About to step into the world of wire feed welders coming from stick machines.. Two questions: 1. How much welding in terms of linear measurement (feet or inches) before you have to replace a tip?
2. How many inches of welds can be had with a .30 2lb roll? Same as 2 lbs of stick?
This will be a flux core machine if that makes any difference.
Question 1 is subjective to welder skill due to many factors. If you used a robot welder that does everything perfectly, then a tip would rarely need to be replaced. They do wear out eventually due to the wire running thru them that may eventually wear the hole out so big that electrical continuity might be compromised but a home welder would never use that much wire. The usually wear out from arcing the tip on FCAW or splatter getting on them and welding the wire to the tip. A good anti-splatter spray to keep the buckshot from sticking will extend the tip life, but tips are cheap to replace.
2. You get lots more weld from a 2 pound roll of wire than you do with a stick since the flux is very thick on the stick rod. How much more, cant say, Google it and I am sure you can find an answer. I believe there is a Weld.com YouTube that does a very detailed weight /time/cost analysis on the various processes). MIG will give you about 85-95% deposition rate (you do loose a little with splatter but not as much as FCAW wire.)
I have to second the suggestion about getting a machine that will do both MIG and FCAW unless you plan to get two machines and just keep flux wire in one and MIG wire in the other.
I started out with a 120 volt Titanium 125 FCAW machine from Harbor Freight and it works very well and I still use it sometimes especially if I need to weld something that is outside my shop. I can run a heavy extension cord as much as 100+ feet long and still weld very well with it but only FCAW welding.
My combo machines can run 120/220 but are too heavy to move around without the rolling cart (about 50# without factoring in the wire, gun, power cable) where as the Titanium is about 11# total( not including weight of any extension cords needed) which means I can put the shoulder strap on it and walk around with it.
After using the Titanium 125, I added an Everlast combination plasma torch and TIG/Stick machine but mostly just use it as plasma or TIG.
I also added another Harbor Freight MIG/TIG/FCAW/Stick in the form of a Vulcan OmniPro 220 that I use most with MIG.
I still prefer to stick rod with my Miller 250 amp Dialarc machine with is the old style transformer type which I still think has the smoother arc than the inverter machines.
That is my nickel's worth (a bit more than 2 cents worth )of advice.
