Hello Gentleman, Ladies.......My name is Mark, new here but not to welding, I've been a certified welder since 1988. I somehow stumbled on this forum & topic searching something else, came across this and decided to chime in...
I own the Vulcan 215 MigMax....I've owned/used all the others...red,blue,tan,yellow,green....My last machin was a Lincoln 218 cabinet machine, burned the positive internal lead off of it within 1 hour of ownership....cause: Never tightened from factory (Mexico)
Never really liked the machine, bought it to finish a structural job I was almost finished with when my Hobart 220 blew it's diodes.....In this business you do not let a job sit while your welder is being repaired......
So, after a recent 1200 mile relocation, I had to re-equip a shop to make a living, sold off the Lincoln for 1k after about 10 years of use. No longer doing structural, I'm into other things now and limited space.....I needed a smaller machine with power. Up until 6 months ago, I had never stepped into a HF store in my life......But this Vulcan caught my eye, had to check it out.....Over all build quality, cabinet, wire feed.....just about all of it, pretty impressive......I took the chance figuring I could return. I've had all those other machines (or most) previously mentioned......pretty much underpowered over all and to be clear, non of those are intended to be in an industrial environment, field use YES, but not the other. Inverter technology is nothing new, I've used inverter mig machines as far back as 1989.....
So to the point.......about 6 months of ownership, by the end of this week I will have pushed over 100 pounds of wire through the Vulcan, I use it in production virtually 7 days a week, it operates about 5-6 hours a day, this past Sunday....I finally changed out the original tip & cone. The thickest of my steel needs is 3/4" bar to 5/16" plate.....zero issue's at 3/4 throttle. (power) The thinnest I've welded with it was 24 gauge, I use straight Co2 and it's operated flawlessly......
I'll most likely purchase their TIG next, I stay away from multi process machines and digital LCD screens....there's no real point in them. Real world review, trust me I'm slightly surprised in it's performance myself, but it's not new technology.......back to welding, have a great day!!