Anyone out there own a welder?

[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.

[Philsworld]

Ping to Elsie (and check your mail).

[Arlis]

Have old Lincoln buzz-box stick welder & Hobart 135 Mig welder.

Know why welding is my favorite hobby?

#1. You don’t gotta wait for the glue to dry.

#2. If you mess up - which I frequently do - you just pull out the cutting torch & grinder and nobody knows.......

Both came to me on a project after I’d been welding for about 5 years......

[Philsworld]

Over the years I’ve had many projects that I wish I had a welder for. It’s time for me to get one. The Lincoln stick buzz boxes last and have been around for years. I want stick, but I want mig or tig too.

[Yo-Yo]

It sounds like you're trying to go from zero to 200mph all at once with welding.

What do you want to weld all of the sudden after all these years? Do you have a specific project in mind?

Don't laugh, but I would suggest you start with a small stick or MIG welder from Harbor Freight. Many of the smaller ones can use 120V.

Then if you find yourself really into welding, you can spend the money to run dedicated 220V to your garage and upgrade to Lincoln or some other name brand welder.

You're not going to weld car frames on 120v, but you can do a lot of maintenance welding on trailers, or hobby welding just to get your feet wet without too much expense.

[filospinato]

It really depends on what you want to do with it.
I do a lot of automotive steel sheet metal repair, so I went with a Hobart MVP wire feed. It does a lovely job.
I’ve also got an aluminum gas welding setup for doing old aluminum sheet metal, oxy acetylene and a Meco midget.
Both are great, require practice, and are job specific.

[ABN 505]

Good choice on the Everlast, I have a multi purpose inverter Arc and tig from them and it;s every bit as good as my Miller that cost over 2,000 more. It has the same 110/220 input and runs super smooth. Unless you are doing major commercial welding you don't need anything over 200 amps, I have a Lincoln 300 that I would use occasionally for shooting studs or welding 1” thick steel but it was a monster to move around plus you had to change up the transformer for your currant input. I got rid of all my machines when I retired except for the Everlast and I don't regret it.

[Philsworld]

——>Don’t laugh, but I would suggest you start with a small stick or MIG welder from Harbor Freight. Many of the smaller ones can use 120V.

Yeah, I thought about that. I like the Hobart 240 mig. 120V machine probably not because I have 240 50 amps available right now. It’s just a matter of upgrading the wiring and breaker. Miller bought Harbor Freight. Tractor Supply sells it for about $2200. On the Airgas site they sell it for $3700. simple machine with volts and wire speed. No pulse functions, etc... But, it’s a good machine.

Maybe just making up for lost time 😁

First project will be enclosing my front entrance. I have sections of bars ready to go from another project.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Excellent advice.

[Philsworld]

Yes, I can’t disagree with you. I’m leaning toward one of the Everlast models. One guy I know does exhaust work and uses the TIG 325EXT. Says he loves it. But, there’s more of a learning curve with TIG, which I’m willing to do. Anything I choose will also have Stick (mig/stick or Tig/stick). I learned on stick and I was good at it. Simple, effective. I’ve seen videos of guys in Viet Nam or Pakistan building stuff with stick and it’s actually amazing what they can do. Very talented people with just basic welding machines.

[oldasrocks]

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.
Was going to pick up a small portable a while back and was shocked at the price. Over $7,000 so didn’t
I rarely weld anymore as 73 with skaky hands and bad eyesight. Have thought about selling my welders but won’t.

[iontheball]

I learned to stick weld in vo-ag in high school years ago and it still is my go to machine. Stick selection is varied and they are the only consumables. Prep before welding is minimal. Flip the switch, grab a stick, set your amps and you are ready to go. I also have a gas set up which I use for light welding with brass. If I went for something else today, I would look into a combination unit that would have plasma and tig capabilities. Unless you are doing heavy or production welding, I can’t see spending all the money you are planning to spend on a high end unit. They are nice, but I would view it as overkill. Everlast sounds like a decent choice.

[faucetman]

Just bought a Hitbox MIG-250DP 5 in 1 welder.

I am just starting to learn how to use it. Using it so far with flux core wire and very happy with it. I used it on a 115 volt 20 amp circuit with no problems. Welded continuously for minutes without it shutting down for cooling. Never tripped a breaker for the whole project.

It is also 230 volt with adapter cord, but I bought it to be portable so not going to install a dedicated 50 amp circuit for it.

Bought it at Amazon although today I see Walmart.com has it $20 cheaper.

I have no plans to mess around with gas as I am NOT a welder and don’t really care what my welds look like. I just want to be able to fix things that break and fabricate small items as needed.

Don’t know if this is what you want, but it works for me.

Mine came with solid wire. Bought flux core wire at Amazon cheap. Doesn’t come with the TIG set up. Instructions on how to use/adjust it are poor. Figuring it out on my own.

I had minimal experience with arc welding, zero experience with MIG welding.

[Obadiah]

Good, sound advice. I was in the same boat. I wanted to weld various projects but was not really looking to do any heavy fabrication. Ultimately I decided to buy the Harbor Freight Omnipro 220. It is an excellent and extremely capable machine that has more than adequately served my needs.

[waterhill]

I’m a dauber. Got a Lincon and a bobcat.

What you need to know?

I did 30years fuel. Above ground and underground fuel systems.

I tacked stuff for welders.

I was a designer.

[VTenigma]

Unless you are building bridges or air arc gouging there is no need for a welder that heavy. Something that will run up to 250 amps is way more welder than most people will ever use. Heavy fabrication is done with 1/8” 6010 or 7018 all the time running below 120 amps. I run a 220 amp mig machine, a 210 tig machine, and a 175 amp stick welding transformer.

They never get utilized at full throttle, and they all run off a 50 amp breaker on 75’ of 8ga conductor. Remember, welder specific branch circuits are rated differently than other branch circuits in the NEC. I fabricate with some type of welder nearly every day. Unless you are running a very heavy fabrication shop you don’t need all that welder.

[Philsworld]

Power I-Mig 353dpi from their website. $3500. looks like you get a lot for the money. water cooled mig torch (first one I’ve ever seen), and stick. separate feeder. lots of functions and room to grow.

https://www.everlastgenerators.com/product/mig/power-i-mig-353dpi

Features & Benefits:
Synergic GMAW-P/SMAW Operation (MIG/Stick)
Separate Wire Feeder / Power Source with 15 ft. cable
Water-Cooler Included
Cart Included
Single Pulse and Double Pulse MIG, fully synergic with synergic and non-synergic basic MIG mode (non-pulse)
Industrial duty cycle of 60% at 350A
Burn back control
Heavy Duty Cast aluminum feed mechanism with true 4 roll driven feeding on separate, portable wire feeder
Euro Quick connect series MIG gun or Water Cooled Equivalent
Arc force and Inductance control useful for fine tuning arc characteristics in Stick and MIG modes
Dual Digital Display allows precise and repeatable setting of welding parameters
Save up to 9 favorite programs
Uses a 12” (30-44 lbs) roll of welding wire, or can use an 8” (10-12 lbs) with available adapter
Digitally Controlled IGBT Inverter with programmable memory
Stick weld function
Spool Gun and Push/Pull Gun capable
Includes poly liner for use with Aluminum and standard gun (50XX series Aluminum)

[Zuriel]

Migs are great, used them at fab shops I worked at in the 90s.

I have a 110v suitcase fluxcore wire welder, and an old Lincoln stick welder. Don’t need anything else for what I do.

First welding project was a mini bike when I was 13. Through the years I made, modified, and repaired some of my farm implements.

Made a full scale t-rex skeleton in 98, (and some smaller dinos after that (not a dino or ‘arteest’ type person. Just was trying to add income).

[Mogger]

don’t really care what my welds look like. I just want to be able to fix things that break and fabricate small items as needed.

Then don't weld anything that if it breaks will be dangerous.

A good looking weld is one sign of a good, strong weld.

But on the other hand, you can have a beautiful looking weld with not enough penetration that easily breaks.

Watch Youtube videos, maybe take a course or two, practice a lot on scrap metal and projects that if they break, it won't matter until you are doing proper looking, strong welds.

A way to see how they are is to cut them apart cross ways to look at the penetration.

[The Antiyuppie]

“It sounds like you’re trying to go from zero to 200mph all at once with welding.
What do you want to weld all of the sudden after all these years? Do you have a specific project in mind?

Don’t laugh, but I would suggest you start with a small stick or MIG welder from Harbor Freight. Many of the smaller ones can use 120V.

Then if you find yourself really into welding, you can spend the money to run dedicated 220V to your garage and upgrade to Lincoln or some other name brand welder.

You’re not going to weld car frames on 120v, but you can do a lot of maintenance welding on trailers, or hobby welding just to get your feet wet without too much expense.”

Basically, I agree 100% with the above. You don’t start learning how to ride a motorcycle on a Harley. If you have money I would skip flux welding and go on to MIG (cleaner welds). However, flux/stick welding is useful for outdoor work. TIG welding is hard to do but can give the nicest welds, but I would still start on MIG.