I see 2 issues here. 1) Your looking at a used unit that has nonfunctioning parts, or broken parts. What will it cost you to get those things fixed? Those repairs and replacement parts are also part of the purchase price. Replacement welder parts add up pretty quickly. Starting at $400, I have to wonder if you not going to be in the price range of a refurbished 220 machine. 2) With a used machine, you really do not know how it has been taken care of. With a 20% duty cycle, it could easily have been overheated and now may not be capable of delivering that 135 amps. I have an old Lincoln 220 buzz box. 30 years ago while building a race car, I ran out of gas for the tourch and cranked up the welder and used it to cut steel. Since then, the amprage has been all over the board, reguardless where the dial is set. This used machine your looking at may be in less then ideal condition. You are already at the upper limits the welder was designed to function welding a .120 wall tube, provided the machine is still capable of reaching that upper limit. Do yourself a big favor, check at your local welding supply shop and see if they have any used machines or refurbished machines on hand. The supply shop I deal with trades in used units when shops or people buy new units. They go through them and repair anything that is not up to par and sell them at about 1/2 the price of a new similar size machine, often with a warentee. Gene
Ive done alot of welding with flux core wire and it ****s splattery welds dont waste your money on a 110 mig you will be sorry later get a 220 welder i bought a re-furbashe lincoln from local welding supply store for $650 with the new factory warrenty and the higher theduty cycle the better
For my two cents worth, I teach auto mechanics at a prison in Ca. I wanted to buy a mig to go with the Miller TIG/Stick I already had at home so I asked the welding instructor what was a good small MIG. He recommended just the Lincoln unit you are looking at. He has 4 of them and inmate students use them 6.5 hrs. a day 5 days a week. He has had them for several yeara and NEVER a break down, which is a miracle considering that some inmates could break an anvil using a rubber mallet! I bought mine at the SEMA show a few years ago and have found it to be extremely versatile. I often do welding outside my garage and found that flux core wire worked better because of windy conditions ruining my gas envelope when set up as a normal MIG. I have not welded any real thick material, but have done much with 3/16 mild steel and found it to be very much up to the task. Of course, I'm at home and doing any production so I can handle the higher amperage/shorted duty cycle dilema easily.
Hey; I know your question was about the welder. My opinion however concerns the deal. I would not buy the welder from a relative! If it's worth $400 he can sell it were he lives and you won't have to wait for the family reunion. Too easy to create bad feelings and mess up relations.
If you've got a fair bit of experience on both a 110 unit and a 220, then you can state with a fair bit of confidence.... they're not the same animal. I started with a Miller 90 amp 110 V unit 25 years ago, I currently have a Miller 210 amp 220 V unit...... no comparison. In the mid range (or any range), the 220 unit absolutely bites in the same every time. The 100 unit set on high (to accomplish the same thickness) would hesitate, bite, hesitate, bite..... etc. A quality machine does a quality job.
The welder unit itself will do what it is designed to do (Duty cycle, thickness, etc.) The welder person is the one who has to work with the varibles. I ,personally, still like, and just used it to weld in my frenched tie rod mounts in my 32 frame for my rpu,my old 60's Lincoln buzz box.(It's one of the good ones)
I would agree with everyone and go with a 220 unit. But I do understand the funds factor. If you do go with this welder get straight Co2 it gives a hotter weld. Suprised no-one mentioned that? Unlike the 75/25 or 95/5 mix's. Also put a good sized bevel in the tubing and go with er70s-6 wire unless it's chrome moly. If you are not expierenced with welding and don't know what to look for, a 220v machine will not do any good anyways. Just go slow, watch for penatration. But like "Da Tinman" said duty cycle plays a big part and 110v unit's just don't have it.
I have a 110 Hobart Handler 120 that I use on every part of a rod. Shortening 9" Ford rears, motor mount, trans mounts, boxing plates, etc. etc. with no problem. Also have a very old DipStick160 with wire feed, stick mode and a timed spot weld mode, never bring it out anymore unless doing something very thick. Love the versatility of the 110 plug it in anywhere. When using the 110 on something thick I will grind a groove or "V" in the two pieces and it lays a nice looking penetrating weld. JMO
Another vote against the 110 machine. My first machine was a Lincoln 225 back in 71 and that thing did a lot of work for a lot of years including welding up exhaust pipe. How many have tried that with one of those!? Next machine was a MillerMatic 200 in 85 and it too has done a lot of work. I like it a LOT better for exhaust pipe lol. Several years ago a Lincoln 100 came into my life and after 'experimenting' with it for a reasonable amount of time, I sent it out of my life. About 3 years ago I bought a Miller 250 TIG Runner. Yeah, not too cheap but gee, it's nice. The 225 is now gone and the MillerMatic hasn't been fired up since the 250 showed up. The AC/DC of it sure is sweet compared to the 225 plus the TIG isn't too shabby either. Good machines ain't cheap but man, they will last longer than most marriages and will pay you back with dividends! Good tools always pay you back and the more you learn about welding, the more you will appreciate a good machine. Someone mentioned you can't turn up a small machine but you can turn down a big one and that's true. My 250 will go down to 5 amps! Portability? I thought the same thing when I got my 110v machine but I never did that. Dragging even a small machine out and about is a pita imo and the small 100 wasn't all that light. Can you do the job with a small machine. Sure if you know what you are doing and are patience enough to do it right but even then, it can be questionable just because the smaller machines are not as stable as the larger professional machines are and with a large machine, there's usually no question about the integrity of the weld...but I think someone has brought that up too.
I would go here and do some research http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/index.php Also I would have a reputttable certified welder experienced in cage building do the welding. Like others have said ,is your life worth saving a few bucks? I disagree with the people saying a 110 welder is a toy. It is a good machine as long as you use it for what it was intended to do. I do a fair amount of welding with both a 110 and 220. I feel that I'm a pretty good welder, but I'm not certified. I would not weld a cage in anything and feel 100% confident it was safe. If you have never welded before and intend on welding in your own cage ,go get certified. Just my opinions.
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