Update to my welder Harbor Freight 170

[smithdoor]

'Liquidation' - ?

Maybe on closeout??

I think HF needs an entry level priced welder in their lineup, and the 125AC isn't quite up to serving that role.


Or maybe 'Liquidation' is just marketing hype.

I seen a lot adds and I am thinking it just marketing
But a great price today if want one

Dave


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[DaiIchi]

I bought one at that price in February. I bet they have a lot of 170A welders in inventory, that they are trying to get rid of.

Harbor Freight is having a sale on the 170 welder $159.00

[smithdoor]

I bought one at that price in February. I bet they have a lot of 170A welders in inventory, that they are trying to get rid of.

Vulcan line may have some to do with some other line of welders

HF is selling the Vulcan at higher price witch makes HF more

Dave

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[Bojangles07]

Can some tell me what settings I would have to be at to be running the amp#'s posted here?

[Bojangles07]

So what size retictifier?

[smithdoor]

So what size retictifier?

Retictifier size is at lest 100 amps , 100 volts. Note add aluminum or copper to the heat sink

Dave

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[Bojangles07]

So each amp value stated equals what in wire speed ?

[smithdoor]

Here the three methods of installing Capacitors

Dave

[California]

Which method is preferable?

[Bluewelders]

Best should be 2.
Method 2- Gives an inductive kick to start the arc and maintain it.
Method 1- Gives the equivalent of using car batteries without a choke.
Method 3- Gives a semi resonant circuit at certain frequencies

[smithdoor]

Method 1 most use this as install the capacitors on the wire feed side

Next method is 2 but needs to be install on transformer side

Method 3 most do use but also works good.

The best is to use all 3

Dave

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[California]

Thanks!

[poolbizz]

Dave , I just bought a HF 170 gave the other one to my brother . Anyway I just started doing the capacitor mod with switch , but here's a picture of my relay 30amp 240 is this good to go or would you say get the other one that you did , if so can you break it down with some better pics showing which goes where ?. Thanks here's the pic's

I just purchase my 170 work great out box (Nov 2017
But I did few improvements to extend life and function of the welding
1) Add a stronger relay
2) Add a longer ground wire 10FT
3) New ground clamp
4) Welding Cart

Dave

The last crash of this deleted all photos for Nov 2017

[smithdoor]

For me it is a great welder
The 170 weld about same as my Miller welder I had but only on the 170 to max of 100 amps.

Do not put a lot capacitors on the welder the wire feed board has a SCR and they need a alternating to work.
What happens with to many capacitors is the feed motor will goto max speed.

Dave

Dave , I just bought a HF 170 gave the other one to my brother . Anyway I just started doing the capacitor mod with switch , but here's a picture of my relay 30amp 240 is this good to go or would you say get the other one that you did , if so can you break it down with some better pics showing which goes where ?. Thanks here's the pic's

[poolbizz]

I was asking you about the relay . Only one Cap. 100000uf 63v that's all brand new from Mouser 68.00

[smithdoor]

I add a relay .
The relay on board is at limits .

The relay I used is for motor starting and is 40 amp plus it is easy to replace too.

The relay on board is still used only to power the new relay.

Dave

I was asking you about the relay . Only one Cap. 100000uf 63v that's all brand new from Mouser 68.00

[California]

For me it is a great welder
The 170 weld about same as my Miller welder I had but only on the 170 to max of 100 amps.

Dave, just a question: If the practical maximum welding current of the MIG-170 is about 100 amps, is .030 FC wire a better choice for it than .035?

I ask this because the manual for the Amico 130 I bought recently, claims 130 amps output whether its run on 120 (yeah sure) or 240. But it advises to use only .030 FC, not .035. It says .035 can over-stress the welder while not improving weld quality.

I've run .035 in my HF MIG-180 for heavier work and it seems to work fine.

Any comments?


Poolbizz - the first owner of my MIG-180 (nearly a twin to your MIG-170) modded the heck out of it. The capacitor is external, to preserve the ability to fit 10 lb rolls inside. The switch next to it is to engage or bypass the cap.

[poolbizz]

Dave can you do a step by step of how to do the relay?. Thanks

I add a relay .
The relay on board is at limits .

The relay I used is for motor starting and is 40 amp plus it is easy to replace too.

The relay on board is still used only to power the new relay.

Dave

[John T]

Dave, just a question: If the practical maximum welding current of the MIG-170 is about 100 amps, is .030 FC wire a better choice for it than .035?

I ask this because the manual for the Amico 130 I bought recently, claims 130 amps output whether its run on 120 (yeah sure) or 240. But it advises to use only .030 FC, not .035. It says .035 can over-stress the welder while not improving weld quality.

I've run .035 in my HF MIG-180 for heavier work and it seems to work fine.

Any comments?


Poolbizz - the first owner of my MIG-180 (nearly a twin to your MIG-170) modded the heck out of it. The capacitor is external, to preserve the ability to fit 10 lb rolls inside. The switch next to it is to engage or bypass the cap.

Yikes.

Personally, I'd put a rubber boot over those cap terminals.

[smithdoor]

Yes I do later today after I am on my computer 🖥 and post photos 📸 of mine and diagrams.

Dave

Dave can you do a step by step of how to do the relay?. Thanks

[smithdoor]

I like placement of capacitor.

I try push the welder as I will welded for a long time. The rectifier is week part of 170 and 180 welder. The rectifier is only 50 or 60 amps at 100% duty cycle.

The transformer is great the size they I think it Calc out at 100% duty cycle is over 100 amps. I have post somewhere in the Harbor Freight thread.

As remember there four items that limit both the 170 and 180 is the relay, switches, rectifier and cooling fan.

The relay, on off and range switches are week/light duty 20 amp by Chinese ratings.
All 4 items can be easily fix as the give out and may last for ever.

Dave

Dave, just a question: If the practical maximum welding current of the MIG-170 is about 100 amps, is .030 FC wire a better choice for it than .035?

I ask this because the manual for the Amico 130 I bought recently, claims 130 amps output whether its run on 120 (yeah sure) or 240. But it advises to use only .030 FC, not .035. It says .035 can over-stress the welder while not improving weld quality.

I've run .035 in my HF MIG-180 for heavier work and it seems to work fine.

Any comments?


Poolbizz - the first owner of my MIG-180 (nearly a twin to your MIG-170) modded the heck out of it. The capacitor is external, to preserve the ability to fit 10 lb rolls inside. The switch next to it is to engage or bypass the cap.

[California]

Yikes. Personally, I'd put a rubber boot over those cap terminals.

Yeah I should. But I just run this as-received.

Those terminals are only live when the trigger is pulled. The longer, 10 ft upgraded stinger cable has to be laid approximately straight to feed smoothly, so the welder is far from the operator. And the on/off switch is on the faceplate not the back. So there's no reason to be anywhere near the capacitor on the back, when its live. (And it has a bleed resistor to discharge it when not in use). But I should cover those terminals.

The first owner put a lot of work into adding every mod that was ever discussed in the HF sub-forum. But he wasn't building it for use by anyone but him so there are a couple of oddities. Including these naked capacitor terminals, and a mystery relay mounted below the wire feed that had all its wires cut. I suspect he made the relay mod that Dave discussed with the original relay feeding this higher rated one. Then discovered that a yes/no relay had no control over wire speed. I had asked the seller what the relay was for, he said ignore it. Selling me the welder for $25 I wasn't going to aggravate him demanding answers.

As Dave said, this welds as well as a pro-quality welder. But also as he said, with several weak points re HF's quality of internal materials, that I expect will shorten its life.

After a couple years of occasional use I hit one of those component-quality issues. It would feed but no voltage at the tip. I looked inside, nothing smoked, no obvious issues. I decided to exercise it feeding wire continuously and looking for smoke, none seen. Then it occurred to me to manipulate the wire speed and voltage controls while feeding wire. This MIG-180 has a rotary switch for six voltage levels. Running the voltage switch back and forth apparently cleaned an arced spot on the switch wiper. This restored proper function, and it has welded fine since then.

Thinking this MIG-180 could quit at any time because its 10 years old and the capacitor mod can run it exceeding its rated specs, I later bought an inexpensive new FC welder that's very portable, so easier to set up and use. When this MIG-180 eventually quits I'll go back to the stick welder for material beyond the little guy's range.

In summary after all the mods its a great toy for hobby work (actually, farm repairs). No expectation that its pro quality.

[xmmancharl]

used that modded hf mig 180 many years back...

worked quite well

did not like the wire feeder mechanism

looked at everlast mig... wire feeder looked well made

been using everlast mig for several years..

my 2 cents

[smithdoor]

Dave , I just bought a HF 170 gave the other one to my brother . Anyway I just started doing the capacitor mod with switch , but here's a picture of my relay 30amp 240 is this good to go or would you say get the other one that you did , if so can you break it down with some better pics showing which goes where ?. Thanks here's the pic's

[smithdoor]

Had do two posts for the photos for the upgrade