Im lookin around at welders and would prefer to spend under $500. Im guessing I only can go for a mig. I would like it to run on regular ol house power (whatever that is). I dont plan on welding any suspension stuff or roll cages but getting it more or less to make my own exhausts. I dont understand the diff amp ratings or feed options that would be good for that. What are some good options? I would most likely be welding stainless steel. Im not paying for TD's and figure with a lil time could make what I needed myself with the same amount of money Id pay someone to do it.

Anyway thanks in advance,

Erik

 

I bought a very nice Miller Mig welder, 110V (house voltage) and it will weld up to almost 1/4" thick. I bought mine just for exhaust work and headers etc

I would recommend that one...It was just under $800 I think plus a tank

 

you can pick up a Lincoln MIG welder with argon bottle attachment hose and all the accessories from home depot for 550 if i remember correctly. Very nice welder and it will also weld up to 1/4" metal.

 

any of the 140amp units are great. The Hobart, Miller and Lincoln's are all good pieces and weld up to 5/16" or 1/4" with fluxcore. Gas is nice but you can run fluxcore with any of those machines.

Keep in mind that the Lincoln weldpak 3200hd that you can get at home depot isn't the same as the one you can buy at a welding supply place. Lincoln has someone else make them over seas for home depot and they use cheaper windings, you can tell by the part numbers, they are usually one digit off.

 

agreed! i bought this unit a while back, would highly suggest picking it up whenever you see a 10% discount coupon. think i got mine for less than 500 with the discount. then i got a filled 120 cubic foot (pretty sure that was the size) tank for $125. it's a nice little welder and makes great welds with good penetration. good luck.

 

Agreed the 110V work well (personally like the 230V but that is because I got the power). Try to buy one from a welding place because of the fact that the home depot ones are made cheaper. You will be surprised when you get better at welding people come out of the wood work to have stuff welded up and then you can make some of your money back. Try to stay away from the flux core... go with welding gas setup.
just my .02
Brad

 

Take some advice from someone who just sold a 110v MIG......buy a 230v MIG. Trust me, eventually you'll want to weld stuff 3/16", 1/4", and thicker. That 110v will not do a good job on the thicker stuff, trust me. You'll only spend a $100 more or so on the 230v machine and it's worth every penny. Spend the money on the gas bottle and if you're planning to do stainless the RIGHT way, you'll need another gas bottle for Argon.

Craig

 

I would suggest that you buy a brand name unit, in the event that you ever need spare parts, other than consumables. I like Daytona Mig, Miller and Lincoln. Check your local Craigslist or Ebay, never know what you might find.

If you only intend on welding light material (well under 1/4"), the 120 volt 20 amp (or 30 amp) equipment is OK. If you plan on doing any production welding, the duty cycle comes into play. The lower amperage machines will limit how long you can weld.

There are minor differences in machines that can impact the ease of use. All the machines have adjustable wire feed, but the better units also have variable voltage (not four or more fixed steps). The better machines have metal parts at the wire drive motor, low end use plastic. Better machines will allow for changing electrical polarity (gas shield and flux core need different polarity).

For stainless steel welding, a 2 pound spool of wire goes a long way. Your local gas supplier can fix up up with the right gas. Some will let you lease the tank, instead of "owning" a tank, but you will need to raise the budget if you want to buy a tank. For regular carbon steel "C25" works great (25% carbon dioxide, 75% argon); I have cheated and used C25 with stainless, but you should use the correct gas.

The book "Welder's Handbook", by Richard Finch, would be a great resource for explaining the duty cycles and wire sizes (available a Amazon.com, and some Home Depots). In brief, the duty cycle is the amount of time you can weld at a given amperage before letting the welding equipment cool down. So 60% duty cycle would be 6 minutes of welding, and 4 minutes of cooling, in a 10 minute period. The welding wire will be limited by the total amperage of the unit; gas shielded wire comes .023/.025", .030", .035", and much larger. There is also flux core wire (imagine a regular arc welding rod, except the flux is in the middle and the metal is on the outside).

 

Lincoln Pro Mig 140 here (not the weld pack)...

I bought it for $450 at lowes and came with everything but gas tank.

 

happy with it? thats a good price...whats the difference between the pro-mig and the weld pak

 

Would this be good for stainless exhaust flanges/exhaust work?

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...ctId=100093231

 

Thanks guys,

Still undecided on a welder. On a side note is aluminized steel bad to weld to? I have an exhaust on another car that has a neck down at the cat and would like to cut that off and replace it.

 

This machine was built to a price point, you can buy a much better welder for about $600. An example http://www.weldingmart.com/Qstore/p003454.htm . Personally, I would buy a Millermatic 135 (used) or Millermatic 140.

A couple of comments:

1. In the low end machines, only one of the drive roller is powered, so you depend on the spring pressure to feed the wire. Also some use plastic for some of the drive components. If the wire speed is not constant, the weld won't be good and it is frustrating. On the better machines, the roller are geared together and the drive assembly is all metal.

2. If you ever have a problem with any of the parts (like the drive motor or circuit board), good luck in finding replacement parts. This machine is built in China, and subcontracted parts come from multiple venders (which could change from time to time).

3. Another thing to look for is the voltage setting, is it a switch (multiple tapped transformer) or variable voltage. I had a 6 position switch welder for years and did not know what I was missing until I bought a better machine.

4. If you ever want to do any aluminum welding, the machine should have a spool gun as an option.

5. As for welding stainless steel, you will need to know what type it is for selecting the shielding gas and wire. The shielding gas for stainless steel is different than carbon steel.

 

I would just grind off the coating directly next to the weld and would wear a mask to avoid any fumes. You can weld regular steel with stainless steel wire, if you are concerned about rust.

 

Thanks fellas,

Well I originally wanted this to fix another cars exhaust and fab TD's for the camaro. But I might just wait. This tax season may see a 9" rear and def wouldnt want to be doing the job twice. Im gonna keep an eye out for a welder still though. And how do you tell if you have 220 or not in a socket? Is it possible to run a cord from say the dryer plug out to the machine? All I really know about the power in my house is that if you stick something in a socket you get shocked.

 

I believe the weldpack is only good for 100A while the Pro mig is 140A...the most powerful 110V system on the market.

 

From someone who "one upped" welders from a 120a 110v up to a 210a 220v welder... Buy THE MOST welder you can afford at the time. You'll regret it and loose $ in the not so distant future almost inevitably. I'd say the best bang for the $ welders are the 175-180amp 220v machines. I built more chassis with my MM175 than any other machine and it was flawless. Through personal experience, I'm strictly a Miller customer, but lots of people are happy with the Red machines too... Just make sure there's a decent dealer near by for whatever machine you buy.

Yes, you can run a large extension off of your dryer plug as long as your laundry room is next to or in the garage. Just don't cheap out on the materials when you build the extension cord (probably $50-$75). Though for the same $ you spend to build the extension cord, you can get a buddy that knows a thing or 2 about home wiring and add a little value to your house by installing a permanent outlet. It's VEEEEEEEERY simple .

Just remember... You WILL outgrow a 110v welder QUICKLY.