Harbor Freight’s Vulcan Commander 225 AC/DC Arc Welder (Harbor Freights Last Transformer Welder)

We got this transformer welder that Harbor Freight discontinued about 4 years ago. This had never even been plugged in before. We go ahead and try it out on DC and on AC. This was the last of the transformer welders at HF before they switched over to inverter welders. So like the last of the gunfighters this is the last of the buzz boxes.

[@p71collector]

4:27 I have one of those blue magnetic Harbor Freight mig gun holders, never thought I could use it for a stick welder electrode holder also! Thanks for showing this! A person can learn a lot watching KZbin.......

[@CopperBarnHomestead]

Awesome! Thank you so much for watching and your comment! Have a great day and be safe!

[@johnwoody4905]

good video last time i used my old stick welder was to weld cast iron with nichol rods. yes dc is way better. take care, be safe and well.

[@CopperBarnHomestead]

Thanks for watching and commenting! Have a great day and be safe!

[@gillihansmobilewelding]

No offense, but try not to change your amps a lot if you can help it. That's a knock-off of a Miller Thunderbolt XL and Hobart Stickmate, but they cheap out in the parts for the amp change knob. I took mine back a few months ago. My HF was selling them still a couple years ago when i bought mine. I loved it, but it didn't hold up for me. I have a video on it somewhere on my channel. I used it for a couple jobs before it gave out.

[@CopperBarnHomestead]

Thanks for watching and the comment. Definitely appreciate the advice about the knob also! I am not sure how much I will use this since I also have an inverter stick welder that doesn’t weight 145 lbs… lol I do like this one and what I was told was this had never even been plugged in before so I will definitely baby the controls to hopefully make it last. Appreciate you, have a great day and be safe!

[@gillihansmobilewelding]

@@CopperBarnHomestead Here's a heads up... I found that when I did use it, 90 amps was the magic zone. I used AC and could run AC7018 and 6011 both at 90 amps.

[@CopperBarnHomestead]

@@gillihansmobilewelding awesome!!! Thank you! I’m still trying to learn to weld so that definitely helps! Have a great day!

[@TheTrevor1024]

Need an ac stick to weld ac. Can’t burn a normal 6011 or 7018 on ac

[@CopperBarnHomestead]

That would explain it then! Thanks for watching and your comment! Have a great day and be safe!

[@Millwrightmike]

No offense that welder runs poor it's barely firing that 3-32 7018 just chugs doesn't sound right and the angles were pretty bad for penetration

[@CopperBarnHomestead]

Thanks for watching and your comment. I am a hobbyist welder trying to learn to weld as best that I can tondo repairs and fab on the homestead. Do you think it needs more amps or? Also what angles do you recommend? I appreciate the help as I am always interested in learning from more experienced/knowledgeable welders. I appreciate you and hope you have a great day! Stay safe!