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Opinions on welders, 220 or 110.

Cburb88XJ

Cburb88XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Purcellville, VA
I know this has been beaten to death and ive read alot on multiple forums but im going to be getting a welder and i will get a MIG due to price, versatility, ease of use, quality and everything. I need to be able to use either gas or fluxcore with it and i have the ability to run 220 or 110 where i would weld.

Everyone says get 220 from the start which i would like to even though it seems alot pricier. The main 3 brands im selecting from are clarke, miller and hobart which to my knowledge are good brands. Im unaware of other brands that could be good. The welder is going to be for at the thinnest maybe xj body panel sheetmetal, floors and such and the thickest would be bumpers, sliders, steering, skidplate, axle stuff, brackets, some tubing i suppose which i believe would be 1/4 thick for most of it? not sure what would be much thicker than that.

My question is with that in mind do i really need 220? or would like a hobart handler 140 or something be more than enough, the only decent priced 220 new was i think a clarke when browsing amazon, im looking on craigslist as well. Id honestly like to not go higher than $500 bucks and just trying to get a good idea what route to take, thanks.
 
If you can afford it, go 220v from the start. 140's are nice(that is what I have), but won't do good on 1/4". Bumpers will have 1/4 in them.

You should be able to find a used Miller, Hobart, or Lincoln 180 for around $500. That welder will do almost everything you need.
 
Alright that is probably what ill try to do, most likely will be a used one though. Ive heard of so many people saying they weld 1/4 with a 110 welder and it kinda confuses me. Im new to welding myself i was thinking if it actually could weld 1/4 thick without a problem then why would you need 220 really? but thats maybe not the case.
 
A 110 can weld 1/4" but you will be maxing the machine out all he time. If you go that route there are things that can be done to help such as beveling any possible joint, preheat, use 100% co2 shielding with some .023" wire. 100% co2 penetrates better than c25 but produces more spatter.
 
A lot of people call 3/16 plate 1/4. You can do tricks to get extra heat out of a 110 machine, and most will do 1/4. You also gotta consider duty cycle.... how long you can weld before the machine overheats. 110v units are typically thought of as hobby machines, hence low duty cycles. While most 220v machines are built heavier to handle a higher duty cycle.

Like how a toyota carolla will do 100mph, its not designed to, but will. While a nice v8 supercar will do 100mph all day long, without breaking a sweat. Do you wanna do 100mph in a carolla, or a supercar?
 
Just buy the biggest machine you can afford, period. Even the large 220 mig's can go low enough to weld sheet metal. Stick to Lincoln, Miller, or Hobart. Tractor Supply sells Hobart's and can usually be found on sale or a deal. The newer Miller 211 MVP or Hobart version would be my choice if I had to buy another welder. More then enough to do 3/8 and some 1/2 inch in a single pass and they can swap between 220 and 110 plugs. Very convenient if you have to weld somewhere where 220 is not available. I have a Miller 180 auto set, I bought it just after it came out, I've built everything with it just fine. Only reason I didn't get the 211 was because it hadn't been released yet when I was purchasing.
 
foxwar71 said:
Just buy the biggest machine you can afford, period.
Click to expand...

This. No one, anywhere, ever, has said "You know I think my welder is too big."

Can you make 110 do what you want? Yes. But you'll constantly be hitting the duty cycle on it and have to do a lot more work to get good welds on thicker stuff. Go 220 from the start and don't look back. I have a 110V welder that my dad bought 7 or 8 years ago and it does what I need it to, but my next welder will either be a 210 MVP or Ironman 230 if I can swing it. Craigslist deals in my area are few and far between and generally go too quickly for me to get to them, but I check there regularly as well.
 
I've owned two welders, a Miller 135 (110v) for 5 years and then moved up to my current Miller 175 (220v) which has served me well for the past 5 years.

For the reasons already described and recommendations already given.......save for a few more months, and buy a 220v model and set it up for gas sheilding.

I've welded sheetmetal using .023 wire and 5/8" with .035 wire with my M175.
 
Welders, like air compressors, cannot be too large. Your garage electric system may be inadequate, but the tool cannot be too large.
If you really want to get started on the cheap, get a small flux core system & count on upgrading to a 220 later. The advice I got at the welding supply shop was from the small flux core setup, skip the 120 volt "nice" welder and go straight to the 120 / 240 stuff.
 
foxwar71 said:
Just buy the biggest machine you can afford, period. Even the large 220 mig's can go low enough to weld sheet metal. Stick to Lincoln, Miller, or Hobart. Tractor Supply sells Hobart's and can usually be found on sale or a deal. The newer Miller 211 MVP or Hobart version would be my choice if I had to buy another welder. More then enough to do 3/8 and some 1/2 inch in a single pass and they can swap between 220 and 110 plugs. Very convenient if you have to weld somewhere where 220 is not available. I have a Miller 180 auto set, I bought it just after it came out, I've built everything with it just fine. Only reason I didn't get the 211 was because it hadn't been released yet when I was purchasing.
Click to expand...

^this..
 
After welding for over forty years, IMO, if you have 220-VAC power available, the only choice is a 220 welder. You will not regret saving a few extra bucks for the bigger welder, it's that much better.
A Lincoln WeldPak 175 has served well for many years, with a 38-year old Dayton 220 arc welder held in reserved for exceptionally big stuff. Also use a oxy-acetylene rig for cutting, bending and silver soldering.
 
thanks for the help i guess 220 it is...craigslist doesnt have much seems like, stuff gos fast. there was a hobart handler 190 for 575 which is a good deal i think.
 
Go for the highest quality you can afford first and then size. Just because it is a 220 volt machine does not guarantee anything about the actual amp output or true duty cycle. The cheap units never quite live up to the advertised performance. Good units also will have better feed rollers and guns. Try to pick a welder that you can get consumables for locally. Invest in a good quality flow meter too. For value machines you can't beat Hobart. If you can swing a more expensive one, look at a Thermal Arc. They are changing it's name to Tweco and have some great deals on the Thermal named units for about 1/2 price.
 
I actually disagree with some of you guys... I went the opposite direction.

I started with a big welder and downsized.

I got a Miller 252 in a trade for some work I did for a guy. I used that thing for many projects on my jeep and built a few trailers and it never let me down. However, two key things led me to downsize.

1) limited shop space. As trivial as it sounds, the big miller was simply top big for my tiny shop. Space was at a premium and I needed every square inch of that shop.

2) I wanted to weld aluminum. A spool gun for the big miller is a LOT more expensive than the small size spool gun and I couldn't justify the excessive cost to get setup to do a small amount if aluminum welding.

So, I ended up selling the 252 and I had enough to buy a new Miller 211, the spoolgun for it, and a new owned (not leased) 80cuft tank of argon. I had to spend 0 dollars out of pocket to get a smaller machine and the capability to weld aluminum. It was a win win for me at the time.

I've now had my 211 for 3 years and it has never let me down yet.

Another upside I've come to realize about the smaller units is that the gun is smaller and allows for better access into tight areas when welding on the rig. Also, the multi voltage has come in handy when I've had to weld at friends houses where they didn't have 220v accessible.

The 211 does everything I ask. 1/8" - 1/4" being the most common sizes I weld but I have done sheet metal and multi pass welds on 1/2".

If I was to buy new now, I'd be interested in the 3in1 welders on the market. I think the Thermal arc fabricator 211 might be the way to go. Mig,arc,tig all in one unit capable of running on 110 or 220 in a small physical size. Seems like a good combo to me.
 
Sounds good thanks everyone for help. Does getting a Hobart handler 190 or a Lincoln 180 HD weld pak sound like it would suffice? For the prices I'm seeing used and maybe even new it could be a good option.
 
alright cool that is what seems like the best option and lowes and home dumpy has pretty good prices and i get military discount there i believe which would be nice.
 
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