Review on Stick Welder Campbell Hausfeld WS099001AV by Darin Marshall

For $100? This is not an industrial welder and not the kind of welder you would use to make go karts or beach buggies. For $100, this is just what the average homeowner needs for a small repair, tack welding a bike, baby van, or bird feeder. for example with 1/8" rods on commercial or heavier welders. You won't weld 1/4" roll cage angle steel pipe, but you can repair garden tools and small items that are not stress critical. This is a hobby welder, not for commercial use. It takes 3 minutes to use the welder without packaging. Plug it in, connect the work clamp, insert the rod into the clamp and start the arc. Uses rods such as: 5/64" Eazy Strike Rod-7014 Cons: - The included power cord is relatively short, as are the working cords. You must be within 6 feet of an electrical outlet, so declutter your workspace. - The rod clamp has a slightly loose clamp and only works with small rods (1/16" to 5/64"), limiting the size of the finished weld. When using larger rods (1/8" which are more commonly available) the clamp assembly melts due to - WS0970 has already been replaced by the manufacturer with WS099001AV on their website, same welder, different box - 1 star removed because the design of the weld clamp is slightly is weaker than it could be - (but if it were stronger people would probably be clamping down on 1/8" rods!) Pros: - Small, compact, portable and easy to use, owner's manual and welding guide - Cheap welder, well made for the price, better quality Your value for money in its segment -Great for simple quick minor repairs and ideal for novice welders -The unit comes with an observation hand. Mask and 10 rods (1/16""). - Uses a standard 15A/20A household outlet like a vacuum cleaner. - Low gas/smoke emissions. The welding machine works with a low voltage of 70 amperes, so the surfaces must be very clean and the ground work clamp should be firmly connected to the clean work area. When applied to fresh, clean metal, the tool will quickly create an arc with slow, steady pulling. If the work area is painted, oily, or contaminated with welding fumes, you'll need to brush or sand to expose the clean metal to get a quick hit. The closer you can get the work clamp to your work area without getting in the way, the better - buy a decent hood, don't waste time on the included welding protection with your coveralls - you'll need both hands to weld. Try a Hobart helmet for $19 (standard Hobart Weldit fixed tint welding helmet, 4 1/2" x 5 1/4" lens and have the observer use the shield. - Priva Stay up Concrete or buy a piece of tile backing to level your work It makes an excellent clean flat work surface and is non-flammable - Invest in small C-clamps or metal clamps to hold your work together - Use some rods first for practice Delicacy and small learning curve for quality welds Considerations: The unit has 20% or less welder service time - which means that for 10 minutes of continuous welding (you won't do it) the unit takes 8 minutes to cool down.According to my Experience has shown that the machine never shuts down for cool down when welding 3" to 5" diameter beads, but extended run time will shut down the machine for cool down - an indicator light on the Control panel indicates that the cool down process has stopped. the light goes out, you can weld again. For normal welding, I have not yet had to turn on the cooling lamp because I usually do not do seam welds but butt welds. Since a typical 1/16" x 12" rod only produces a 5" end bead, the chill cycle is irrelevant as you will still be stopping to change rods. I didn't have any arc feed issues like other reviewers mentioned. if the metal was clean and bright. You use a 12" rod for a 5" coil, so plan to buy at least 1 pound along with the welder. A set of 7014 5/64" rods is working. good at altitude. The machine has a low setting which I assume is good for some small hobby welds (I don't know what it is since this machine inherently produces such small beads) but 5/64 inch rods will work good at high speed. Hair dryers also have low settings, but I don't know of anyone who uses a hair dryer on "low" bars on the back of 12" and 3/8" wide steel circles to make rifle targets. Almost a whole bar was used for each 4" roll and I had no trouble striking the arc when the surface was clean and bright. Smaller jobs like putting shims on the bars required a bit more skill as the welder low amperage chain, are larger and have longer duty cycles They are cheaper for their purpose and weld large beads efficiently The quality of this machine is high and as a small welder it fills its segment well For 1/3 the price it has a duty cycle and welds 1/3 the size.A lot of the reviews I've read rate this welder in comparison to a more powerful power amp.Think of it as a small 4 cylinder pickup truck versus a commercial welder as a two ton Four wheel duel ahead.They are made for a different purpose and give different results.Heavy duty welders I think this product is a great one nice buy for $ in its segment.