Posted on 03/24/2024 5:28:13 AM PDT by Philsworld
Anyone out there own a welder? I’d like to hear from you about what you have, how you have it connected to power, process (mig, stick, tig) and your experiences overall. I stick-welded in vocational school years ago, and loved it. But, I never had the power or hook up to get one at my house. I do now. 70 amp breaker should do with 4 or 3 gauge wire from the breaker panel to the outlet right below the panel. I’m leaning towards one of the Everlast welder models, either the Typhoon 500 tig/stick, or Power I-Mig 353dpi mig/stick. Both come with a water cooler and torch/gun (I haven’t made a final decision about anything yet). And, max input amps are around 65 for both. Over the last 6 months I think I’ve researched just about everything out there and watched hundreds of You Tube videos. Will I ever need 350 or 400 welding amps? Probably not, but one never knows. Lincoln, Miller, Esab are nice, but pricey. Everlast offers a 5 year warranty and from speaking to people who weld with them for a profession, they are rock solid. Inverter only for me unfortunately. I’d love a transformer Lincoln precision Tig 275 or 375, but I’d need a minimum 125 amp breaker (the 375 manual says 150 amp breaker). I could do it, but I’d have to have an electrician wire a sub panel off my existing 150 amp subpanel for my garage and make it a separate dedicated welder circuit. (I have 150 amps going to my house for a total of 300 amp service). I got an estimate and it would cost me about $8,000 for everything. Not worth it really and the transformer machines take huge amounts of power (they both idle around 60 amps input). The 375 precision tig new would cost me $15,000 with tax. I don’t know what I was thinking. Too much. I would still need a tank, gas, helmet, consumables, etc… The Everlast machines are powerful and very reasonably priced for what you get with the warranty. Anything you care to share would be appreciated. Thanks.
“One thing about welding. You never stop learning how. I can honestly say I have burnt over 14 tons of rod in my lifetime. Have a Miller 200 and a Miller 259. 200 has added water cooled TIG unit for stainless and aluminum.
Don’t buy a small machine. A 220V BUZZ box will handle most small projects though. Stay away from 120V machines unless you are only welding very light stuff as you don’t get enough pen for heavier metals. Weld may look nice but won’t hold.”
A 120 volt machine might be OK for learning or home use. I bought an old miller gas MIG used because the owner outgrew it. I can sell it for more than I paid for it because they and the industry support their equipment for a long time.
——>Unless you are running a very heavy fabrication shop you don’t need all that welder.
Agreed. I think it’s that I want, but don’t really need.
I gt a harbor freight 220 volt welder, wire feed and the gas gauge to run Aragon, helium or ami . I have a separate service panel hooked a 220 with. The welder works ok. Learned stick welding. I like that I can weld aluminum. There are a lot good price point welders now.
I considered a Miller Syncrowave. Lincoln and Miller are top brands, but you pay for it. The syncrowaves are very nice and would work with my garage power set up. $$$ too much unfortunately. Do I need that much? No.
Agree with Yo-Yo completely.
EACH is a different slowly learned skill and different from the others. Same fundamentals, but different.
Start with MIG or stick as YY said.....
I made a bandsaw wood mill with a harbor freight flux core welder. Still works great.
Kind of off topic but my nephew’s son graduated from the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology about a year and a half ago (after two years of after school training while in high school). Right after he graduated, job offers came pouring in.......
The key words, when looking for a machine, are Duty Cycle.
This is how many minutes in an hour you can actively lay metal.
The higher the duty cycle, the better the machine
Yes, I’m looking at duty cycle. the I-Mig 353 has 350 max amps at 60% duty cycle, mig and stick, not that I would ever do anything with 350 output amps. But, it’s nice to know that the machine is capable for whatever I would do with it.
Welders are very sought after. I know some that are making big money in machine shops, etc... I think I saw someone was advertising for $170/hr or thereabouts.
Any MIG welder I bought would need to be flux wire compatible. Most are as I’ve seen.
——>Start with MIG or stick as YY said.....
probably what I will do. The Everlast machine is MIG/Stick combo, which by the way few companies offer. Tig/Stick no problem. Very few MIG/Stick combo.
Good luck to you. With that set up you should be able to run spray mig once your skills get there.
Spray mig??
Later.
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-180-amp-mig-welder-and-60-amp-plasma-cutter-combo-deal.html
Eastwood mig/plasma.
Inexpensive. Works on 110 or 220 (I run mine on a 220v 30a circuit and it has never blown). Welds steel and aluminum (spool gun was included)
I have used a 120v Lincoln 140 MiG welder here on the homestead for years. I’ve done repairs, fab work and hard faceing. All I ever run is FCAW. (flux cored wire) Don’t let people especially salesmen tell you that you need a great big welder to do things. It is mostly a matter of time and duty cycle. Multiple pass is actually stronger because succeeding passes anneal the passes below them. It is mostly a matter of time and duty cycle. I have used that small MiG machine to weld 2X3X1.5 inch steel blocks that hold carbide teeth onto the rotor of a crushing machine that slams into frozen ground and wood at 340 rpm. I never had a weld fail.
The main thing is to clean the metal properly and clean between passes. I keep a wire wheel on a 4 inch grinder for this. It is much faster and more effective than dinking on it with a slag hammer. I also preheat big stuff and make sure that large welds do not cool too rapidly. This avoids the dreaded “tink”
Slavery was abolished a long time ago ...
I have a Lincoln 180 that can be used with 120 or 220 volt power.
I mostly do automotive panel replacements with it but it has enough heat to weld some thick materials too when needed.
I knew that I wanted one that ran off 220 but also wanted to be able to take it and use it where only 120 was available.
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