Welder question

[VA MTN MAN]

I am thinking about buying a 115 volt welder for home. I have done a fair amount of welding at my shop before Retiring with a ac dc buzz box 225 Lincoln I think. I dint have a good place to wire and set that welder up here so I am wondering what to buy. I mostly want to weld small projects or repairs from time to time. No heavy thick repairs. Will the small wire feed welders weld up to say 1/4 inch steel. Core wire or gas? any opinions brands type etc would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[ashdump]

For what you are wanting to do, a flux core 110 unit should suffice. I have a 220 MIG at home and a 110 flux core at work. I am maintenance at a school. Most of the jobs at work I do with it, it handles them well (usually broken basketball hoop brackets, playground equipment, etc). It would also handle most of the jobs I would throw at it at home too, but the bigger machine has came in handy on occasion.

 

[tommygun]

i have a hobart handler 140 that operates on 115 current.i use solid wire with a gas bottle. it does a good job on thinner metal and not bad on 1/4" metal.i like to make sure parts are clean and free of rust before welding.i also have an older miller 300 amp stick/tig machine i use on heavier work

 

[VA MTN MAN]

thanks guys

 

[grsthegreat]

I have a little Lincoln Pro 140 (120 volt)that i got from Home depot for about $500 if i remember. It works with AR/CO2 gas and it does a great job up thru 3/16, and a soso Job in the 1/4" range. I was tempted to get the 220 version at the time, but i need to use it around the ranch using 120 volt outlets. the 220 was not convenient.

I have been real pleased with the unit. Does a great job on horse panels, water troughs, Welding broken hold down bolts on winter water troughs, etc.

I have an ac/dc reverse polarity stick welder for the heavier metals.

Some day ill buy a nice 220 volt Hobart mig welder, but even then i wont part with this nice little 110 unit

 

[mrmikey]

I'm going against the general consesus here I'm afraid.
Myself, the only thing I'd use a 110 mig for would be body metal and up to 1/8and on that they do an excellent job. Anything over that you're maxing the machine out with the risk of lack of fusion.
Stick with the brand names, Lincoln, Miller, Esab, Hobart and you'll be ok. Go for .023 hard wire with argon/co2 gas. If you have access to the soda fountain co2 cylinders or co2 fire extinguishers, you can adapt them to a flowmeter, it'll save you having to get a contract for something that you may not use enought to justify the extra $$$.
Straight co2 will give you slightly more spatter and a bit more penetration...Mike

 

[Sockwell]

I have 2 MIG machines. The favorite is a Miller 211. If you think you might have access to 230V in the future, you might consider it, with it having the ability to run on either 115 or 230. Some consider it one of the best values on the market because of price. Mine, with a spool gun, was about $1k.

I also have a Hobart 140. It's also a good machine. I leave it set up with flux cored wire and use it when I want/need to weld outside the shop or near an open door in the summer. All you need is a heavy extension cord and a 20 amp circuit. I use it on anything from 11 gage up to 1/4". You just have to remember to give it time to cool when welding the thicker material. You'll probably want to switch to solid wire for thinner materials.

 

[bobodu]

I wouldn't trust a weld made by one of those things with my worse enemy's life anywhere safety is concerned.

 

[kencunningham]

I wouldn't trust a weld made by one of those things with my worse enemy's life anywhere safety is concerned.

When i first got my 110 mig welder i had never struck a arc before in my life. I read over the manual than came with it and went to town. One of the first things i did was weld two pieces of angle together to test the weld strength, since i really had no idea how it would hold. After about 5 minutes of beating the crap out of it with a sledge hammer i came to the conclusion that the weld wasnt ever gonna come apart. The angle iron was mangled pretty good, but the weld was still solid.

 

[grsthegreat]

I wouldn't trust a weld made by one of those things with my worse enemy's life anywhere safety is concerned.

oh, why not????
do you mean a small mig welder, or any mig welder?

 

[forgeblast]

I have northern tools mig welder, and love it. It came standard with the 10lb spool adapter, and I use it all the time. I have welded up the frame of a farm train for my daughter, rewelded my mower deck and have even made some metal chickens for our flower garden. Cant say enough about how easy it is to use.

 

[bobodu]

I mean a pukey 120 volt MIG. Sure...there are thousands of guys that'll tell me how that can build a battleship with one. God bless them. But I have seen enough bike frames, trailer and AG equipment failures to shy well away from those things. I have one. It gets used on mower decks and body panels. Mostly, it collects dust.

 

[grsthegreat]

I mean a pukey 120 volt MIG. Sure...there are thousands of guys that'll tell me how that can build a battleship with one. God bless them. But I have seen enough bike frames, trailer and AG equipment failures to shy well away from those things. I have one. It gets used on mower decks and body panels. Mostly, it collects dust.

well to each their own, i have a lincoln pro 140 unit, 120 volt mig. It has never produced a weld that has broken. not in over 6 years ive had it. Mind you i limit the thickness to 1/8" plate. Anything over that im a stick man.

 

[nonwelder]

the small mig welders work great as long as the steel you are welding is super clean. I also think that the bare wire with using "gas" instead of flux core works better. seems to get better penetration because of not having to deal with the flux part. hope this helps

 

[JB4310]

I have a 110 Hobart handler and it mostly collects dust too.

I'm not knocking them, but I feel more comfortable with a DC stick, especially since I'm mostly working with 1/4" plus. I've never tried the flux core, maybe I'd use it more if solid wire worked well for lighter tasks.

Here's a pic of mine, got the nice cart which makes it easy to access and move around, but I haven't had it out of this spot in 2-3 years. Got a hole in the muffler of the minivan, was thinking of trying to mig it.

JB

 

[VA MTN MAN]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[BOBBYROGERS]

i have a miller 135 i think the new moble is a miller 140 i have had mine for years now work great never a problem. a freind of mine has the lincoln 140 and loves it to i my self am a blue fan so that would be my choice but i think you get what you pay for i know the hobart 140 is a good one to

 

[IslandTractor]

I have a Miller Passport that can weld on either 110 or 220 so I've tried both. It is an inverter so gets a little more umph out of 110 than many of the basic 110 welders. No doubt it is easier to get penetration in 1/4 inch with the 220 but it is not a night and day difference. I use the 110v mostly for 1/8 and smaller like the rest of you but if I don't have access to 220 I'm pretty confident the 110 will get me acceptable welds in 3/16 and even 1/4 especially with fluxcore. I'd blame me rather than the welder if a weld crapped out.

 

[moored4]

I wouldn't trust a weld made by one of those things with my worse enemy's life anywhere safety is concerned.

I don't think it's so much the machine as it is the welder!

 

[forgeblast]

What you want to do is figure out what your going to use it for and buy what you can afford and use. For me it made no sense to go up for a 220v machine when the 110 is what i can use and use often enough to justify the expense.
When i ran all the info/specs/reviews and compared hobart, miller, harbor f, and northern tool, the northern tool one came out ahead in price, shipping was free, and included accessories.
Get what you need, I know a lot of very good welders and they have the heavier duty equipment, I got what I needed.