Beginner welder

[InsanePyro]

I am finally in a position to buy a decent welder and would like some input before I go off half cocked and buy something. I will try to include as much info as I can but by all means feel free to ask questions. I'm working with a say $1000 to $1500 budget, maybe more but its gotta be worth it hands down. I learned on Lincoln machines but have zero brand preference

Must Haves:
Dual voltage
MIG and Flux
Weld up to 3/8" steel, 1/2" Would be nice but I know theres a big savings to be had if it can only go up to 3/8", so I'm willing to concede there if the trade off is worth it.
Digital settings readout. Make fun of me all you want but I learned by the numbers and can't really set a machine by feel quite yet

The only real would like thing that I don't care much about is TIG as well. And for TIG to mean anything it has to be AC TIG. I've seen some machines have only DC TIG and that means nothing to me. The only reason I'd want TIG around is for aluminum and stuff of that nature.
I guess availability of parts is fairly important as well but not a total deal breaker either. Being able to walk into a store for parts is always nice but if I have to order them so be it.

Thanks for any sort of input. This is strictly home use but when I use it at home I expect it to work. Thanks again in advance!

This is about what I'm looking for, just maybe from a better brand, granted I have read some really good things about this rig https://www.harborfreight.com/weldi...cess-welder-with-120240-volt-input-63621.html

 

[mreisner]

Not dual voltage, but in that range you could find a nice used 250 Miller. The late ones had digital readout. A dial is not too hard to use, just follow the chart under the hood. Miller usually has some nice discounts around the end of the year on new machines.

 

[InsanePyro]

Not dual voltage, but in that range you could find a nice used 250 Miller. The late ones had digital readout. A dial is not too hard to use, just follow the chart under the hood. Miller usually has some nice discounts around the end of the year on new machines.

Yeah sadly dual voltage is a necessity. I need to do a few projects before I move that will require me to use 110 as I'm not gonna bother with that project in somewhere I will be leaving shortly.

 

[metlmunchr]

Biggest problem with HF welders is no repair facilities.

Among well known machines with good warranty and parts availability, the Esab EM215ic is the only one that covers all your wants including digital meters. 240 amp dual voltage machine. $1167 from cyberweld.com w/ free ship and no sales tax.

Miller 211 is about the same price from cyberweld after $150 factory rebate. 230 amp dual voltage.

Both have auto set feature where you set wire size, gas type, and material thickness and the machine sets voltage and wire speed, so the lack of digitals on the Miller really isn't of any consequence. With experience, you'd tweak the setting manually on either machine to suit what you're working on.

The Esab comes with a 180 amp Tweco mig gun while the Miller comes with a 100 amp gun which seems a little light to me for a 200+ amp machine.

Both have 3 yr warranties as opposed to 1 yr on the HF Vulcan.

Both are rated 3/8 plate in a single pass but in my experience every small wire machine on the market has rather "optimistic" single pass ratings. I've run some 3/8 stuff in a single pass on a 400 amp machine we've got in our shop, and to get samples that consistently test good in a bend test takes around 250-270 amps in spray transfer mode which is past the capability of any small machine that I know of.

One of the down sides to any wire machine is that its possible to lay down what looks like beautiful single pass beads on heavy material that have near zero penetration. I've seen it done, and have done it myself.

IMO, the only safe way to weld heavy sections with wire is to qualify your procedure with physically tested samples of what you intend to weld. That's worthwhile when you have a bunch of pieces to weld up, but for just now and then welding of a heavy section, its just simpler to run it with a stick where the difference between a good and a bad weld is immediately obvious to anyone with any experience.

 

[InsanePyro]

Among well known machines with good warranty and parts availability, the Esab EM215ic is the only one that covers all your wants including digital meters. 240 amp dual voltage machine. $1167 from cyberweld.com w/ free ship and no sales tax.

Dude holy **** thats awesome! The extra couple hundo are worth it just for the warranty. I was looking at the Miller and disliked it for the same reasons. The thick stuff won't be often. Most of what I'll be welding will be body work sort of stuff, I just like the idea incase I actually get the time to build a bumper or something for my truck

 

[bigguns69]

I have a Miller 211 for body work and run it exclusively on 110V in the shop. The auto set works great. I highly recommend. I occasionally weld 1/4" with it otherwise I drag out my Miller 252 for big stuff. Look for a miller 215, it is dual voltage and also set up for tig and stick if you want all kinds of capabilities. Miller and Lincoln are name brands with a lot more support for parts and etc.

 

[mreisner]

Other than consumables I have had zero problems with my Miller in 25 years.

 

[MoonRise]

Lincoln is running a rebate on the 210MP, pushes the price down to $1099 after rebate.

Dual voltage. Digital meter(s). GMAW and FCAW. Can also do DC SMAW if you need/want to do thicker than what you can do with the wire feed. Can also do DC GTAW (I know you said that doesn't matter to you, just listing some of the unit's capabilities). For aluminum, it can use the Lincoln SG100 spool gun, just plug-and-play (weld).

https://promotions.lincolnelectric..../equipment/mig-Welders/Pages/mig-welders.aspx

One possible on-line source (have bought from them before, no problems at all):

https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/lincoln-power-mig-210-mp-multi-process-welder-k3963-1

 

[sberry]

Stick has its place especially for portable. Even on 120v. I had a job a while back, couple 3 hrs fab and fit and 10/15 minutes of weld and about 3 rods multi pass that took 5 minutes extra for one spot. Having a bigger machine would have saved Nino minutes, would burn 2 gallons of gas and noisy.