Ultimate guide to buying the best washer dryers - FLUX MAGAZINE

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You’ve set your sights on purchasing the best washer dryer for at least one of these three reasons; your lack of space means you need to combine two functions into one machine. And/or you want to cut out the middle man of transporting your washing from one device to the next to allow a seamless cycle to commence without your constant intervention.

Or it might be because you’re attempting to save some money and so opposed to buying (and perhaps needing to repair) a separate washer and dryer, you will only need to pay for one combo machine. Now you’re wondering how to rummage your way through the stacks of washer dryers to find your domestic companion.

Choosing a washer dryer, as with choosing cover for your appliance, can be an issue for those who are not up to speed with what to look for and why. Finding the best multi-functional device for your household needs is dependant on a few factors. Be it the size, the speed of the drum, the perceived lifespan of the item, the warranty, the cost, and for some, even the colour holds significance. Naturally, however, some of these factors are more important than others in our quest for the best appliance. By using this guide, you can get to grips with two of these aspects to enable you to funnel down your search. The points to consider are the size and volume of the washer dryers on the market and also whether the appliance has a warranty. If you want more extensive cover for your appliances you can of course go to a provider to ensure you have the best cover.

Looking for a company that operates locally to provide cover for items in your home could be the best route to take. This is because they’ll have contacts with contractors in your area who they’ll be able to call out for you to have them diagnose issues that may require repairing or replacing. Those in Missouri, for example, may want to consider getting warranty with a company like First American that has over three decades of experience providing cover to homeowners in the state. Likewise, if you live in another state, you’ll want to look for a similarly prestigious company there.

Size And Clearance

Well firstly with your washer dryer you’re essentially saving space being taken up by a separate washing machine and tumble dryer, but this doesn’t mean you needn’t be cautious about where and if a washer dryer will still fit in your home. If it’s in a tall snug cupboard on a shelf you will want to check whether the washer dryer you are looking at is okay for stacking – you can usually find this in the specification of the appliance. The typical range of dimensions available for a washer dryer are as follows:

• Height: 81cm to 86cm
• Width: 58cm to 62cm
• Depth: 45cm to 51cm

Measure the space you have allocated in your home for your new washer dryer to gauge whether there is room to slide the appliance in and out without too much fuss. It’s best to allow at least an inch around the sides, and at the top of all washer/dryers, one of the reasons being it will prevent the annoyance of vibrating sounds while your appliance is washing or tumble drying. The other reason being it will allow room for the air vents to breathe and the water vapor to disperse. For professional dryer vent cleaning services and maintenance tips to ensure optimal performance, check here at www.dryerventcleaningsandiego.com.

For more information, please visit Flux Drying Machine.

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One more point to think about when considering the size of the washer dryer is the typical size of your wash loads. For instance, compact washer dryers are likely to hold fewer kilograms of washing in comparison to a more significant appliance. This is a crucial part to consider as overloading a machine with a small weight capacity shall only lead to poorly washed clothes, and the dryer function incapable of drying your garments within a reasonable time.

Warranty And Insurance

Another essential part of the shopping process for a washer dryer is to query the manufacturers or shops warranty. You can do this by asking the following;

• When and how is the warranty activated?
• What does it cover?
• How long is the warranty for?
• How to keep the washer dryer in good condition to avoid the warranty being withdrawn?

Whether brand new or refurbished, when buying a washer dryer from a legitimate company, a warranty is usually a given to cover repairs and sometimes even replacement of the entire appliance if it’s faulty. Once you’ve established the ins and outs of the manufacturer’s warranty, you can then gauge when you need to purchase insurance in the form of an extended warranty to cover your washer dryer following the initial warranty expiry date. You can buy an extended warranty for a reasonable amount to include things such as quick call outs, repairs, and also replacement. It’s important to note that manufacturers warranties and extended warranties are not restricted to brand new appliances, you may wish to seek cover with a second-hand washer dryer also.

With a clear idea of what size appliance will fit into your home and whether or not it has the capacity to hold your average wash load with ease, you can eliminate a variety of washer dryers that don’t meet your needs. Secondly, a warranty is imperative when purchasing an appliance, because with the risk of a mechanical fault occurring, hiring a technician can be costly. By checking the manufacturer’s warranty or applying for appliance insurance from another provider, you can take care of the future of your washer dryer without the fear of forking out for repairs down the line.

For more MIG and TIG wiresinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

Hi all,

I have some minor welding needing doing on my project car and am getting into minibike projects. I'm getting fed up with relying on friends to do some welding for reasons of logistics, but also the fact they don;t always do things the way I'd like.
With that in mind, I've decided to take the plunge and learn to weld myself with a basic flux core welder (MIG) as they can run 110v and don't need a separate gas bottle. I'm going to practice considerably on scrap metal before I work on my car but would appreciate some advice on here on 2 I am looking at.

Harbor Freight Easy-Flux 125 Amp
https://www.harborfreight.com/easy-flux-125-amp-welder-.html

ARCCaptain 130A Flux core
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1TGB5NW/?tag=atomicindus08-20


I have looked at individual reviews for both, that seem mainly positive.

I found 1 comparison review on youtube and the guy basically couldn't pick one between the 2.

HF Pros:
Cheaper than the ARC Captain (when on sale voucher)
Has a cold feed button so you can feed the wire without holding the trigger
More compact than the ARC Captain
Has settings guide on inside of lid

HF Cons
125 amp (vs 130 amp for ARC captain)
Price does not include flux wire

ARCCaptain pros:
Removeable earth wires
Can run stick and TIG welds (but I'm not this would need additional gas?
Comes with flux wire (but according to reviews it may not be the best wire)
Has more adjustability

ARCCaptain Cons
No settings guide on inside of lid
3 in 1 may mean it doesn't do any one type (eg mig) as good.
Buying online, so can;t see it in person/returns are a pain.

I don't want to spend more than $200 when starting, and I do not have space for gas bottles nor access to 220V. So if anyone here has had either, which would you recommend? Welshie,

First off, a flux core welder is NOT a MIG welder.

MIG (technically GMAW for Gas-shielded Metal Arc Welding) uses a solid wire electrode and a cylinder of shielding gas to shield and protect the arc and the molten metal from the air until the metal solidifies.

Flux core welding (technically FCAW for Flux Core Arc Welding) uses a tubular wire electrode that is filled with flux powder. Pretty much like a stick electrode (which is technically SMAW for Shielded Metal Arc Welding) turned inside out. FCAW can be self shielded (FCAW-S where the flux provides the shielding of the molten weld metal) or it can also use a shielding gas (FCAW-G where the shielding gas also provides shielding as well as the flux providing some shielding and/or some arc and/or weld puddle effects).

There is a variant of GMAW call MCAW (Metal Cored Arc Welding) that uses shielding gas but where the wire electrode is a tubular wire filled with (no surprise) a metal powder blend.

Small home-use machines will usually be of the GMAW or FCAW-S types. Bigger 'industrial' type machines are typically needed to run MCAW or FCAW-G wires.

Enough quick background, on to your specific questions (both asked and not specifically asked) ...

IMNSHO, skip getting an FCAW-only machine.

FCAW is certainly a 'good' welding process for some applications. But because of some arc physics, FCAW runs 'hotter' compared to similarly sized solid wire GMAW. Which is not so good for welding on thin sheet metal (like on a car). It is also a little bit of a dirtier welding process than GMAW, with typically more weld spatter and slag residue to clean up after welding before you can paint or otherwise finish the pieces.

GMAW with C25 shielding gas (a gas blend of 25% CO2 and 75 % argon, one of if not THE typical short-circuit transfer mode GMAW shielding gas mixes) and solid wire is the typical go-to for GMAW aka 'MIG' on thin steel sheet metal.

If you buy at least a semi decent MIG welder, those will usually let you weld using GMAW (solid wire electrode with shielding gas) or FCAW-S (fluxcore wire electrode with no shielding gas) just by switching the wire electrode you use and then also switching the (+) and (-) wiring to the wire electrode (on the 'gun' or torch) and the 'ground' clamp.

You can get small machines that can do GMAW and FCAW while running on 120V power. Like the mentioned 140-class machines. Lincoln, Miller, Hobart, ESAB are the four big brand names, there are other brands that are good/decent as well. And there are also not-so-good brands and machines.

There are also machines that can run on either 120V or 240V input power. If you got one of those type machines, you could run it on your existing 120V outlet and when (notice I said "when" and not 'if') you outgrow the power output limitations from using 120V power, you can then figure out a way (have a 240V outlet put in the garage, run a 240V extension cord from an electric dryer outlet to connect to the welder, etc) to run the machine on 240V input power for more available output power.

Your budget of $200 is pretty limiting.

You still NEED the wire electrode (btw, FCAW wire spools are MUCH more expensive than solid wire electrode spools, just talking the common mild steel electrode variants like Lincoln NR211-MP FCAW wire and Lincoln L-56 GMAW solid wire), and welding gloves, and a welding helmet.

Even the HF web page for the FCAW machine 'suggests' getting a spool of wire, a welding helmet, and some gloves. Which comes out at ~$400, all right from HF.

You will want some angle grinder(s) with wire wheels and flap disks and grinding wheels and maybe some cut-off disks, instead of cutting things with a hack saw and trying to clean them up with a hand powered wire brush. Even a low-end HF angle grinder beats trying to clean up metal or welds by hand (10k+ rpm versus hand power ). A welding jacket to protect yourself. Some sort of surface to weld on instead of crouching on the ground all the time (BTDT) is very nice to have (HF portable welding table is actually pretty good as a light weight light-duty welding table, on sale it's usually less than $100).

I would not buy either of your mentioned FCAW-only machines. Mostly because they are FCAW-only.

Get a used or new Lincoln 140 or similar. Then you have the choice of GMAW (solid wire and shielding gas) or FCAW (flux core wire and no shielding gas). And you will not be fighting the machine limitations and/or quirks as much as you are trying to learn and weld.

Even the HF Titanium MIG 140 would be better than the FCAW-only machine(s). Try to get it 'on sale' or with a coupon and the price should come down near $400, give or take. Check https://www.hfqpdb.com/ in case you didn't know about that site, it lists all current/recent/recently-expired HF coupons. Or do the HF promo 'club' or card and get 10-20% off that way.

MIG 140 Professional Welder with 120V Input

Amazing deals on this Mig 140 Professional Welder at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

Welshie,

First off, a flux core welder is NOT a MIG welder.

Thank you for replying. Apologies, I was being generic, from my rookie standpoint:

MIG = Using a gun only
TIG = Using a gun and having a separate welding rod
Stick = Using a welding rod only.

A generalisation but that is what I meant.

MIG (technically GMAW for Gas-shielded Metal Arc Welding) uses a solid wire electrode and a cylinder of shielding gas to shield and protect the arc and the molten metal from the air until the metal solidifies.

Flux core welding (technically FCAW for Flux Core Arc Welding) uses a tubular wire electrode that is filled with flux powder. Pretty much like a stick electrode (which is technically SMAW for Shielded Metal Arc Welding) turned inside out. FCAW can be self shielded (FCAW-S where the flux provides the shielding of the molten weld metal) or it can also use a shielding gas (FCAW-G where the shielding gas also provides shielding as well as the flux providing some shielding and/or some arc and/or weld puddle effects).

There is a variant of GMAW call MCAW (Metal Cored Arc Welding) that uses shielding gas but where the wire electrode is a tubular wire filled with (no surprise) a metal powder blend.

Small home-use machines will usually be of the GMAW or FCAW-S types. Bigger 'industrial' type machines are typically needed to run MCAW or FCAW-G wires.

Enough quick background, on to your specific questions (both asked and not specifically asked) ...

Thank you, appreciate the info.

IMNSHO, skip getting an FCAW-only machine.

FCAW is certainly a 'good' welding process for some applications. But because of some arc physics, FCAW runs 'hotter' compared to similarly sized solid wire GMAW. Which is not so good for welding on thin sheet metal (like on a car). It is also a little bit of a dirtier welding process than GMAW, with typically more weld spatter and slag residue to clean up after welding before you can paint or otherwise finish the pieces.

GMAW with C25 shielding gas (a gas blend of 25% CO2 and 75 % argon, one of if not THE typical short-circuit transfer mode GMAW shielding gas mixes) and solid wire is the typical go-to for GMAW aka 'MIG' on thin steel sheet metal.

If you buy at least a semi decent MIG welder, those will usually let you weld using GMAW (solid wire electrode with shielding gas) or FCAW-S (fluxcore wire electrode with no shielding gas) just by switching the wire electrode you use and then also switching the (+) and (-) wiring to the wire electrode (on the 'gun' or torch) and the 'ground' clamp.

You can get small machines that can do GMAW and FCAW while running on 120V power. Like the mentioned 140-class machines. Lincoln, Miller, Hobart, ESAB are the four big brand names, there are other brands that are good/decent as well. And there are also not-so-good brands and machines.

There are also machines that can run on either 120V or 240V input power. If you got one of those type machines, you could run it on your existing 120V outlet and when (notice I said "when" and not 'if') you outgrow the power output limitations from using 120V power, you can then figure out a way (have a 240V outlet put in the garage, run a 240V extension cord from an electric dryer outlet to connect to the welder, etc) to run the machine on 240V input power for more available output power.

Your budget of $200 is pretty limiting.

You still NEED the wire electrode (btw, FCAW wire spools are MUCH more expensive than solid wire electrode spools, just talking the common mild steel electrode variants like Lincoln NR211-MP FCAW wire and Lincoln L-56 GMAW solid wire), and welding gloves, and a welding helmet.

Even the HF web page for the FCAW machine 'suggests' getting a spool of wire, a welding helmet, and some gloves. Which comes out at ~$400, all right from HF.

Thank you. If I wasn't clear, my budget was for the welder alone. I'm well aware that there are additional costs. The issue there is, yes, you are looking at $400 when you get everything but then you have the same addons, plus more for a MIG welder. If I buy the Titanium 140 for $450, another $150 for gloves, decent mask, wire. The $200-$300 for a C25 bottle. I'm close to $ and I cannot justify that on a welder I'm going to use a couple of times a year. At that cost, I will put up with the inconvenience of asking my friends to help.

I get what you are saying, but it's like when I was looking at buying a Mustang. People said if you get the Bullitt, you might as well stretch and get the Mach 1. If you get the Mach 1 you might as well stretch and get the GT350, if you stretch and get the GT350, you might as well get a Porsche Cayman. If you stretch and get the Cayman, you might as well buy a GT500...lol.

You will want some angle grinder(s) with wire wheels and flap disks and grinding wheels and maybe some cut-off disks, instead of cutting things with a hack saw and trying to clean them up with a hand powered wire brush. Even a low-end HF angle grinder beats trying to clean up metal or welds by hand (10k+ rpm versus hand power ). A welding jacket to protect yourself. Some sort of surface to weld on instead of crouching on the ground all the time (BTDT) is very nice to have (HF portable welding table is actually pretty good as a light weight light-duty welding table, on sale it's usually less than $100).

I already have a grinder and discs etc, so NP there.

With paint brushes/pens? Not even remotely similar.

When he's got the actual welder, the focus should first be on dialing in settings and being able to "read" the weld (too hot, too cold, too fast, too slow, not enough gas, good penetration, bad penetration, etc.), keeping consistent stand off distance, proper angle, and movement speed, practicing different joint types, and orientations. THEN maybe start thinking about fancy patterns.

Thank you.