Bought a Harbor Frieght wire feed welder today.

[undertakerman]

I spend this morning at a friend of mine's house before I read the replies to this thread. He had bought a HF 90 Amp welder at a garage sale this pass weekend. He got the welder, hood, gloves and 2 rows of .030 Flux core wire and 2 .030 wire rows. The guy didn't have the manual that went with it. My friend got it all for $40.00. He said the guy started out at $80.00 for everything. But my friend got him down to $40.00. Its the same model like I had 3 or 4 years ago. We cleaned it up and we got a new revised manual off the HF site. I put .030 Flux core wire in it and set the output switch on LOW which is 63 to 68 Amps and set the wire speed at about 1.5 IPM per the manual and tried some sample welding on 18 and 16 Gauge. I did a butt weld with 18 to 18, a spot weld with 16 on 18, a spot weld on 18 to 18 and a lap weld with 18 on 18 and one with 16 on 18. Did tack welds, stitch welds etc. Well needless to say the HF 90 did okay. No burn throughs, a little spatter. I did have to adjust the IPM setting a couple of times. Its now set about 1.75 or 2. Overall I was pleased with the out come. If I were rating the unit now I would give it 2 1/2 or 3 Stars.

[jhonlee2050]

it is a good deal with cheap price and equipment is good i would give it 3 out of 3 marks
https://plasmacutteradvisor.com/

[hfdco4]

I have run at least 12lbs of wire through my HF 90 mig. I have welded everything from 18ga to 1/4" and it has done it well. I am sure the Lincoln and Hobart are better, but for my money it has been great!

[hdpusher]

Boy oh boy! Its been over 10 years now since I originally posted this and I still have the same welder. It sat in an unheated garaged, unused for the last 3 years so I figured I better break it out. So yesterday I got it out and fired it up. Guess what! It still works just like it did when I bought it. I used it to run a few tac welds while fixing the rear gate on a stock trailer. The cows never noticed the difference between those welds and the ones made with the Miller.

[HarleyJack]

I have had mine for about 8 years. Just finished the first spool of wire this weekend.....oddly the new wire seems HOT! Been happy with it for what it is. Finally got to use an actual MIG the other day, and it was niiiiice. But hard to beat the little hot box for a quick welding job on smaller stuff. They have their place for sure.

[hdpusher]

Quick update, its been 12 years now and it still works fine.

[tsherry]

Mine too! One of the handiest tools I own. I think I've gone through 10 spools of wire on that thing.

[flyboy2610]

A co-worker bought a Harbor Freight flux core only welder to learn/practice on. He really likes it!