Tried a cheap flux core welder from a yard sale. Nearly burned my garage down.

Picked up a Lincoln Weld-Pak 100 for 40 bucks last Saturday. Old guy said it worked fine. Got it home, fired it up to patch a crack in a trailer hitch. Thing sputtered and popped like crazy. Then I saw the insulation on the gun cable was smoking. Melted right through in two spots. I shut it down quick. The ground clamp was wired wrong inside. Positive and negative were swapped. That little mistake could've started a real fire. Lesson learned. Always check the wiring on used gear before you pull the trigger. Anyone else seen janky wiring on old welders?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason7521d ago

Yep, swapping the leads just changes polarity, not the fire risk.

nora_park721d agoMost Upvoted

Ha, not quite lol. Swapping leads can actually short stuff out and cause sparks.