Arc welder built from Golf Cart charger?

[stevensj13]

I have an old Golf Cart charger in my garage with no golf cart. Any chance I could use it as an arc welder? Thanks guys

[just ben]

you are better off selling the charger and buying a welder. Around here people can't give away stick welders,I see nice machines for 100.00 or less all the time. I have seen the chargers go for a couple hundred depending on the condition.

[HuffieVA]

^I'm with him, and I'm not saying its not possible, but unless your well versed on electrical theory there is a good chance you could end up with "Not So Good" results or worse

[The Goat]

I'm pretty sure 8 battteries in a series would weld better...

Stick welder...and A LOT of patience.

[tri again]

Those chargers are worth 2-400$
Stick welders are cheap

[stevensj13]

I never thought chargers sold for that much until I checked some prices and WOW. I paid $100 for a golf cart that needed batteries and it came with the charger. I ended up selling the golf cart in favor of a gas one and still have the charger. I'll throw that up on craigslist, make some quick cash, and for $189 I can get a 90 amp flux core MIG welder with a 2lb spool of wire ready to weld, a auto dimming helmet, and a apron and gloves kit. So I'll just buy that. My friend has the welder and says it welds great. I just thought in a pinch this would be a simple thing to do and save some money.

[just ben]

I never thought chargers sold for that much until I checked some prices and WOW. I paid $100 for a golf cart that needed batteries and it came with the charger. I ended up selling the golf cart in favor of a gas one and still have the charger. I'll throw that up on craigslist, make some quick cash, and for $189 I can get a 90 amp flux core MIG welder with a 2lb spool of wire ready to weld, a auto dimming helmet, and a apron and gloves kit. So I'll just buy that. My friend has the welder and says it welds great. I just thought in a pinch this would be a simple thing to do and save some money. please dont waste your money on a flux core machine. them cheap machines are 90 amps but run at about 20-25% duty cycle,which may not mean much to you but to be blunt they are not worth the tin they are made of. If you are thinking you want a mig you want one that uses a shielding gas. trust me.

[stevensj13]

please dont waste your money on a flux core machine. them cheap machines are 90 amps but run at about 20-25% duty cycle,which may not mean much to you but to be blunt they are not worth the tin they are made of. If you are thinking you want a mig you want one that uses a shielding gas. trust me.

Call me crazy but I am gonna buy it. I won't be doing any serious work or daily work, it will be for fixing cracked frames, and finishing up a small dune buggy project. Not much welding to be done, it will be great for my purpose. I don't have the cash to shell out for any decent mig welder, and I hate Arc welding. just not my thing I suppose

[just ben]

ok your crazy. they dont work. you mainly get spatter and a very weak weld. I have a spool of flux core here. Maybe tomarrow (after carving pumpkins) I will run a bead with gas and one with flux and take pics to show. If you are hell bent on a flux machine I won't bother since it does take a lil bit of time to change the polarity on the machine.

[stevensj13]

ok your crazy. they dont work. you mainly get spatter and a very weak weld. I have a spool of flux core here. Maybe tomarrow (after carving pumpkins) I will run a bead with gas and one with flux and take pics to show. If you are hell bent on a flux machine I won't bother since it does take a lil bit of time to change the polarity on the machine.

The reason I am hell bent is because one of my riding buddies has the welder and with a spool of high grade wire, it welds as good as his dad's Miller. He welder 2 pieces of angle iron together and beat them with a hammer, the angle iron bent and the welds stayed strong. He also did a frame repair on my bike, and its still holding strong. Those 2 reasons are enough to convince me its worth $110. The extra cost to make the ultimate cost $189 was an autodimming helmet, gloves, and an apron. Gotta love Harbor Freight

[just ben]

good luck.

[The Goat]

If strength and cheapness is your concern, with practice you can lay a decent bead with a stick welder and I will personally attest to it's strength. Every farm implement we have has a simple 4x4 inch flat plate hitch welded to it without a support. With a bead on top and bottom it'll easily support 1k lb tongue weight.

Definitely ugly though...

[HuffieVA]

Just my opinion, but if your buddy has access to his dads Miller, why not get a decent stick welder so you have the ability to weld heavier steel, and maybe you can offer the use of it to your buddies dad if he ever needs it, in return maybe if you need something light guage welded cleanly yo can use his dads Miller.... either of them will beat a flux core welder and eventually you can get a quality Miller or Lincon for yourself, you'll be much better off in the long run, and you wont be kicking yourself for spending money on the flux core later (as a bonus you wont turn people off to your welding because of all th esplatter associated with the flux core) It's pretty much what I do, I got my little Miller 135 about six or seven years ago for around $700 with tank, cart and the works it works great for almost everything I do and in the rare times I have to weld something heavy I just look up one of my farmer buddies and borrow their stick. My next one will definetly be a TIG so I can weld aluminium and stainless other than that I have all the welder I need for body work and bike frames.

[84honda200s]

you are better off selling the charger and buying a welder. Around here people can't give away stick welders,I see nice machines for 100.00 or less all the time. I have seen the chargers go for a couple hundred depending on the condition.

dito that !! i see the "tomb stone" welders for under 200.00 most of the time. thats a good welder imo

[Dirtcrasher]

Flux core wire suks.......

All my posts with pics (if you care to search them) are from a Lincoln Mig welder with a CO2/Argon mix. With some practice, you can weld thin gauge metal to about 5/16ths.

No, it's not a 100$ welder, but a 100$ stick welder is really suited for high amperage welds (like on my backhoe).

Understand that this is all about safety; Any clown can weld, but can they understand what is too hot, not hot enough, wire speeds etc. If you weld parts without the proper equipment, it will fail and may hurt you; Just a fair warning.......

[Thorpe]

My friend has the welder and says it welds great. .

I think your friend is lying to you...

Agreed with the others... I have been welding for 15+ years, and flux core, at 90 amps max, is junk.... Smallest welder I would buy, is a miller/hobart 140 with the bottle (IMO)

[big red in iowa]

if ya want a weld with no penetration, splatter everywhere, and looks like crap go ahead and buy the flux core. I weld almost daily with a miller 250 mig welder and have been for many years. IMHO trailprotrailpro wasting money, i wouldnt weld an exhaust pipe with a 90 amp mig

[cr480r]

I think your friend is lying to you...
Smallest welder I would buy, is a miller/hobart 140 with the bottle (IMO)

I agree. this is still affordable. and later you can add a bottle to tackle most small projects with decent results.

[stevensj13]

Already bought it, been using it, great welder. Compared to Miller's in my school's mechanics class it does pretty darn well. Splatter is annoying but they are strong welds. Can't complain for the price, I dont do any major fabrication, mostly around the house stuff. Works for me and its all I need. Although I am mounting a Suzuki GS500E motor in my Yamaha YZ400 Blaster project. Hopefully it will compare with my CB650 Nighthawk 4 cylinder 300ex thats done minus sprockets