Harbor freight 120amp 220V mig welder

[Manicmech]

Anyone got one of these ? Saw them on sale for $179.00 and thought I might like to start doing some welding.

 

[78Bird]

My advice is to skip the HF special and at least go to something like the Northern or Summit brand MIGs, and really to go to a name brand.

They really are better. Dont want you to give up on welding thinking you arent any good at it when it's a POS machine.

 

[Manicmech]

bird - thanks for that advice, that is a point I wasn't giving an consideration to.

 

[Dewaynep]

I HAD one. Sold it on CL for $85 then bought an old Silver Beauty 110volt MIG at an estate sale. The HF wasn't worth it.

 

[jerkyboy]

I would suggest going to HF's website and read the reviews; I have found them to be real helpful and it doesn't appear that HF edits anything out when the reviews are negative.

 

[Falcon67]

I can tell you this - I bought a 70 amp Century on sale at Sams for about $190 a long while back. It worked well enough. A couple of years ago I bought a new Hobart 140 for a little over $500. The Hobart is 10x better and I really had to un-learn some things before I could start using it properly. A good welder is a tool you can use for a long time on many things and a better unit up front will pay back in the long run.

 

[Manicmech]

Been a while since I did any welding, figured I may start playing around with it a little. Maybe I'll wait and get a better set up.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[jeepfan93]

I bought one 5 or 6 years ago. I do use it lightly, but often enough. I've tried welding 18 gauge sheet. Just made bid holes. 16 gauge and thicker up to 3/8" no problems. I still haven't converted to gas.I clean it regularly take care of it and it had never failed one time. I will say don't use the HF flux core wire. I use CH or Lincoln .030 and .035. I use CH tips. I love it. Yes I would like a better name, but for what I do, it's been perfect. I really didn't expect it to last this long. I just moved into a garage a few months ago. Before that my welser and all my tools and me were working out of an 8x10 shed. So that many years in a less than ideal enviroment and she's still humming along.

 

[Crazy Car Guy]

i run a 110 amp 220 HF with gas and i love it! .023 wire on car bodys beautiful welds .030 or .035 on any thing else and it serves me just fine. no gas is rough but in a field on a windy day with the generator running it does just fine for a quick repair. i had a lincoln 120 volt and a century 120 volt and a 220 volt miller and for the money id buy another HF welder to abuse if mine ever dies. id bet ive run 30 lbs of various wire through it with no issues.
this is just my opinion on there welders. for a weekend warrior they should be fine once you figure out how to use it.

 

[Grumpy365]

Man, Grainger is having a special on a miller 180 with cart for $395.00. I would NOT consider the HF with a deal like that as an alternative.

 

[fatboyf150]

I have used all 4 wire welders that HFT has. The 120 amp is a really good home use welder, or travel welder. We have four of the 140 amp welder at the shop for the mechanics and I would put it beside any name brand welder of the same size that is on the market today.

 

[some zilch]

buddy has that HF mig, its actually in my shop at the moment. it works really well for what it is, and works really well for the price. i dont think i would do bridge repair with it, but general light-ish duty fab and repair, it works great

 

[jaydeet61]

i run a 110 amp 220 HF with gas and i love it! .023 wire on car bodys beautiful welds .030 or .035 on any thing else and it serves me just fine. no gas is rough but in a field on a windy day with the generator running it does just fine for a quick repair. i had a lincoln 120 volt and a century 120 volt and a 220 volt miller and for the money id buy another HF welder to abuse if mine ever dies. id bet ive run 30 lbs of various wire through it with no issues.
this is just my opinion on there welders. for a weekend warrior they should be fine once you figure out how to use it.

how did you wire the plug up to run off the generator

 

[pattenp]

how did you wire the plug up to run off the generator

Use a L14-30P plug and don't use the neutral.