Mexstan

I am going to soon need an electric welder and need some input from you experienced welders. Did a search thru some of the older posts on welding, but none of them answer my question.
I need a good, but fairly cheap welder for general purpose welding on steel. If it will work on non ferrous materials that will be a plus but not essential. Some welding will be on very thin sheet metal and some could even be on angle iron or the smaller I-beams. I am guessing that I would seldom weld on anything thicker than 3/8". The majority of the welding will be on stuff 1/32 - 3/16" thick. Not all welding will be down as some will be overhead or even vertical.
It is prefered that it be a 115 volt machine but will consider a 220 volt. Dual voltage is the best for me.
Simplicity and transportabilty is critical. Presume that eliminates any shielded arc machines. So how about a flux cored wire feed welder? Or is it best to just stick with a stick welder?
What brands? Model? Type? AC, DC, AC/DC? What sort of prices can I expect to pay?
Which rods or wire should I buy? Thickness?
I am heading up to San Antonio, Tx soon and may want to bring one back with me. Any suggestions as to where to buy in SA?
Thanks.

HOHN

I'm in a similar situation. I want a wire-feed/MIG that runs of 110V and will let me weld up to 3/16"

The best welder I've found (on paper, at least) in that class is the Lincoln SP135 Plus.

Check it out at www.lincolnelectric.com

Looks that the .pdf of the Lincoln compared to the Millermatic 135. The lincoln's beads look a lot better.

jmo

John Faughn

You might want to think about it like our trucks , keep wanting more power, once you start welding you'll want more, if possible get a large [ 400amp] box that will run any add on [ ac dc rev, polarity ] if you do that then you can always add wire welder , tig , ect. if you think that what you first stated , you can stick to then go with the lincoln or miller ,

greasemonki

Miller, in my experience is the way to go. Hobart is basically all Miller internals now from what I have heard and seen. I have had no problems with repairs and customer service with Miller as for lincoln...well they sell that stuff in Home Depot. If you have little experience welding, MIG welders are by far some of the easiest welders to use. While stick welding is much better for dirtier metals, and deeper welds, it is a pain (to say the least) on things like sheet metal. Argon Tanks can be purchased or rented fairly cheaply and with the regulators set properly can last quite a while (depending on the size, obviously). At the shop we have some Mega tanks, and only need to fill them 3 times a year. We use the small ones ( a little bigger than those oversized soda bottles) for our portable welders and they last for quite a bit of use too. IMO, if you want dependable, clean welds, for light duty welding with relatively clean metal; go with a MIG. Much less spatter than the sticks too.

chaikwa

Lincoln is a good machine. I prefer the Miller however because it allegedly has less electronics, and in MY mind, (feeble as it may be!), that means less potential problems.

From what you describe you want to do with it, I think the Millermatic 135 would suit you well. http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...llermatic_135/ It runs on 115 volts and is fairly transportable. You'd do well with .030 or .035 flux cored, self shielded wire, thus eliminating a shielding gas. If you're going to run the flux cored wire, be aware that you'll need 'serrated' feed rolls, not the smooth ones that come with it. The 135 also comes with a gas valve however, so you can add a regulator and argon bottle if you find the need later.

Also, you CAN do aluminum with it, but I've found from past experience that you really need a spool gun for aluminum, as trying to push aluminum wire thru 10 or 15 feet of the gun cable/lead will just cause it to frequently snarl up.

I have an older 135 that has served me well. Just be aware that it only has a 20% duty cylce, so if you're welding at the maximum output for an extended period of time, the machime will shut down frequently to let itself cool for about 10 minutes. I have welded up to 1/2" steel with multiple passes, with successful results. It does very well on thinner, gauge material as well.

This machine will probably run you around $500, +/-. There are certainly cheaper machines out there, and I've had a few of them. All the cheaper ones seem to always have feed issues, and I spent more time trying to detangle the mess of wire at the feed rolls than I did welding.

They say this machine draws 20 amps at full output... don't believe it! Mine will routinely pop a 20 amp breaker when I'm running it hard! A 25 amp breaker survives just fine tho.

Miller also has pretty decent customer service and I think that's a 'plus'. They also have a couple pretty decent discussion boards, (like this one, just not as good! ) This one, http://www.millermotorsports.com/mbo...isplay.php?f=3, is run by their motorsports guy, 'Andy', and he frequently answers questions about machines and has resolved issues between customers and Miller on several occasions. This one, http://www.millerwelds.com/education...isplay.php?f=2, is also run by Miller, but is more of a discussion board for everyones projects.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions... I'll give you an answer even if it's wrong! There are quite a few other guys on here that can give you a LOT of useful info as well.

chaikwa.

Geico266

Satn, these "new" 110 volt machines are something else. Check out a welding shop and try them. You don't really need gas. I have a Lincoln Welder and I have used it to weld aluminum also. Get it with the regulator built in so you are ready to go if you need it.

herb

I have three welders in my buggy shop. i replaced two Lincolns with Millers , never have replaced a Miller yet and ours are used pretty much all day 5 days a week.
Lincoln had the best "stick" welder i think but would steer clear of their wire welders

GSP

I like the Miller migs. They seem to run smoother than the lincoln.

I wouldnt wast my money on one of those 100 amp small migs. Just not enough to weld thicker metal

HOHN

The only reason I recommended the Lincoln is that I've noticed that there is a HUGE difference in quality and performance between a unit like the SP135+ I recommended, and the average home center model like a mig-pack 100.

The 135+ is ~$600, compared to ~$350 for the cheapo home center models. IMO, you will NOT find a good 110V unit at a Lowe's or HD or what have you. The higher price is justified once you see where they cut corners.

jmo

jon96ctd

you guys talk about lincolns like the ford guys talk about dodges.
we have a Lincoln 175 TIG and a Lincoln 255 MIG and they're both GREAT machines and the welding shop we bought them from sells both Lincoln and Miller. The lincolns are a little lower priced and they had us try comparable units at their shop and told us the pros and cons of both and they recommended the Lincolns. We've used both brands working in other people's shops and the lincolns are smoother and easier to use. One of the guys that works for us owns a miller MIG that's only a few years old, since we got our Lincoln he doesn't use his Miller anymore.

sounds like you need a MIG for sure. I'd recommend you go to a couple welding shops and tell them what you need and ask them to demo a few.

you don't have to go gas but like already said, get a welder with a regulator so you have the ability in the future. as for aluminum, definitely get a spool gun if you're going to MIG it. our square wave TIG is AWESOME for aluminum so we don't have a spool gun for the MIG.

Pop-Pop

I recently bought a Hobart 140 MIG which is a 120V, 20 amp machine. I needed it in a place that did not have 220V. I have a 220V Lincoln stick machine but it will not weld stuff 1/8" or thinner. I'm happy with the H140 but I don't get the penetration that the stick machine gets. I can make a prettier weld with the MIG but I'll use the 220V stick machine for critical welds where life & limb is an issue. A bigger MIG machine would probably do the work of both of these but I didn't want to spend the $$.

DF5152

I am a regular on the miller board and have several machines both miller and Lincoln I'll start by telling you what i tell everyone else first decide how much you want to spend then get your welder. that being said on the smaller mig machine I like the lincoln units bigger machine are a toss up depending on the specific unit. If input voltage is a real issue you may be stuck with a small mig machine nothing wrong with them but require more prep work to achieve the same results. A good inexpensive machine will be a lincoln ac/dc stick machine. it runs about 400 dollars US but runs on 220. DC welds on steel will give you the best overall penetration and appearance assuming you can weld. AC mode can be use if your welding close to a magnetic field. 6010 and 6011 are good general purpose wires were deep penetration and the material is dirty (for Stick) then jump to a 7018 rod after the root pass. 7018 rod requires immediate use after the container is opened or to be store in a warm very dry placethe flux is very suseptable to moisture. My small mig is a Lincoln sp175 its the smallest of the 220 mig machines made by lincoln and works very well in both flux cored mode and mig mode. a 70s6 wire is and excellent choice for this machine. It will weld up about a 1/4" in a single pass if you know what you are doing any more than that the material should be beveled. the small Miller machines I have not use but from what i understand they take a little more getting used to and to learn to fine tune due to a wire tracking speed they have that changes with voltage settings. hope this helps

kerryneb

Stick welders penetrate better and work better for thick materials. MIG welders work better on thin material but you can make multiple passes w/o chipping. For a stick welder, DC is best. For a mig welder, flux core wire will cost a fortune, and spits and spatters. Gas for a mig... CO2/argon mix works well, CO2 alone spatters more, but works ok, a spool gun and straight argon gas is better for aluminum welding.

Rockyhud

I bought a Lincoln PowerMig 200 about 2 years ago, primarily to do some body sheetmetal repairs on our CJ-7 and can't say enough good about it. The shop I bought from also sells Miller and recommended the Lincoln. I started using it to weld in several 16-gauge metal panels to replace the rusted areas around the back half of the body. This welder did a great job on this thin stuff. I used .025 wire and was able to control the bead and heat very nicely. It didn't require any re-adjusting after the initial tension settings for the drive wheels either. As with any welder the best results will greatly depend on how clean the area to be welded is with regard to impurities.

While inspecting the underside I found a small crack in the bottom side of the frame near the front left spring hanger that I fixed with this welder. I just used the recommended settings from the chart on the machine's side panel (metal was a little over 1/8" thick), cleaned and prepped the area by using a cut-off wheel on my angle grinder to cut into the cracked area and clean out impurities and ran the bead. I was amazed at the smoothness of the bead. I'm using 75/25 gas mix with good results.

I'm not a professional welder - far from it - but this thing really works great for me. It can weld sheetmetal, like above, and has lots of capacity and capability to weld really thick steel too, up to 1/2" single pass as I recall. That's good for me as I have several large, heavy gauge metal projects planned for the Jeep and maybe for my CTD too. This model uses what Lincoln refers to as "Diamond Technology" (has something to do with a new transformer they developed) that's supposedly why their welders produce such nice smooth beads and good penetration, even for novices like me. The only downside would have to be that it runs on 230 volt AC (basically house 220v), which doesn't lend itself to being highly portable like a welder that runs on 120 volt power.

If you're going to do any aluminum welding a ran across a fairly new product that I've read several reviews about that enables your MIG welder to use your standard gun and hose with aluminum wire w/o the usual problem of the soft wire bird-nesting or the need to buy an expensive spool gun. I don't have one yet but it's on my "to buy" list. It's on a web site called Wire Propellant Systems. The address is http://www.wirepropellant.com/products.html. The system is now lower priced than when it originally came on the market, selling now for $95 and is available for many different brands of welding machines. I have nothing to do with this company, just thought I'd pass on some interesting product info for anyone who might be interested in something like this.

Well that's my 2 cents worth.

Steve

Mexstan

Thanks to all of you for the answers so far. Still not sure what to do, but will decide once I get back into the states. You do want me to go up there and drop some coin don't you?