Other: Welder

[Tturley]

I keep. Seeing adverts for these small handheld welders. They look very attractive but has anyone actually bought one?
seems too good to be true and we all know what that means

[DEEPNHOCK]

Basically it is a stick welder with a teeny transformer built into the handle.
Reading the reviews it seems like it is a very very basic welder.
One of the standard usefulness guides to w welder is the 'duty cycle'. (Minutes of welding vs. minutes of cool down time).
The info says it has overheat protection built into the handle, so if you reach the temp (duty cycle), it just shuts off.
I read the reviews (bottom up) on several of these... Reviews are mixed.
(opinion)
The newer 'inverter' small welders have drastically come down in price lately, and the features have increased.
I would suggest getting a 110v/220v inverter mig welder before wasting money on these little handheld toys.
Jeff
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Top 5 inverter mig welders (reviews)

https://tinyurl.com/Top-5-Mig-Welders

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Reviews of hand held stick welders.

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"Great for the person who just does around the house jobs it is easy to use and does a great job
and make sure you have at least a 20 amp outlet to use it 15 amp doesn't do well."
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"This is fantastic if you possess the ability to keep the stick 1mm away from the workpiece. The arc is so small it's useless. Additionally, any little bit of slag on the end of the stick will render it completely unless until the slag is removed. Even on max power, there is simply not enough current to over come that little bit of slag."
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"This welder worked fine for about 33 days then the fan quit still welder. But fan doesn't work. Contacted the company and they don't seem to know care. So I would buy a better quality machine if I had to do it again. Which I do. I just wanted a easy to move around with. Moving my Lincoln is a pain. Buy a good one first."
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"US Forge® 1/8" x 14" E6011 Welding Rod Electrode - 5 lb these rods did not work with welder just got sparks"
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[Tturley]

Thanks
you confirmed my suspections

[what huh]

I have used one of these and yes it is very light duty. For use on Small repairs that don’t require a thought towards safety.

that one review however that talks about the slag. It’s not the machines fault it’s the operator not knowing that certain rods need to have the slag scraped off so the electrode can arc, 7018 rod is notorious for this especially if you dip you rod in the puddle before pull away. Stainless rods do this sometimes as well.