MiG wire brands...

[cvairwerks]

I need to order some wire for my new Miller 211. Any recommendations on wire brands? Hobart, Harris and Lincoln are all easy to get, but is any one better than the the other?

Will be ordering ER70 for now, as most of what I'll be working with for the foreseeable future is A36 steel.

 

[swavescatter]

From what I've seen on YouTube Lincoln from home Depot is good, cheap and available.

Edit - from your question I take it you're not a pro earning a living as a welder, or building safety related structural components. If you're like me, you grind most of your ugly bead off anyway so no need to go high end. Lincoln does seem to splatter less than harbor freight, but I doubt you'll notice a difference between the others...

 

[bdbecker]

Any of those brands listed should run well for you. It's highly unlikely you'd notice a difference between them. FWIW, some less expensive house brands can be just as good as the major names, but it'd be worth testing a 2lb spool before committing to a 10lb one. Most of the issues seem to come with the discount, no-name Chinese made wire. As long as you avoid that, you should be okay.

 

[Stooge]

looks like i've been using Radnor brand in my Miller 211, which is Air Gas' house brand and sounds like it is currently made by Harris/ Lincoln. I like it, have never had any issues with it and its readily available at the Air Gas i go to. I think the 11lb spools i get are in the mid $30 range, though i do not know the COO, but i want to say mexico?

 

[MoonRise]

Lincoln. Done.

Although the other brand names you list are OK, I've had the best 'results' using Lincoln L56 wire. Runs the 'smoothest' and less spatter and such running the L56 (in different wire sizes) in short-circuit transfer mode GMAW with C25. The Hobart wire I used recently works, but seems to spatter more than the Lincoln wire (didn't have the wire diameter I wanted/needed in Lincoln, so I grabbed a spool of Hobart ER70s-6). Same machine, always using C25, so no difference there only the wire (and contact tips and drive rollers, etc) was changed.

btw Harris is a Lincoln brand/division/group/whatever. Usually more of the brazing and gas welding side of things, but they also list some arc welding stuff.

 

[pepi]

Lincoln for my machine, splatter & wet out more controllable .

 

[strength_and_power]

I’ve used the Lincoln wire from Home Depot and felt it ran good. Recently I picked up some spools from Blue Demon weld and it ran equally as well.


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[MJK]

INEFIL ER70S-6 is my favorite so far.

Edit: it seems to work way better than the Hobart wire that my Miller came with.

 

[sberry]

Some of the white box no brand China wire is as good as any and the Radnor and Washington Alloy ran like ****. I went back to the lws to get more white box and the went to brand, they shop all the time and they were out. L56 is good, so is the Hobart. Next one I am going to try is a generic from Menards, they all wanting to sell cheap shat might as well get the best price.
I never thought to try the HF but I suspect it might be as good as any, it's a generic and probably repackaged and used worldwide.

 

[Outwest]

I’ve running Hobart through my Miller 211, but decided to try Westward ER70S-6 due to it being less expensive. I honestly can’t notice a difference. I just ordered more. From clean steel to some nasty drill stem, it seems to be pretty good. I haven’t tried it in my 250 welder though.

 

[BD1]

I use the Lincoln L 56 also. I usually get that for the same price as the cheap stuff.
You didn't mention diameter.
The older 211, which I have seem to run best with .030 wire.


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[liliysdad]

From my experience, the Lincoln wire runs considerably better, and produces a much nicer weld with less work than the HF wire.

 

[bdbecker]

Some of the white box no brand China wire is as good as any and the Radnor and Washington Alloy ran like ****...

I won't argue that some cheap China wire runs well, but "some" is the key word to pay attention to. The problem I have with the no-name wire is inconsistency. You might have good luck with several spools of wire, but its a roll of the dice every time and you will eventually get one that is junk. That's not to say that you don't save enough money buying off-brand wire to make it worthwhile, but knowing that you might have to toss a spool into the f-it bucket every now and then is something to take into account when making these decisions.

Related to that, I think these no-name wires turn a lot of people off of welding. It's very tempting to get cheap on the wire after you've dropped a bunch of money on the welder (I'm guilty of it myself). But when you are learning to weld or are trying to figure out a new machine, the last thing you need is fight with inconsistent wire quality. It is worth spending the extra money on good wire, at least early on until you get good enough to know when you're dealing with a bad spool of wire.

Finally, (at least for me) time in the shop is not that easy to come by these days. When I get the chance to work on a project, I want to spend my time working on the project, not fighting with bad consumables. It's worth it to me to spend a little extra and take that variability out of the equation.

 

[MarkG]

Hobart is the smoothest-welding wire I've used! Both their flux-core and solid is great, although I currently have some Lincoln Electric flux core in my machine, which is nice too.

 

[Bretny]

I have been useing er70s from weld USA off ebay for years now. No issues with my hobart 210, basically a miller 211 but with tapped voltage settings.

 

[sberry]

The 210 is a really good machine. Nothing wrong with taps and just as soon have them. So easy to repeat the settings. Very simple. It's got a pinch more top end than the 180, it's got another couple steps, let's it turn up a little.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Been running Hobart solid wire in mine. I buy the larger 10 lb spool rather than the 2lb spool.

Seems like there is less problems with large spool.

 

[blazemaster83]

Years ago I bought a huge Airco Dip-cor 300 amp mig welder that came with most of a 60 lb spool. I am just now getting to the end of it, and it started giving me some issues. After looking inside the machine the old wire has a little rust on it and I think that's my problem.

I just ordered this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F429XGG/?tag=atomicindus08-20 so we will see how it does. $50 shipped to my door seemed like a good deal, the local shop near me wanted $85 for a 33lb spool.

 

[Bretny]

I believe in was paying $32 shipped for two 11lb spools...now up to $42 with free shipping
https://usaweld.com/collections/mig-welding-wire

 

[bdbecker]

Years ago I bought a huge Airco Dip-cor 300 amp mig welder that came with most of a 60 lb spool. I am just now getting to the end of it, and it started giving me some issues. After looking inside the machine the old wire has a little rust on it and I think that's my problem...

If you've been welding with rusty wire, you may want to consider replacing your liner as well.

 

[sberry]

I buy the larger 10 lb spool rather than the 2lb spool.

Seems like there is less problems with large spool.

Absolutely better. Even 10# can be rewinds. Back in the early 90's we had some problem with some and I cant remember the exact details but finally figured out it was the winding that had some kind of problem.

 

[Brand X]

INEFIL ER70S-6 is my favorite so far.

Edit: it seems to work way better than the Hobart wire that my Miller came with.

INE is really good wire.. Unlike others here, had issues with L-56 . HD stuff is made in Mexico, and not the quality I remember from L-56 of the old days.

I found in .030 Weldcote is excellent too..Right there with the real Esab 86

 

[sberry]

The lws had some white box generic, after I put it in the machine should have reordered right then. They changed in house stock and its WA and not as good. I was hesitant about it to start with but someone spec that wire, he gave me a deal on it, just was as good as any and better than most.
I got a Wirematic 255, I should have returned it right out of the gate, I can see why that ******* doesnt have much a fan club. Fussy from one roll to the next never runs the same. My little SPT, any wire, runs it.
Only wire I ever had a problem with was brand name.

 

[snakeeyes]

US Forge mig wire, which is made in USA for most stuff is actually Messer welding wire. US Forge is like the consumer version sold at Menards. Used it and have no regrets.

 

[sberry]

I looked at a Menards roll and maybe just assumed it was China? It was 25$. Many other places are trying to get 40 for it.

 

[sberry]

The juice on that doesnt mean much to hobby types as a roll lasts a longggggg time on hobby and maintenance. In my shop if I pay atttn and dont get caught up in projects with it last me a long time and I can use it near every day.

 

[snakeeyes]

I looked at a Menards roll and maybe just assumed it was China? It was 25$. Many other places are trying to get 40 for it.

Yeah, it depends on the wire type for made in usa. We use Messer stuff at work for some stuff and it works well. I figure bigger names might have stricter quality control on the china stuff. Messer/Eutectic private labels for a few other brands. That is probably why their brand of wire is cheaper than others, since they might be the original source.

 

[sberry]

I used some WA when it was stocked, didnt care for it so much.
There is somethi g we to consider for this discussion. Dan on Miller is a super proficient tester as is Brand X who posts here on occasion. I am a career welder also but it makes a little difference when a guy is doing it every day and even more so when it gets to hi inspection level where a guy is on his toes and really fluid.
I made it a point to test a couple things when I had a hood down for a while, it takes me a couple weeks of some daily welding to really start to sharpen up. I tested the Maxstar compared to my DC buzzer this way and some stick electrodes. Off the shelf SAW I like the Linc and the Hob as good as any and didn't care so much for Radnor and a couple others they use as house brand at welding stores. I don't have experience with imports with those.
Wire a bit more. Not so much with cores, just used innershield back in the day , seems it was Lincoln.

 

[sberry]

Yeah, it depends on the wire type for made in usa. We use Messer stuff at work for some stuff and it works well. I figure bigger names might have stricter quality control on the china stuff. Messer/Eutectic private labels for a few other brands. That is probably why their brand of wire is cheaper than others, since they might be the original source.

I bet HF takes a look, they have buying power, they have a test lab now, i bet they find a decent white box product and slap a sticker on it. Theyvare trying to sell a bunch of better machines and if the wire works well its going to be a lot easier,, just kind of makes sense.

 

[sberry]

While it doesnt seem like a huge deal if i buy 2 when low made 30$ profit for a minute or 2 tossing it in the cart plus not having to fuss with another store.

 

[NETexas]

I also was needing some wire. Searched a welding forum for recommendations and this brand kept coming up. Ordered off Amazon and am pleased with it.


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[snorky18]

I also was needing some wire. Searched a welding forum for recommendations and this brand kept coming up. Ordered off Amazon and am pleased with it.


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Once I finished the starter spool of Hobart wire that came with my 210, I swapped to INETUB and have been quite pleased with it.

It's made in Italy. I really wanted it to smell like pizza while welding, but alas, it still smells like stinky molten metal.

 

[Ike Carlson]

I was having a hell of a time feeding wire in my hobart 140. I tried different tips, new liners, bigger tips, etc... nothing worked. It would birdnest all the time. Even with the liner straight, it would birdnest. I even straightened the gun tube a bit, and that dodn't change a thing. I finally bought some KT wire and it has been the nicest wire I have ever used. Feeds like butter and the weld is incredibly smooth. It burn nice and hot and makes me very happy.

 

[SteveH-CO]

I noticed that the Hobart brand wire at my local General Air store and the Harbor Freight wire have (ironically) the same meaningless 'Qualified' sticker on each roll. Hmmmm.... from the same factory in China?

 

[jeepinerdeep]

I tend to run Lincoln and ESAB with Lincoln being first choice. Generally, little risk of wasting my money or being aggravated for hobby use.

 

[TMcCay]

I bought some wire I think it was Radnor. My 211 started spitting and sputtering. Changed to Lincoln and problems went away. I have never looked back. I will only buy the Lincoln wire now. Easy to get and priced inline with most other brands. Lesson learned.

 

[sberry]

Seems the Radnor ran terrible and sputtered. Some machines are fussy.

 

[shaeff]

I've always run .035 Hobart ER70s6 in my HH210 (pre MVP unit). It runs pretty smooth, not much spatter. I tend to weld on the hotter side and take my time.

 

[sberry]

I have that machine, I have used 035 but like 030 better, a little easier on thin and the larger wire doesn't help the top end all that much. I did the math calc when I tested one of them, should have had a clamp on meter. I have used a lot of the Hobart wire, it's good.

 

[Deadsquiggles]

I’ve been running the Harris and Hobart ER70S through my Handler 190. Never had any issues with either of those brands and expect the same results or maybe a little better when I run it through my new 211.