About time for a new welder

Jody Treadway said:
I've been eyeballing a newer welder @Loganwayne. My current one is a Hobart 180 that works great. If you're interested, let's talk.
I don't need to sell it, but I would be willing to if your cheap butt comes off the hip accordingly.

Gimme a call. You should have my number. If you don't, your lady does.

Edit: I'm serious about the welder. The other stuff us the mandatory @McCracken inspired ribbing.
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ill give you a call today if i get some free time
 
Duty cycle is the biggest reason for going with a 220v welder.

However most things can be done with a smaller 140a 110 welder. Preheating thick materials with a mapp torch helps a ton. Multipass welding and proper joint preparation help also. The biggest help would be to practice with the machine, and destroy some welds to test them.

Regardless of machine, amperage or line voltage , a mig technique that is too slow will fail first. Proper technique goes farther than anything.
 
Mac5005 said:
Duty cycle is the biggest reason for going with a 220v welder.

However most things can be done with a smaller 140a 110 welder. Preheating thick materials with a mapp torch helps a ton. Multipass welding and proper joint preparation help also. The biggest help would be to practice with the machine, and destroy some welds to test them.

Regardless of machine, amperage or line voltage , a mig technique that is too slow will fail first. Proper technique goes farther than anything.
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You copy and pasted that didn't you?
 
PM sent as not to clutter Logan’s thread with my rookie questions...
 
Mac5005 said:
Duty cycle is the biggest reason for going with a 220v welder.

However most things can be done with a smaller 140a 110 welder. Preheating thick materials with a mapp torch helps a ton. Multipass welding and proper joint preparation help also. The biggest help would be to practice with the machine, and destroy some welds to test them.

Regardless of machine, amperage or line voltage , a mig technique that is too slow will fail first. Proper technique goes farther than anything.
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Essentially where my original response was gonna go but figured I’d leave that explanation to come from someone that Isn’t a hack. :lol:
 
@77GreenMachine pm me if interested in Miller 130xp. My boss has one for sale, needs a gun but works as it should. He's asking 250
 
Thanks @marty79.

I’m not gonna buy right away. @Mac5005 is currently making me a pro via the web and I’m probably going to wait a little bit and do more research.
I just sold a pickup truck and have Christmas money. While this wad of money is burning a hole, I’ve learned to wait it out a little bit.
 
77GreenMachine said:
Thanks @marty79.

I’m not gonna buy right away. @Mac5005 is currently making me a pro via the web and I’m probably going to wait a little bit and do more research.
I just sold a pickup truck and have Christmas money. While this wad of money is burning a hole, I’ve learned to wait it out a little bit.
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Cool, sounds good.
 
Just for reference in this thread, I did some weld testing a few semesters back.

It was all normal aws plate qualification setup and procedures. Two pieces 3/8 plate, 60 degree total bevel, 1/4” gap at the root, 1/4” backing plate. Did two tests for each one, one vertical, one horizontal.

I was mainly concerned with amperages and settings. Did three sets. .035” solid wire, 75/25. Vertical is done with 3 passes, root, hot, and cap. Horizontal was done with 5 passes, 1 root, 1 hot, and 3 cap stringers. The root and hot are weaved, while the horizontal cap was three overlapping passes, more like doing circles with the gun.

1st set 17.5 volts, 175 ipm on the wire. Right around 95-97 amps while welding. Everyone except one really smart guy I have a ton of respect for said it would break instantly.

Flawless, no runs drips, or errors.

2nd set is my go to settings, 18.0v, 200 on the wire. 105-110 amps. Again flawless. No single discontinuity anywhere in the root or face bend.

3rd set, felt hot, and while welding I felt rushed. I felt like I didn’t have completely control of my technique as I had to move so fast. 18.5v 250 ipm on the wire. Memory is fuzzy on the amperage, but IIRC, was 135 amps.

Several discontinuities in the face bend of the vertical, one small spot in the root. Nothing that would fail it according to aws, but not perfect.

The horizontal had several discontinuities in the face and an obvious defect in the root that would have failed by aws guidelines.

My point to all that, is regardless of that the machine papers, settings, and specs say, proper technique trumps all.

Moving too slow for any mig weld will cause it to fail under stress. This is especially true when you are forced to work faster that normal losing the precision of your technique.

This allows the weld pool to build outward from the base metal as the bottom of the puddle cools and reduces penetration. This is extremely bad, and the weld can still look great.

Testing your welds and being confident in you technique and settings matters more than any machine choice.

Drag the wire, pull the puddle, keep the wire stickout short, and trace the front edge of the puddle, regardless of weave style. It needs to sound smooth and consistent while welding and while weaving for a quality bead.

This post pertains to most things encountered in fabrication related to Offroad and vehicle fab and welding. This means it’s for normal short circuit mig with solid wire.
 
So, a slow might/fcaw weld is bad? What's defined as slow? (IPM would be an ideal reference for me) I had previously thought that the slower the weld, the more penetration.. I would guess that on my cheap machine, 1/4" to 1/4" corner weld (into a 90* corner, one side) I probably am at 6-10 ipm. Is that too slow? The resulting weld "looks" ok and holds up to intended use but I've not tried destructive testing, except for the small press I built.. I succeeded in deforming the upper horizontal tube (2x2x.25) and haven't broken/visibly (without dye) cracked any welds.
 
a_kelley said:
So, a slow might/fcaw weld is bad? What's defined as slow? (IPM would be an ideal reference for me) I had previously thought that the slower the weld, the more penetration.. I would guess that on my cheap machine, 1/4" to 1/4" corner weld (into a 90* corner, one side) I probably am at 6-10 ipm. Is that too slow? The resulting weld "looks" ok and holds up to intended use but I've not tried destructive testing, except for the small press I built.. I succeeded in deforming the upper horizontal tube (2x2x.25) and haven't broken/visibly (without dye) cracked any welds.
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Slow is not tracing the front edge of the puddle. Can’t nail down a travel speed number as it’s based on width of the bead, depth of weld leg, individual settings and wire size.

Fast is tracing the front edge of your weld pool, or puddle regardless of weave type.

Some weave techniques, like a circle, the front edge of half the circle is made where the puddle meets the base metal, while the second rearward half of the circle overlaps the puddle again, only to raise the profile of bead, not to penetrate the base metal.

Being slow with a short circuit mig to increase penetration is wrong. That is stick welding.

Stick welding has far more arc force and that technique is appropriate for that process, but not true for short circuit mig.

Higher voltages and amperages it may be true, as well as with flux core and dual shield wire. But again, this is about short circuit relative low amperage <150a gmaw with solid wire, that is typical of larger 110v and smaller 220v weld machines.
 
Bumping this. It's only been a couple of months since the last post but I'm fixing to pull the trigger on something. Not sure what though. I'll admit I've always been a Miller fan but I've owned a Lincoln 3200 HD for years and I'll admit it's been a trooper. I see that the Vulcans from HF seem to continue to get good reviews but I'm still skeptical. The Millermatic 211 has me hooked but I don't really want to drop a ton of coin and end up regretting it later. Can anyone come up with a reason to not get the Miller?
 
McCracken said:
Bumping this. It's only been a couple of months since the last post but I'm fixing to pull the trigger on something. Not sure what though. I'll admit I've always been a Miller fan but I've owned a Lincoln 3200 HD for years and I'll admit it's been a trooper. I see that the Vulcans from HF seem to continue to get good reviews but I'm still skeptical. The Millermatic 211 has me hooked but I don't really want to drop a ton of coin and end up regretting it later. Can anyone come up with a reason to not get the Miller?
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Your a cheap bastard?

Other than that no


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
tsconver said:
I just got teh Vulcan Omnipro 220 and so far it lives up to the reviews I have seen on it. You are welcome to come try it out if you want.
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if you were closer i would take you up on that
 
McCracken said:
Bumping this. It's only been a couple of months since the last post but I'm fixing to pull the trigger on something. Not sure what though. I'll admit I've always been a Miller fan but I've owned a Lincoln 3200 HD for years and I'll admit it's been a trooper. I see that the Vulcans from HF seem to continue to get good reviews but I'm still skeptical. The Millermatic 211 has me hooked but I don't really want to drop a ton of coin and end up regretting it later. Can anyone come up with a reason to not get the Miller?
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No good reason to not get the Miller... I'm personally frugal with my money,"cheap ass" so after a year of reviewing welders and reading every welder thread and advice on here and jalopy journal I'm gonna give the hf Vulcan a go in next month or so. It's about all I'll ever need in a welder, and at $850 is damn good deal and their warrantys are badass we started buying ohv engines for our pressure washing co and had to return one over choke breaking no questions asked just gave us a new one! Up to 5 year warranty on engines dunno about welder may call and find out tho! My other option is handler 180 but I want 120/240 for convenience! Like when ya break spiders in Harlan and the omelette shop will only let ya use 120 plug in... lil 110 flux core saved the day! Lol
 
McCracken said:
Bumping this. It's only been a couple of months since the last post but I'm fixing to pull the trigger on something. Not sure what though. I'll admit I've always been a Miller fan but I've owned a Lincoln 3200 HD for years and I'll admit it's been a trooper. I see that the Vulcans from HF seem to continue to get good reviews but I'm still skeptical. The Millermatic 211 has me hooked but I don't really want to drop a ton of coin and end up regretting it later. Can anyone come up with a reason to not get the Miller?
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Get the Lincoln 210 instead
 
Just buy an old Sears home and shop stick welder.:beer:
 
I have run a ton of Blue and Red welders....hands down currently Lincoln is ahead of the game. Several folks in industry have admitted that Miller has drug it's feet as of late and is falling behind in build quality and technology. Having toured the inside of Lincoln's biggest plant, research lab, school, and robot facility I was extremely impressed. Impressed with what mattered most to me.....the investment in American jobs, educational support, and American Industry.
They have built a few odd lemons but the smaller short circuit Mig units are smooth runners.
 
Hobart 140 for me... got it at norther tool when they had a sale on them 3 years ago and it’s done all I’ve needed to do with it. I know it’s not a 220 machine but I won’t be working with anything over 1/4 inch thick. I like it
 
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