Welder Advise

I am thinking about getting a MIG welder. Anyone have advise as to what features I should be looking for in one?

 

What are you planning on using it for primarily? PM me, I'm in Anchorage too.

 

needs to run with gas

 

I'd get a 220 volt for sure.......personal perference.....Hobart 180.....I think the new version is a 187......great customer service........Miller and Hobart are the same thing. basically......Miller owns Hobart

 

pay attention to duty cycle if you want to keep it forever, don't buy any thing 110v.

 

Lincoln, Miller, Hobart, Esab, others...all good. Just get one that will do a little more than you THINK you will do. I have a Lincoln 5000 (175) and it's fine for almost everything. Gas is better than flux.

Dave

 

gas and flux are two different types of welding one neither better than the other, just different. I weld with flux outside, and actually my flux welds look bitchin, but welding with fluxcore can be tough if you are a beginner, and doesn't work to well with sheet metal either. I have a miller 251 it's a little big for home but works great

 

For basic welding you won't need many features on a MIG. Voltage knob and wirefeed (amps are controlled by wirespeed). With 220 volts, you won't really be able to go too big in amps either. In this part of the world, we run 230 volts at home and can run about 250 amp migs with it. I'd check what my circuit breakers are good for as it's no fun if they keep tripping. At 250 amp you're good to weld 1/2 plate but the machine is also small enough that most can be turned down to weld sheet metal nicely. My preference is to weld with gas unless I'm doing heavy work, and you don't do that on cars. One thing to look at is the size wire spool that your machine will take as the little spools tend to be expensive weight wise compared to larger ones. In saying this, if you don't use it much little spools don't sit around forever going rusty. Millars, Lincolns, Hobarts. Used them all and would own any of those brands.

 

175 amp or bigger and a brand name for the repair parts availability,Hobart-Miller-Lincolin etc.
I bought the Hobart 135 because I have a Miller Dialarc 250 ac/dc for heavy work, but now I wished I had bought the bigger mig for a couple hundred more.
Checkout the Hobart 210, looks like a good unit for the dollar.

 

I'd say look for a MIG that has knobs for wire speed and voltage first and foremost, as well as a nice duty cycle. In case anyone didn't know, the duty cycle is how long out of every 10 minutes the MIG can be operated, so something around a 60% or so duty cycle is probably OK. My MIG is 220v, but I often pop the breakers in my garage if I use it too long, but that's probably me being careless. But anything 175v or more is probably fine. Definately make sure the welder can use gas (argon), and also try to use a smaller diameter wire than .035, I use .023. I can't really recommend a brand, I have a Lincoln that hasn't really given me any problems, but I've heard Miller is great.

 

FWIW, I have a Millermatic 135 (a 110V machine). I've never hit the duty cycle on it, and it welds 3/16 stuff real nice. You can tell that 1/4" stuff is working it hard, and you have to turn the wire speed down and travel slower with it to get enough burn... but it works just as well as some older 220V rigs Ive used. It's a nice machine, but I kinda wish I would have spent a bit more and gotten the MM175.

And take heed on what the others are saying about the bigger names... stick with Miller/Hobart/Lincoln.

The Hobarts (even though they are owned by Miller) do have a bit more plastic internally, but should be fine for someone working on their own stuff (not trying to make a living off of it).

One feature that you might consider is that the Millermatics and some Lincolns have it the "infinite voltage control" that lets you adjust your amperage like a rheostat rather than a knob that switched among 4-7 predefined settings. Where this comes in handy is when you're having to deal with thin, pitted sheet metal. Sometimes you run into a situation where you need your voltage to be in-between a couple of the pre-defined points. This is really pretty rare, so ymmv. Just something to consider and see if it's worth the extra cash for you.

And be sure to check out Cyberweld.com for prices on Miller & Hobart. You might be able to get slightly better prices than them, but everyone I know that's used them (including myself) has had very good experiences with them.