anyone have or use one? found a good deal on a brand new unit, looking for a new 220 welder. I am not looking for comparisons to other brands etc. I have read all that stuff, but i couldn't find anyone who had used one of these specifically. I know most of you are Miller guys, and I like em too, but also very happy with my old 110 Lincoln mig that I've had for over 10 years....
I have one, and it's really good, I like it alot. Of course there are better ones out there, but my 175 can handle anything in the automotive world. Good machine
i have that exact welder. and it has been great. no problems i can turn it down and do sheetmetal or turn it up and do frame stuff. i say jump on it.
is this the same as the lincoln 180hd? im thinking about picking one of these up. ps. i've never welded in my life.
Yeah, I've got the same one too. It's an awesome machine for the dough. Especially if you can get a deal on it. Simple to operate, works well, built tough... Do it...
I can highly rec the Lincoln 180C..Working in a production fab shop and we have a few for some of the jobs we do (it will burn 1/4 plus in one pass..nothing automotive it wouldn't handle)..It has a 110 style gun...every fabricator in the shop loves it... I haven't used a 175
You can't beat it for the money.I boxed and stepped my frame, installed a 4 link,fabbed crossmembers and mounts with no problems at all.Then turned it down and used .023 wire and did the sheetmetal work.They are great little machines.
180c = lowes 180hd = home depot or so they say, i think i might be picking one up in a box for $425 since everyone is liking it. plus i wont use it much
I was looking at it too, and this thread seals the deal. I've never welded either. Looking forward to learning. Plus, at Home Depot, the "How To Weld" book is right next to the welder. It's like they're reading my mind.
I was really looking at getting one, really really. Wired 220v in while I ran the line for my compressor. Here's a dumb question, can you use that as flux core as well? I just really dont have space to lug a tank around, I had a welding cart but honestly didnt even have the space for that...just put a lower teir on my tool cart for it. Unless I can get a small tank or something? Just want something versatile with both framework and bodywork and isnt the size of a bench seat.
Dont buy welding stuff from home depot go to a factory dealer they stand behind the stuff and have the latest models with latest updates that would be the 180 . Ive been told that they unload the junk there and they have different parts and it is true , my freind had a home depot one and it worked like crap had a smooth drive wheel not nurled and different mig gun then the 180 i got from the dealer . The dealer told me about this and they are a lot different .The 180 is the new model they fixed or worked out all the bugs but a deal is a deal . And i was at home depot and there still selling the 175 not the 180 that tells me somthing lol can you say left over stock
The ones they sell at the chain stores are usually not the same, they don't have the same adjustments. I use the lincoln's every day at work and at home and have not had a problem with them.
The 175 is a GREAT little squirtbox for smalltime shop work. If you can't afford the scratch to go with an Invertec, the 175 is 'good enough' for damn near everything you'll be doing. If the price is right, go for it.
Yes, the welder comes with all you need for the mig setup (except the tank), but you can use it with fluxcore wire also. I think the 175 is now discontinued, Lincoln came out with a new model the 180, totally different looking and does not seem as sturdy. Get the 175 before they are all gone.
Not trying to bust balls here but ive owened both. The 175 if a pos compared to the new 180 they admit the 175 was a pos at the factory they redid the feeder drive and gun for a resone and you can buy updated stuff for the 175 to make it better , The 180 comes with the new stuff and more . The new one is more user freindly , The 175 works good but the 180 is way better runs hotter and longer . Its as good as the high dollar ones ive used at work . You can tell just buy picking it up its weights about 20 pounds more and Any bonehead can use it .flux core is a great way to save money on gas and is really intended for heaver steel makes more splatter , you dont want to weld body panels it makes a mess and is hotter its basicaly wire feed arc welding .
If you want to weld really heavy stuff like 1/4" or 3/8" plate, you can change the liner and tip and roller and use .045" flux core. It makes nice welds with good penetration. It's like stick welding, and you have to chip away the slag afterwards. Flux core sucks for thinner metal though. You can buy a small cylinder of argon/CO2 mix and just plan on changing cylinders fairly often. I have a mid-sized cylinder that weighs about 20 or 30 pounds, and it's strapped to the welding cart, and doesn't take up too much room. For most stuff working on cars, you can use .030" Mig wire for stuff like 1/8" steel, and the .023" wire for sheet metal. You can use the liner that comes with the gun for either .030 or .023 and it just takes a minute to change the tip and change rolls of wire. If you go to a real welding shop, they'll set you up right and stand behind what they sell, and give you some free advice. A welding cart makes a great first project for a beginning welder.
So I got my 180pro (lincoln) offa craigslist. NIB, $400. Wired the garage for 240, plugged it in and laid beads with the fluxcore. Certainly not beautiful beads like I see on some of you guys work, but beads nonetheless. Since I'm already bored with just running beads though, I want to know how you guys think I should progress with this. What should I setup for practice? How can I verify my practice? I'm going to build a cart first (somebody recommended an old bedframe for angle iron) but before I do anything important, I want to be sure what I'm doing is correct. Any advice is welcome.
The body shop I ran we brought lincolns all the time we had a 100 ,(2) 125's 2(135's) and 3 (175's) they all have been beat to hell and back and still work just great . Have a 250 centry at my home shop and a 135 lincoln on top .use the lincoln 90 % of the time . Great welders.
You should go to your local steel yard and look through their piles of small cutoffs. They usually sell them by the pound, which is a whole lot cheaper than by the foot or cutting it off of full length pieces. If you can find scraps of "cold rolled" steel, that stuff will be easy to learn how to weld on. It has a bright smooth finish and has an oily coating on it to keep it from rusting. Don't start off with "hot rolled" steel, because that has a rough crusty gray oxide coating on it. To properly weld "hot rolled" steel, you have to grind that oxide coating away and it takes a while. Cold rolled steel just needs to have the oily coating cleaned off and it's ready to weld. If you're lucky, you might find a pile of short scraps of maybe .100 to .125 cold rolled steel, and then you can try laying beads on them, and then try T-welds, butt welds, outside corner, inside corner, etc. I'd recommend getting a video on Mig welding, because it's a lot easier for a beginner to watch somebody else weld and pick up on the techniques that way. In general, thicker stuff is a little easier to learn on because the weld goes slower, and you can see what's going on more easily. Do some destructive testing of your welds -- hold it in a vice and beat on it with a sledge hammer and try to fold it over at the weld. It should bend on either side of the weld rather than deform the weld. If you have poor penetration, it'll just crack apart at the weld. When you're welding, watch the leading edge of the weld and you should see the metal from both pieces melting into the leading edge of the weld pool. Concentrating on that leading edge of the weld pool and watching how it melts into the metal on both sides helps make sure you're getting good penetration on both pieces. You have to chip the slag off of your welds when you use flux core to see what you welds actually look like. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice about the castoffs, I'll do that first The welder came with a DVD, not too bad, but not too much info either - more about setup/safety, very little welding being done. My son actually took some welding classes in HS, he used the same method you described (BFH) for testing purposes; my welds have held up to that quite well so far. I'm welding on what's left on a '75 pickup truck frame after I cannibalized the front crossmember/disc brakes/etc for my '62 C10. It's a nice test platform as it's real world. Thanks for all the info, back to the garage I go (after the GP swap meet anyway!)
one good tip I got was to pay attention to the sound, there is a distinctive sizzle when you are doing it right, something like an egg frying....
old bed frames weld just fine. they will make an excelent cart or shelving. i wouldnt make structural supports or suspension pieces out of them but they are fine for little projects. the 175 lincoln is a fine machine, not my first choice but if its a good deal then you cant beat it. the biggest difference in these migs is the voltage setting, some use taps some are infinite. some have more taps than others which is very beneficial. some with taps have different ranges than others. i do not see the need for infinite settings it is much easier to eliminate the fudge factor and click it and forget it. i was going to buy the new 180 but got mixed reviews, and found it was made overseas. $vs$ the price wasnt good enought to justify being made overseas. i am a certified welder and ive used many different brands. i have no favorites. they all work.
as an addenda to this post (re: bedframes) Don't use them for anything but practice. Why? Because they're too damn hard. Hard to cut, hard (impossible) to drill, etc. Never again. Just my $.02 anyways.
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