110V Mig ??

[johno]

I've been thinking of buying 110V mig for a while, one friend says its what he uses all the time and is very happy with it, I think a Lincoln unit.He's a hobby rod builder.

Another friend a pro chassis builder says they're ****.

I would Imagine I'll be using it mainly for 1/8-1/4 material, or even body panels.

So I'm wondering what the opinion around here is,I'm open for recommedations as well.

Your opinions re flux core and gas would be a help as well.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

 

[MotoDave]

Most of the 110 units are only good for 1/4" steel with flux core wire, and that's probably pushing it. If you're positive that's the thickest you'll ever do a 110 MIG should be fine. I'm planning to just **** it up and buy a 220V MIG off the bat, since I plan to do quite a bit of 1/4" and up plate work.

Miller has a decent chart comparing stock size rating, voltage, and duty cycle: http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/onephase.php

 

[rsanter]

I have a 110 lincolin and it one of the nicer units out there
to get a reliable weld on the thicker material or for longer duty cycles I would recomend that you use a dedicated circut for the welder that is 20A or 25A as it will make a difference is how good of penetration you get

bob

 

[the spyder]

Welcome to the forum.

I have used everything from a Lincoln 100 to a brand new Miller DVI (180amp 120/220v) machine. For auto panels we have a Lincoln 135SP with .23 wire in it with gas. The hobby stuff we have a 130XP Miller with gas- does 3/8" on full heat and CO2. You will find many welders are tied to either Miller or Lincoln.

Stay away from flux core. It works, but your welds and cleanup are 100x easier with a gas setup. And for goodness sake- stay away from harbor freight junk.

 

[the spyder]

Double Post...

 

[BillK]

John,

I have a Miller 140 and love it. I have yet to find something that it will not weld just as good as our old Millermatic35 we used to have at the shop. I just finished using it to weld up a 1" deep 1" diameter hole in a crankshaft for balancing reasons. Welded it up without a pause and never missed a lick. I cant think of anything a hobbyist would do that would need any more power.

I have 220 in my garage but I got the 110 welder so that I could use it at friend's houses etc without having to worry about thier having the correct power.

 

[BrokeEF]

We use a Hobart handler 140 with a dedicated 30A circuit, it has worked great for us so far. I personaly want to pick up a larger TIG, but I will make sure to get a nice 110V mig just because of portablity and ease of use. It has come in handy to be able to bring it to jobs other than the garage and not have to worry about power, or lug a big *** machine.

Sean

 

[VTHokie]

You can get a Miller 211 and get both in one machine. I've had mine for about 7 months now. Great welder, I'm usually running 220 since it's in my garage, but it's great being able to take it somewhere that only has 110v.

 

[Jared]

i would suggest getting a 220v. I have a lincoln sp 100 works great up to about 1/8 but you wont get any penetration on heavier material with single pass, mind I just run it on a 15amp circuit.

 

[krehmkej]

I've known several who purchased 110V units and later realized they really wanted a more capable 220v one. Never heard of anyone with a 220v who wanted to trade down.

 

[mrshaun]

www.800abcweld.com

go there and watch their videos. If you can afford it go with a snap on welder. No problems out of the 9 that i have sold. 100percent duty cycle at 140 amps.
weld up to a 1/4 inch in a single pass.
also 110 volt.......

 

[rjohnson]

I do have a Hobart Handler 125 set up for flux core in the classifieds, my dad used it once-he liked it-but is now looking for something bigger.

 

[cwstevens92]

Not to sounds like an *** but my first question would be what is your level of wlding experiance? just starting if so get a 110 and practice practice practice and learn learn learn if you are a mid to upper level guy save up and get a upper level machine

 

[back2class]

I have owned 2 110v migs. A Hobart and Linclon. I alos keep a 220 ac/dc unit but never fire it up anymore. The better 110v machines will be more welder than most any hobby person needs. On the odd time where one is trying to weld a seam on stuff 1/4" or thicker it just takes a little more time. Around the farm and building custom harleys I have never felt underpowered except for a few very heavy pieces of farm equiptment but that is like 1/2" and thicker stuff and you just do not find that stuff in the auto tinkering and if you did you just bevel and make a few passes. Another great thing is you can plug it anywhere and weld. Most of the people who say you need 220 have never owned 110. If I was welding several times a week every week of the year then I would consider a 220.

 

[Mickey O]

I've got one, a Campbell Hausfeld (made in Italy, the Lincoln I looked at was made in China, that's why I have the Campbell Hausfeld), it came with the stuff to hook gas up if you want. I just use the flux core and it's quite handy for repairing small stuff, repaired my appliance dolly and a steel step stool, made some things for my trailer did some welding on the trailer, messy welds but plenty strong, I actually took a sledge hammer to the parts I welded on to test them. Took a little getting used to the wire feed for me I've always heli-arc'd or arc welded, but they are nice and convenient.

The only problem with most of the 110~120 Volt welders is the duty cycle is low and that can be a pain if you have a lot of welding to do.

 

[speed bump]

www.800abcweld.com

go there and watch their videos. If you can afford it go with a snap on welder. No problems out of the 9 that i have sold. 100percent duty cycle at 140 amps.
weld up to a 1/4 inch in a single pass.
also 110 volt.......

I used a snap-on MM-250 and that was enough to convince me it wasn't worth it to buy a Snap-on welder. It cost over 1.5x what a millermatic 252 or Lincoln PowerMig 255 does the consumables (liner, tips, and Nozzles) cost 3x as much, it wasn't infinetly variable voltage which would of been really nice for the material I was welding, it wasn't plug into the socket and weld no matter the voltage, and the warranty wasn't 5 years with every tiny outpost having a dealer with parts or 1 day away from having parts. It also wasn't a big fan of 0.023 wire although it seemed to do okay on 0.035.

For the price your into a whole nother class of machine from anyone else and considering the hell I see the Lincolns, Millers, and Esabs take I couldn't see spending the money unless SO credit is the only credit I could get.

As far as 110v welders go I think its a good investment for most people because you can always take up stick welding for big stuff. Personally my plan is to see which comes up first for the right price either a suitcase feeder (preferably an LN-25) or a 110v mig for the little stuff.

 

[IDASHO]

As much as I would love to have a larger unit, for thicker steel, my Lincoln 135+ has served me VERY well for the past 10 years or so.

Well within my "top 10" tool purchases, ever. And just running flux core, it is super easy to stick stuff together, with nearly zero prep.

 

[nissan_crawler]

If you only have 110v available, I would check out the hobart 140 (I think that's the current model), myself.

If you can get 220v, I would be looking at a hobart 187.

I have yet to see a 110v welder get proper penetration on butted 1/4". I've seen people claim it, and every time they've done it, and the sample was cut apart, they were wrong. Most people don't need the 1/4" where they're using it, so it *works*, but isn't *right*. I run my HH175 wide open on 1/4" to get proper penetration. With 3/8", I preheat with my torch. 1/2" or larger, I just use the torch itself.

Dad has a hh130 that we used on the farm service truck. It worked well on 1/8" and ok on 3/16", but if it was 1/4" and on something important, the old gas powered 250 amp miller came out to play.

Seriously, if you have 220v available, get a base model 220v welder. It will do laps around the top 110v welder, for not that much more cost.

look at toolking.com for refurbished hobarts with warranty, pretty good price.

 

[Antique Engine]

I have a little 110V Lincoln and a 220V Millermatic 250. For most of my work, I use the little Lincoln. I run .023 wire in it with 75/25 gas. It's perfect for almost any automotive work short of chassis fab. The smaller wire and smaller gun are superb for sheetmetal patch panels in tight areas.

 

[djjsr]

I have a 110v machine that I've used for about 15 years and I like it. If you're new at welding, it's a good way to learn and if you need some heavy work done, be safe and get someone else to do it until you get more experience.

 

[t100]

I've owned 2 110v mig's. Century 155GS and MM130. both worked flawlessly on 3/16" M/S with .030 wire C25 gas. I didn't weld any single bead more than 8" long, so I've never had a thermal shutdown.

as for Mig Vs. Flux Core, if you like Nasty, you will looooove flux core.

Always, like I was told by the guy taught me welding, "buy the biggest welder you can afford, if you wanna go lower, you can always use that thingy called THE DAIL" .

 

[krooser]

Bought a Lincoln SP100 a few years ago... converted it to MIG from flux... great little welder. I did sell it to buy a Miller 175 but I'd still be using it if I didn't have the bigger Miller.

You probably won't keep your 110V forever... we always want to upgrade to larger tools (welders, air compressors, plasma cutters, etc.) but the SP100 is a great welder.

 

[rsanter]

where do you live??
perhaps someone is close to you that you can go try theirs

also, some places will rent you one. one place I was looking at buying a plasma from said they would rent me the units for a day to try out and if I bought one thay would credit the rental

bob

 

[arkangel06]

110v seems fine for this application

Use gas flux cord burns hotter and is not as clean. plus your going to need a chipping hammer to clear the flux not good for body pannels

 

[jwitt]

I have a Hobart 135 Handler, I could not guess how many times it has paid for itself. Your not going to build bridges with one but for smaller stuff they are great. Like others have said, get the gas.

Jim

 

[johno]

Now that's an idea. Thanks

where do you live??
perhaps someone is close to you that you can go try theirs

also, some places will rent you one. one place I was looking at buying a plasma from said they would rent me the units for a day to try out and if I bought one thay would credit the rental

bob

 

[dlwilson]

I got a 175 amp mig from Daytona Welder about 11 years ago. I'm pretty sure it's a rebadged Cebora (Italian). I don't see it on the web site, but this is sort of similar: http://store.daytonamig.com/180combimig.html. This welder has been great. I've always used it with gas. It will do sheet metal to 1/4", maybe a little thicker. I'm usually a low-buck guy, but for this one I got the autodark mask, antispatter spray, mig pliers, and decent gloves. It really made a difference.

 

[dwilliams35]

I've used a hobart, a couple of millers, and I own 2 lincolns: every other machine I've used was junk. That includes century's, HF, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

Yes, you won't see anybody that has a 220v machine "downgrade" to a 110v: on the other hand, you won't see somebody that "upgrades" to 220v EVER get rid of the 110v machine, either: they're just too handy. One thing about it, just make sure you've got a 12 gauge or better extension cord: they do NOT like anything smaller....

 

[IDASHO]

I have yet to see a 110v welder get proper penetration on butted 1/4". I've seen people claim it, and every time they've done it, and the sample was cut apart, they were wrong.

I have to agree.

Ive done plenty of penetration tests with my Lincoln 135+, and there is no way I would trust a weld on a 1/4 thick piece of steel.

Unless of course, I could get to both sides.

From one side, I could never get it to penetrate far enough to feel confident. And believe me, using the same welder for 10 years now, I know how to get the most out of the machine. 1/4 steel just aint happening.

 

[johno]

Thanks for all the info guys. Looks like it will be a 110V for now. Only have 110 in the garage and it's a rental house/garage.

I think it's gonna be a Lincoln or a Hobart, both seemed recommeded, and both are easy to come by, I imagine parts/support would be good too.

I'm sure the 220 is better, but I think the 110 will be fine for my needs, any thing BIG, I can tack together ane let the pros finish up.

Anyone know of a good instruction book to learn Mig welding?

Thanks again all.

 

[arkangel06]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

Hang out here and read

 

[johno]

Thanks.
Nice site.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

Hang out here and read

 

[tcianci]

I have a little Century MIG that I bought from Northern tool years ago. It is much better on gas than with the flux cored wire. It is 110V and that has come in handy for portability but like others have said, you're only going to do short duty cycle light gauge welding with it. For me it's not a problem because I have a 220 stick machine too.