spot welder

[Maddog]

Do those 110 volt spot welders work? Looking at the typical HF 110 volt spot welder, says will do up to 1/8". I need to spot weld a drip rail (not 55/57) the 2 flanges are a little under 1/8" thick. Should I buy one of these or? I use to drill one panel and plug weld with my mig but the spot welder would seem to be faster, if it works??????????

[Run-em]

Got the HF spot welder & it works great for me. Going to try experimenting on some stainless just to check out n idea I've running around.

[warren57]

I have a Miller 110/220v I picked up from a contractor closing auction and it works great, but my brother bought the HF unit and I swear it is the exact same unit as my Miller. It works just as well and appears to have the same duty cycle.
I use a spot welder a lot, I'm sure you will like the HF unit.

[chevynut]

I have a Miller 220V spot welder and I use it once in a while. I have tried to weld aluminum with it and I'm not too impressed with the results. It's hard to get consistent spot welds on steel sheetmetal without a timer. It only takes a split second to weld, and sometimes you go too long. I have tried 1-2 seconds on aluminum and I can easily break the welds afterward. Is there some trick to this? I know a timer would help, but I don't have one.

I have a hard time believing the 110V welder would weld 1/8" steel together. I haven't tried mine on that thick of steel so maybe it would work. Is that two 1/16" thick pieces or two 1/8" thick pieces? I think the former would be ok.

[Rick_L]

I've never tried to spot weld aluminum, but it seems it would be way different than steel because of the thermal properties of aluminum.

[chevynut]

Rick, I think it's more than the thermal properties. I can hold the button and get it really hot, but it just doesn't make a strong weld. Maybe I need more pressure, or even longer time to get a good weld. I want to spot weld my console together, but may end up with plug welds instead.

[stroker]

I have had the HF 220 spot welder for a number of years and am very satisfied with it. I bought longer electrodes with a wider gap from the local welding supply to get into those harder to reach spots. I doubt you could weld two 1/8 " pieces though. I have successfully spotted 14 ga. material. I've used it on mild steel and ss both with good results. Never tried aluminum.