opinions...here is mine. Take a trip to your local big box or local welding shop and look at small MIG welders that are 'gas ready' and have the capacity to weld at 1/4 to 3/8 inch material.

MIG is the welding process with the 'gun' that shoots out the wire when you pull the trigger. The setup you would want would have a small bottle of shielding gas that rides on the back of the welder and floods the weld zone during welding. Try to steer clear of the FCAW process, which, on the small welders means flux core wire with no gas....these are more inexpensive because they don't have the hardware associated with the shielding gas.

I'm not real familiar with the units being sold now, but your stove building endeavour might put you into a 220 volt machine. Check to make sure what power you have available where you intend to put the welder.

If you Google this subject, you will find lots of information that will educate you before purchasing one. If you have a local welding supply near you, they can give you some direction, plus you get to see what a MIG welder looks like up close. Good luck!

Stuart

I am not sure if you’re still looking for a new one or just wanting info on yours. Anyway, I bought one of the Lincoln Welder packages from the home depot. “Weld Pack 3200 HD Wire Feed Welder” I know very little about welding but it seems to work great. It comes with everything you need to MIG except the GAS and bottle. It welds up to 5/16 thick stuff. I have used it on some frame and patch panels and it seems to do really great. I wanted something that ran on 110v and was fairly portable.

Like I say I am no welder but I am super happy with it. I was able to get a fairly nice weld after playing around for a couple of hours. My pa-in-law has about 30 years of welding under his belt as well being certified in almost every wielding I have ever heard of and he liked it as well. I think it works well using MIG on thin sheet metal body parts.

I think this one will do me well. Anything over 5/16 thick, I will have someone with a stick welder do it for me. Oh, I think they were being funny when they put the little welding shield in the box. I gave that thing to my son to use for a Frisbee.

I see where a lot of folks use just regular flux core wire feed welders to weld in patch panels. I welded in a trunk floor with flux core and it worked just fine. I had to turn the heat down as well as the wire speed. I took my time only doing a short span and letting the area cool. I hope it helps.

BIG CHEVY...I too have a weld pac 100. Lincoln offers a conversion kit to operate sheilding gas for the unit. The kit cost about $100.00. I bought it so I could use sheilding gas for sheet metal welding. If done over again, I would have purchased a larger unit with the conversion kit already in it for a few dollars more. Oh well...live and learn. The unit came with .035 fluxcore wire. I tried it on some sheet metal and it spattered alot and burned threw. Then I went to .030 wire without gas, a little better. Then I switched to .025 wire with 75% Argon, 25% CO2 and it's been working great. Much cleaner and less grinding.Hoped this helped.
~Ron

Straight co2 burns colder if heat is a problem.

The weld pak 100 is the smallest lincoln. You can buy the gas conversion kit for about $100. it would be a good unit to use on sheet metal and to learn the ins and outs of mig welding. it will not weld stoves.

I agree with buying the kit and a bottle for the one you have. I have a Lincoln Mig-Pak 10 which is basically the same thing and it works great even with a long extension cord.

Curt B.

My local HomoDepot or Lowes carries the gas kit, I agree get the gas-whole lots less bird poop to clean up.