So im finally starting to get a little more free time on my hands little by little, and i want to go ahead and start putting together some small proof of concept gasifiers before i start on my Sustainavolt project . but ive ran into a tad of an issue. I have an old chicago electric 125. ive LONG since used it past its prime. the spool drive is held on with a little c-clamp. so im looking to get a better welder.
the TLDR is that i would like suggestions on a good welder i can use on 110, and am ok with with ones that can be switched to 220. And as i was told that i may want to MIG, what the best cost effective method of gas acquisition would be. (ill expand below for anyone who cares for my hamfisted attempt to explain myself)
specifically i want a good welder that can use 110-120. im open to the ones that can be switched to 220-240 as well. i understand that i wouldn’t be expecting something in this range to weld 1" thick steel. i have a tombstone and a miller 185 for that (that ive never used. inherited from my father who recently passed). i did ok with my little 125. my welds weren’t pretty, but you could park a semi on them.
i was told that MIG/flux core combo machine would be what i should be looking for and was HIGHLY recommended the miller 211 by quite a few people. more than once heard “buy once, cry once” but am concerned about the cost of mig welding. i keep getting conflicting information, some sources saying its cheaper, some saying its more expensive. if bigger tank makes the difference, i dont mind investing in larger tank initially. to clarify, im ok with spending the money on the initial investment so long as the cost is justifiable. like buying a larger tank for cheaper cost on gas, ect.
I had the little Lincoln and I loved it. It lasted about 25 years of hard use before I finally killed it. I replaced it with a Hobart 110 volt and it works Ok, but not as smooth as the Lincoln. I also have a 220 volt Miller I am happy with, but my favorite was the little Lincoln 110 volt.
When I was looking for a welder I found this US company called Yeswelder. They make several those multi function welding machines. They have some pretty good reviews. So I bought their 205 DS and have not regretted it. I think I paid $400-500 for it and haven’t regretted it. It has the option for MIG/MAG Stick and TIG welding with a 110-220v power supply. I just plug it into 240v and it works fine. This is the first and only welder I’ve have, so I couldn’t compare it to a Lincoln, Miller or Hobart, but it seems to work very smoothly and I haven’t had any problems with it yet.
If you are interested here is a link to their newest machine on Kickstarters. If you go with this option it may be a while before you would get the welder though since it is a Kickstarter project. You could always look at their other options on their website.
These machines are made in China though if that makes any difference.
For welding gas I also saw it was cheaper to buy a bigger bolt so I got either a 200-300 CF bottle I can’t remember which. It is filled with 100% CO2 instead of the 75-25% argon/CO2 mix which was more expensive. It seems to work well though I couldn’t tell you the exact differences between using this and the mixed gas.
yeswelder worries me. their office in in the US, but the machines are made in china under the name “keygree” and the reviews are all over the place. the customer service in particular is said to be slow and unresponsive.
I bought one of these this summer. I think it was during Amazon Prime days so I paid 400 for it. I’ve seen them as low as 350 during some flash sales. I need something that does both stick and MIG and can do TIG. For most projects I just use flux core. Anyway it has been working well for me.
I agree, anything made in china I tend to doubt the quality or functionality of it, but I’ve got their plasma cutter CUT 65, the welder and a welding helmet. All are pretty good though I would say equal to the made in America machines. The plasma cutter was a little more disappointing. It is advertised to cut almost 1” of steel but the most it has ever been able to cut is 1/2”. This was an older model of cutter though.
But I got to say my experience with their customer service is extremely good. I bought the plasma cutter from Amazon when it was on sale. When I tried it out on 120v everything seemed to work fine. On 240v though nothing would turn on. I contacted the Yeswelder customer service and they asked me to remove the cover and test the voltage coming into the machine. Both live wires had 120v coming in. So after explaining that they decided to send me a brand new plasma cutter. When I received it I tried it out and found that the same thing happened. In the end after doing a little more troubleshooting I found it my double pull breaker was the culprit. Replaced that and it all worked. I informed Yeswelder about my mistake and offered to return the brand new machine, but they said I should keep it for spare parts. I’ve now got two identical machines for the price of one. Even if the first one breaks the second one is ready to use.
Many/most of these new small welders are using a type of semiconductor that isn’t new exactly but in more wide spread use than it had been. It is called “IGBT” or insulated gate bipolar transistor.
It is a hybrid between old school transistors and MOSFETs. But that’s all trivia. What makes them great for welders is that they can switch very high currents in a small package.
Lincoln MiG pack 10. 10lb spool of .023 steel wire. Leased bottle of Argon, for welding sheet metal or gas tanks. Bottle of CO2 for everyday welding. Also have a aluminum liner for welding aluminum.
I have owned two of these for 25 years. I have only had to clean the little switch in the stinger handle once.
They run best on a full 6kw sine wave inverter or a big flywheel brushed generator like an Onan CCK.
Just thought I would throw in that I am using CO2 fire extinguishers as mig shield gas since I can get hold of those the cheapest, I have a argon/CO2 bottle for critical welds.
Don’t know if it would be cheaper for you, it depends on your contacts.
I agree on using CO2 for any carbon steel. I have 75/25 argon/CO2 for Stainless though it’s still not ideal. I need to get a dedicated CO2 and dedicated Argon tank for pure stainless. I’ve yet to see my 75/25 welds rust though with stainless.
I’m still hunting around to see which stainless flux core is the best, though. I’m not impressed with the Blue Devil stuff, it’s lumpy. Maybe I’m not running hot enough.
I learned to weld with stick only so I am a newbie on migwelding but I now use mig on stuff thinner than 1/16”, so much easier but I bet I am making mistakes without knowing it. I only use SS sticks for ss, bought ss wire too now but haven’t needed it yet. Have never tried fluxcore wire either.
In all honesty I only use gas shielded MiG for something like stainless, or if I can’t clean up the weld slag with a grinder in a very tight spot. I think if I had a CO2 tank which lasts a lot longer than 75/25 I would use MiG a lot more often.
Perhaps talk to someone that sells fireextinguishers, they probably have a contract with a big company to handle theirs and if the seal is broken they replace them and here they do not reuse or refill extinguishers. A bag of cinnamon buns or some baked goods with goo in them is helpful.
Edit, best to talk to the guy actually replacing them in person, not the front desk or a salesperson.
Get the dual voltage 220 volt will always be better than 110 volt But is nice to be able run 110 volt if 220 is not available. 220 volt units use less power and perform noticabally better.
Ive herd a lot of good things about the Yes welders. Ive been running our Harbor Frieght Titanium welder for just under 2 years now and its a very good welder better than the Miller dual voltage unit it replaced.
I have tried using that stainless steel flux core wire from Yeswelder and have never been able to get it to work properly. It always seems to make lumps like you said. Now I just TIG weld all my stainless and do an electrochemical cleaning on the welds.
After using gas MIG for a while now going back to flux core wire on carbon steel just doesn’t feel the same. It seems like I just can’t make a proper weld. Maybe it takes a little more practice or tweaking the settings to get it right.
I’d second Matt here. If your house doesn’t have many 220v outlets (or none at all), you can always fire up a generator with a 220v / 110v split phase head for the tougher projects. Not everyone has a 220v outlet in their garage or shed.
I have been using HF’s Titanium 125 for a few years. It works good, I think. It’s way better than the Chicago 125 I had before. Only thing I would change is it only holds a 2lb spool. I want to use, less expensive, per pound, 10 lb spools. BTW I don’t like HF wire.
Rindert
This is a blow pipe, I made up, that allows me to burn waste oil in an aluminum melting furnace.
I need to take a picture of my 10lb setup with one of my cheap 2lb spool machines. I took a roll cart and welded an angle iron and used an old harbor freight 10lb spool holder to support a big spool. Then I drilled a hole in the back of the welder, took a rubber grommet and some small plastic pipe to guide the wire through the machine from the back to the rollers. I can take it all apart and right now I’m back to using 2lb spools in that machine now that I have my big 240v Vevor welder.
Edit: about as simple as it gets. Just make sure the back of your welder is a single layer and there’s no wires in the way of course.
I’ve seen older MiG welders that came with a setup like this so that’s what inspired it. Cart was free, given to me when the Chevy dealership got bought out and they were tossing stuff out.
THE Eastwood 220 welder for around 1500 looks tempting to buy, though I never checked there reviews yet, though it looks heavy enough to build trailers frames, or weld 1/4 " steel, with I think it has a decent duty cycle at about 70% of its max output, I always check the duty cycle at around the amps I might be use it on bigger jobs. GOOD LUCK on your choice of welder, I have an OLD century 220 mig welder, transformer power supply / I think most the newer mugs are solid state, or inverter mig machines. my old century mig is in need of being replaced, its a pain to weld with,always popping,and running to hot or too cold, it is probley 40 years old though.
