Cheap-Ass Tools: Chicago Electric 90A Flux-Core Welder
By Sean O'Hara
Welding isn’t the cheapest hobby to pick up and start fooling around with, and some of the high-end gear can cost you more than a shiny new 60” HD TV. But there are ways to get your weld on without crossing into budget-killing territory — the Chicago Electric 90A flux-core welder comes to mind.
Though this is by no one’s definition a welder’s dream, for the $120 entry price you can plug it into your standard 110 outlet and have yourself a metal-melting ball. The flux spatters more than a mig welder, but you could buy three of these for the price of one low-end mig welder, and that doesn’t count the gas you’d need for it either. The 10-percent duty cycle means you’re only hot for one minute out of ten — but what do you want for under $150?
With this slick unit you can get started welding and build up your skills, without having to run 220 or put a gas cylinder in your home — and it lets you spend some of your hard-earned dough on projects, not gear.
Street pricing starts around $120.
Chicago Electric 90A Flux-Core Welder [Harbor Freight]
August 29th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
To those who have welded, how bad is the spatter on a flux core welder? I’ll eventually need to be doing some sheet metal welding in an old car I’m repairing. I worry that the spatter is counterproductive for that.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Of course, HF also sells a cheap-o MIG welder, which I have. I mostly use it without gas though, so it is basically like the one here. I has worked surprisingly well for me, although I only use it occasionally. It spatters a bit, but nothing terrible, and it is pretty easy to clean/scrape away once cool.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I bought one of these when I needed a window well cover. It was cheaper to buy the welder, the metal, a welding mask, and some other tools than it was to buy a custom cover from one of the local companies and now I have a welder to boot. It does spatter a bunch, but I didn’t have a problem with the duty cycle.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I actually just picked up a gas bottle for my welder today. I was using flux core, ran out of wire, and decided to just take the plunge.
This is a conservative estimate, but welding with gas is about a billion times nicer than flux core. No spatter, and more importantly the weld isn’t surrounded in a giant cloud of smoke, so you can actually see what you are doing. Comparing the gas/flux welds on my project, it’s not even a competition.
You can make good welds with flux core, don;t get me wrong. But it’s a whole lot nicer with the gas.
August 29th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I got one of these as a gift years ago. I would not recommend it for a learning tool- you’d be MUCH better served by buying an Oxy/Acetylene rig and learning to gas weld first.
This unit has trouble penetrating thick material, and spatters like hell. Even a really experienced welder is going to make ugly welds with this.
But you know what? Your welds don’t always need to be pretty, and on many projects, spatter doesn’t matter a bit. This little welder is very handy and cheap, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need for a project. If you are building a project that just needs to hold together, you can make strong welds with this thing if you are careful. It’s also quick and easy since it runs off of 110v. I built the legs for a frame jig using one of these. Since it was just made from rusty angle iron, appearance wasn’t important; I used a flap-disc to clean the rust off where the welds would go and zapped it together with this. Held up just fine.
Also, there have been times when I needed to weld something, and just couldn’t hold it in the right postion easily, so I’d throw a quick tack on it with this thing, then weld it solid with a different welder.
Like most cheap tools, it has it’s limits, but there are uses where it can come in handy.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I have the Lincoln version of this. I should have popped the extra cash and got the MIG version. Flux core is cool, but MIG is cooler as with all HF junk, if you plan to use it regularly by something else (Lincoln,Miller,Hobart,ESAB, etc.)
August 30th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I ave this exact one. Its great for what i want… let me rephrase that, its darn cheap and welds. I would prefer a gas one, but lets face it, that wasnt int eh budget.
If you are going to do a lot of welding, get a gas one, if it is for little jobs, here and there stuff… pick up this one. Works nice for me. I had to weld a plate back into t ametal exterior door. 4 tack welds and it saved me from buying a new door. the entire setup paid for its self there. now its all gravey! (today welded an ikea chair back together, great!) Oh and its 120v! 15A
Rick
August 31st, 2008 at 11:25 am
I bought this same welder from Harbor Freight last year during their Thanksgiving Day sale. It was $88 and I had a 15% off coupon on top of that! Hard to beat that price to get back into welding. I hadn’t wire welded since high school (10+ yrs ago). I also didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a welder since I knew I wouldn’t be using it that much.
This welder works great for me; just doing little stuff around the garage. I get less splatter, and better welds running Miller or Lincoln brand wire in the welder, as opposed to the cheap Harbor Freight wire that comes with the machine. I would recommend tossing the wire that comes with the machine and get some better quality stuff from the day you set the machine up.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 am
I’ve got a Dexa 135 gasless so a little bigger but basically the same as this unit. The splatter is manageable and doesn’t really stick to anything, usually a quick pass with a wire brush cleans it up. I bought the gasless for welding outside where sometimes I’ve had a problem with shield gas being blown away. Also not having to find a 240V outlet for a quick ten minute job (and not having to transport a gas bottle) is nice.
Like toolgEEk I’ve found there is a huge difference in wire quality. The first few rolls I bought with the welder were really tough to get a decent weld with. The next rolls I bought were from Lincoln and the ease of use and weld quality was like night and day in comparison. I changed over mid job and the difference was obvious. Looking at the job a couple days later you could tell which was welded with the no-name wire and which with the Lincoln wire.
My only real gripe is it only takes the small spools of wire which are 50-100% more expensive and require more changes than the large spools.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:02 am
[...] Cheap-Ass Tools: Chicago Electric 90A Flux-Core Welder Welding isn’t the cheapest hobby to pick up and start fooling around with, and some of the high-end gear can cost you more than a shiny new 60” HD TV. But there are ways to get your weld on without crossing into budget-killing territory — the Chicago Electric 90A flux-core welder comes to mind. [...]
September 6th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Melvin:
Buy the big rolls of wire and spool them onto the small spindles. I picked up a huge spool at my local supply shop for dirt cheap since it had been opened. I just spool it out onto my small spindles every time they run out.