Can anyone suggest a good high quality wire fed welder? Maybe a mig welder? I want to get one for recreational purposes only. About two years ago I used an 80 amp (I think) from Harbor Freight. I liked it, especially the price. I think he paid a little over $100.00. But I don’t mind spending closer $250.00 for a new one.

 

I would say go with a little Lincoln or a Firepower. I have a 180amp Miller but Im not that happy with it.

 

I have a Hobart 175 and am more than pleased with it. I think they are made by Miller but every Miller machine I have ever had has never given me any problems. I also have a Miller Bobcat with the Kohler engine, its not a 200A Lincoln but it does the jobs I need it for.

 

I use the 220v Miller Deltaweld 452's at work. The newer ones seem to have a few little problems feeding the wire but they aren't bad or very common. The older ones seem to be flawless. Both are good welders but they are way out of the average persons cost range. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a smaller miller for home. My second choice would be a lincoln.

 

Ive been really happy with my Lincoln 125 Mig. Ive had for about 10 years now and always does a pretty good job for me. Ive never got an argon tank for it so it splatters pretty good with the flux core wire, but once you get good with it, the splatter gets pretty minimal. Im finally thinking of getting argon though since I need to do some sheet metal work soon and I want it clean. Great little welder though for a few hundred bucks and is pretty small and compact. If I had a little more to spend I would go for a 220 Mig, but my AC 220 stick has done anything Ive ever need there also. I dont use it all that often, but its always there when I need it to be. Just got done welding some spring pads on an a couple axles last week actually and turned out real nice.

Good luck in your search.

Oh, my mig I got at TSC.

 

Almost bought a Lincoln Powermig 215. I think that's a little overkill. I'm getting the Lincoln 175. That's all I really need. It costs more than $250 though.

 

Thanks for the advice. Again, I will only use it as a hobby. I like the idea of less expensive units. But I want something good as well. I'll do some research on those brands and see who has the best price out here.

 

All good welders above. I would pick either the lincoln, miller. As far as size goes, personally I always go a bit bigger than what I think I'll ever need. Just in case of some crazy project I know I won't say, "darn! Should have bought the bigger one".

 

I'm going to vote for the miller.
Depending on what you currently have, you might buy a power supply for now. then get the mig setup later, and a plasma setup or a tig setup when you get more advanced.

 

Just FYI it is not the machine or the flux core that is makeing the splatter. Argon will not change the splatter either. Argon is more for the non ferrous metals. If you want the splatter to go away turn down the voltage ie. speed up the wire or go to a lower range.

 

solid wire with a 95/5 Ar/CO2 will cut the splatter down on clean materials.
If you turn the voltage down, you loose penetration.
From my understanding, flux core is almost like stick welding, except with continuous feed

 

Lincoln, Hobart, and Miller are good welders. By the way, to find how thick a welder can weld in a single pass, divide the metal thickness level to determine how many amps will be required. I.E. 1/4 metal requires 250 amps, 1/2 metal requires 500 amps for a Single pass.

 

Stock03,

I just re-re-re-did my exhaust again, and rented a wire-feed welder from the local Home Depot. Portable and ran on 120V. They also sell that same unit for between $250 - $350. That was a very nice welder. Maybe you should rent one to test it out. Just a suggestion.

 

If you want the best small 220v welder out there now, try looking at the Hobart 187. They greatly improved the choke design. It will weld like a much bigger machine. FWIW, they are on sale at most TSC's right now..$659.94. Lincoln's new 180 is getting so-so reviews. They are getting better reviews with their new 140, 120v machine. I weld for a living and even though it is geared to hobby types, I would go with the Hobart...they really did a good job on the new guts.

C-5, 95/5co2 is fine for a large machine. It will be hard on the smaller ones. Short circuit voltage on a smaller machine needs at least a 18% argon content with the balance of Co2. The small ones don't have enough guts to run C-5. C-25, 75/25 would be the best all around Ar/Co2 mix for small machines.

 

Thanks for the info, Im not much of any expert on welding. Ill try that the next time Ive got something to do. I dont hardly ever weld much so I dont get to mess with changingsetting that often. I just dial close enough to do what I need to do. Ive just been told by a few people from time to time it was probably the flux core stuff, granted Im not sure if they really knew either. Thanks for the advice though. Usually I get a pretty clean bead with hardly any splater, and usually its more me and not the welder!!

Thanks again.