Low Cost MIG Welder

[finn]

Bumping this thread because I was looking at used Millers and a high-mileage 212 Millermatic is posted on FBM for $2450.
They might depreciate, but I don't see anything like 50% loss of value any time soon.
Especially if it's like-for-like. As long as it's apples/apples (inverter for example) it seems like a Miller or lincoln doesn't lose a ton of value just for being well-used.
That's true for many industrial products designed for essentially infinite life when those products have abundant spare parts and such, and when the main wear items are consumables.

Don’t bet on the parts availability long term. Miller posted on their Facebook site that they are discontinuing the Millermatic 200. Parts will be available for seven years after production ceases.

Also, a cottage industry has developed that provides rebuilding services for common failures on older, out of warranty
, Miller motherboards. People dislike paying $1300 for Oem Miller boards if they’re even available.

 

[JRC3]

But a $100 tombstone could stick that...you overpaid in that department by $250

I literally have one in the back of my truck now that I got for $2 because he wanted it out of his garage. Picked another one up two months ago for free, average of a dollhair each.

Show your yeswelder miggin 1/2" plate

So are you just an argumentative nozzle or do you truly not have a clue? Whatever happens in your little part of the world doesn't apply to everywhere else and to other's situations and needs.

 

[jonesg]

But a $100 tombstone could stick that...you overpaid in that department by $250

I literally have one in the back of my truck now that I got for $2 because he wanted it out of his garage. Picked another one up two months ago for free, average of a dollhair each.

Show your yeswelder miggin 1/2" plate

the subject is ''low cost mig welder".
thank you.

 

[jonesg]

People dislike paying $1300 for Oem Miller boards if they’re even available.

thats why I shied away from professional quality machines, if they need parts it can total the machine.
I have money to burn, but prefer not burning it.

 

[Jswain]

So are you just an argumentative nozzle or do you truly not have a clue? Whatever happens in your little part of the world doesn't apply to everywhere else and to other's situations and needs.

Same to you. Do you think there are more yeswelders then red & blue in the average home garage? Maybe YOU are the one in the little part of the world!? Gasp

And the plot thickens...

 

[finn]

Same to you. Do you think there are more yeswelders then red & blue in the average home garage? Maybe YOU are the one in the little part of the world!? Gasp

And the plot thickens...

There’s a reason people give away those old Tombstone welders. Someone looking for a modern mig welder has no use for a stick welder.

They might be ok for someone still farming with a two cylinder Johnny popper, though.

On second thought that’s not even a good use, since a lightweight mig can run on a 110 v portable generator and weighs maybe forty pounds or less.

 

[JRC3]

W

Same to you. Do you think there are more yeswelders then red & blue in the average home garage? Maybe YOU are the one in the little part of the world!? Gasp

And the plot thickens...

No the plot doesn't thicken, the thread is specifically about low cost mig welders, read the title. It's like someone coming to your potential thread about "low cost mowers" (to mow 1/6 acre) and spew off constantly about buying a Skag or Hustler or Wright.

 

[Jswain]

I wasn't the one who brought up stick welding.

I picked this up last weekend for $300 Canuckadian. Just because the title is low cost, doesn't mean it has to be an off brand...

(Back to my "little" part of the world with the rest of the Lincoln & miller users)

 

[WWheeler]

the subject is ''low cost mig welder".
thank you.

Yeah and the OP hasn't replied since April 18 and never did say what if any welder he settled on, and I don't blame him after almost no one gave any sort of answers that met his stated situation.

I've got a Hobart Handler MVP that stays in the garage out front, and I like it for anyone with ~$1100-$1300 they want to spend on a welder (damn inflationI think I got mine for $700-ish 4-5 years ago) it's a good choice imho, but I wouldn't have suggested it to the OP of this thread.

I also bought a Harbor Freight EasyFlux 125 about a year and a half ago now, when it was on sale then for $125, just to have a welder that I can use in my back garage that only has 15A 110V and it's been great. It looks like a toy and it feels like a toy but it can lay down a weld and it's pretty fun to use. I've let a few different friends use it and everyone's been surprised at how well it does. It hasn't been used a whole lot, so I can't speak to it's longevity/reliability, but it's been though 5-6 2lb spools of .030 now without any issues other than I did replace the ground clamp with a slightly better one.

The EasyFlux 125 was on sale last week for $159, and for that price I highly recommend it to anyone as their first welder. Get it, a cheap auto-darkening helmet, gloves and a spool of flux core for right around the OP's $200 and cut your teeth on it. Grind the paint, rust and scale off of some scrap steel and start sticking them together with it.

 

[Hohn]

I think I'm narrowing my own inquiry to Primeweld and Everlast. They seem to be the best mix of relatively low risk and relatively lower cost than Red or Blue. Both have renown customer support and long warranties.
At this point, down-selecting to specific models and processes is trickier than choosing a brand.

I might dip my toe in with the cheapest 120V Everlast as frankly it will probably do all I might need.