Question about Welders

[cary00silve]

alright, I am on the market for a welder because I'm tired of having to borrow shitty ones. I am leaning towards a stick welder and more specifically Lincoln's AC-225. I have used MIG welders before, but the ones I've used always jam and are a royal pain in the ass. Anyone with welding experience have any thoughts on the subject as to which type of welder and which brand to buy? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[thetastelingers]

talk to someone at Holox 575-9105
they sell welders.
maybe they could help.

[4348rd]

what are you planning on welding the lincoln 225 is a great home welder for steel but ex pipes body parts you would be better with a mig
also my wife bought me a mig from home depot

[93zm6tally]

alright, I am on the market for a welder because I'm tired of having to borrow shitty ones. I am leaning towards a stick welder and more specifically Lincoln's AC-225. I have used MIG welders before, but the ones I've used always jam and are a royal pain in the ass. Anyone with welding experience have any thoughts on the subject as to which type of welder and which brand to buy? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Hopefully SS2Win will chime in. He told me to buy the Miller 175, no jamming smooth as good as it gets. 220V and about 700 for the welder, then you'd need a gas setup and some other items, so I figured about a grand total, providing you have 220 available.

[88leadsled]

Buy it once buy it right, buy a Miller. A properly set up MIG shouldn't have any of those problems you were mentioning. When deciding on what size you want look at the thickest metal you think you might weld, then buy one size bigger. Or just get the most welder you can afford.

[coonbottom]

If you are going to be welding spider gears or large hunks of rusty/dirty metal then get a stick. They are good for deep penetrating but most of the time a MIG will be cleaner and faster welds.

[96s10]

mig is good for sheetmetal, exhaust, and really anything you'd probably need. get a 220v and you can weld up to 1/4" thick steel. for anything thats really dirty or oily or anything like that, a stick will give better penetration, but all in all, its a lot messier. it will burn through sheetmetal rather easily. if you're looking for ultimate usage, i would get a tig. with the tig, you can weld aluminum, steel, stainless and a lot of others more easily. you can weld aluminum with a mig, but you'll need a spool gun and different gas. if you do get a mig, make sure you set it up for ar/coo2. flux core is alright, but its harder to control than the gas. i know ss2win is a good welder so maybe he can give some more insight. i hope this helps. oh, and i reccomend a miller. i've used a lincoln and a miller and i prefer the miller hands down.

[SS2win]

Good advise here but don't knock MIG on heavy stuff. I used to weld 2" plate (backhoe parts) using a 400A mig and it kicked ASS on that. It ran a 1/16 FLUX CORE wire WITH sheilding gas. Damn thing was so hot that I had to wear aluminum foil covered gloves over my regular leathers and I could only weld for 5-10 minutes at a time before I had to shed them. To keep from going blind, I had a number 15 shield (the darkest) and a number 3 in my hood t. Every light in the building dimmed when I hit the trigger too. For the welding field it was kinda like running pro stock. I loved it. The sound of 400A fusing steel was amazing. :lol: The best part was the quality of the weld.

That lincold you looking at is uneffectionately called a buzz box and while it will get the job done for a farmer with a couple tillers to fix each season, it is nowhere near what a serious hobbiest should be looking for. If you're set on stick for affordably then you at least want the AC/DC version so that you have a choice of "real" filler rods. The only way to get professional welds is with DC electrodes. Even then you will be limited to welding heavy guage steel without a special attachment for 1/16 rods.. by the time you get all that you've spent the money for a nice mig.

The real deal (IMNSHO) is a 220V Mig like the Miller 175. While it is a small size welder it packs a full size punch that will make reliable welds on almost anything you can throw at it. It will do aluminum, stainless and mild steel. The only caveat is that you will have to purchase a bottle of shielding gas and refill it occasionally. They go for less than $700 shipped to your door on ebay.

I realize that is a lot more than the $249 buzz box but you can't touch the capabilites or quality for less.

[96s10]

damn, a 400 amp welder? how big was the damn breaker for that thing? i can't imagine the sound of that.

[SS2win]

I dunno but my tig goes up to 310 and it uses all of 100A doing so.

[gbarger]

If your main plan is to use your welder on vehicles then I would suggest not buying a stick welder.

I have an inexpensive 110v mig with gas welder ( campbell Hausfield ) from Lowes and it does a pretty good job. My freind bought the Miller 175 welder, it kicks ass compared to my welder. If you don't think you will ever need to weld anything over 1/4" then the 110v models are ok but if you want a serious welder for a good price then go with the Miller 175.

Like the first thread says call Holox you should be able to get a miller for around $650.

[cary00silve]

I found a miller cricket 70A 115V for $75. It is not setup for gas, but according to miller it can be I just have to purchase a regulator, hoses, and tank. According to miller this thing can weld up to 3/16". Does that sound about right? I shouldn't need to weld anything thicker. Does this sound like a good buy? Is it ok to buy used welders almost 15 years old? Sorry I have so many questions...