Can I use my 100A welder on 1/4” thick steel?

[StevSmar]

I wonder if 1/4" thick material is necessary for your stand? Sounds heavy duty.

Yes, the 1/4” is heavy duty, but it was available at a competitive price. And I thought it would be less likely for me to blow holes in it.

I meant to post a photo for your reference in your other thread. Sorry for not doing that sooner.

Thank’s for the photos! Your stand is exactly the same concept as mine!

I was thinking of painting mine red but now… I’ll have to pick something different- LOL.

 

[StevSmar]

…The attached photo is of an Everlast welder spec sheet, found here. You can see how 100% DC is available at 90 amps but yet the machine would be considered a 35% DC welder as that is at a higher welding current…

Thanks for posting that info. I have been casually looking at Everlast welders due to the recommendations on this forums.
I hadn’t looked as close to realize how the duty cycle is dependent on the amperage for TIG and Stick.

 

[StevSmar]

…5/32 is realistically the biggest rod you would ever need to run in a home shop…

That’s great advice, thankyou.

…A 200a 3in1 is the perfect machine for the garage imo, more than enough for stick/tig, and enough for general purpose MIG…

I don’t know why, but MIG doesn’t seem to interest me. Stick is familiar to me and TIG is what makes beautiful welds even if the learning curve is steep…
I can’t see needing the speed of MIG.

 

[StevSmar]

Duty cycle is usually not an issue unless you’re burning rod after rod. In my case it’s likely no more than 2 rods and then a bunch of fit up and prep. This along with slag removal Is usually enough to let the welder cool down.

I now think you are certainly right.

And of course if I do exceed the duty cycle of my welder then I’ll just end up with something shiny…

 

[StevSmar]

As requested, here’s a couple of photos of my Made in Manitoba wonder:

 

[StevSmar]

I found this on a TimWelds video, I think this will be a starting point for my experimenting:

With 3/32 rods.

I CANNOT WAIT for the Christmas Break so I can start playing!!!

 

[Dabbler]

FWIW I Vee groove thicker materials and weld them up in multiple passes. (this is with MIG, mind you) - could you do the same with rod welding?

 

[phaxtris]

@StevSmar have fun!

@Dabbler for sure, just have to clear out the slag between passes, same procedure as with MIG...but with slag...grove welds are not out of the ordinary for stick at all

 

[Dan Dubeau]

That's where a radial wire wheel on the angle grinder really comes in handy for multi pass. And a face shield lol.

 

[Tom Kitta]

With old school welder like this throwing it outside with -20C and with a fan blowing air on it would extend the duty cycle at 100 amps to close to 100%. Experience from my limited welding is that it is pretty much impossible to (impossible for me) to exceed 60% duty cycle with stick.

Note AC machine does not weld as good as DC.

You can get decent cheap Chinese 200 amp stick welders for around $200 or less at auctions. Do not go for cheapest stuff as 200 amps on these is fake. It is doubtful through that even with occasional use cheap welder like that will last much over 5 years.

 

[Former Member]

It hurts me to say this listen to what @phaxtris has to say.

Most of us non professional welders should be may aware of and understand duty cycles as we generally buy lighter duty machines (cost driven). My first MIG welder I exceeded the duty cycle on several occasions at high power (gloves got really hot) and luckily the thermal overload kicked in. To be fair it took a lot of effort on my part.

The Primeweld Tig/Stick machine at 100% duty cycle more than meets my needs, at the reduced cycle it definitely pushes my limits as a non professional.

So as @phaxtris as indicated understand your application, your physical limits and skill, you will find that most modern machines will exceed those limits. When they don't they protect themselves.

True old school machines, the protection is the welder.