Bought a new Lincoln Mig 211i

[gsganzer]

I decided to buy a new Lincoln Power Mig 211i. I previously used a Lincoln LN25 Pro, that I would run off my Lincoln 305G engine driven welder. I don't use a Mig rig often and I found the LN25 to be finicky to get dialed-in just right and I frequently had wire feed issues. It was also loud and not enjoyable having the engine driven welder running when I'm just piddling on building deer feeders, hog traps and deer blinds out in my shop. The LN25 is really meant to be a job site rig for heavy structural welding, not for piddling around with 14- 16ga tube steel in my shop, that has 220VAC available.

Anyway, I'll go pick up the 211i tomorrow. I already have a couple of projects for it. I'm really looking forward to trying it out.

 

[Ed ke6bnl]

I have an older model 211 and the auto setting works for me 90% of the time.

 

[gsganzer]

I have an older model 211 and the auto setting works for me 90% of the time.

I'm planning to set it up with .035 ER70S-6 wire and C-25 shield gas. That seems like the best all-purpose for my needs on thinner stuff.

 

[etpm]

I have 3 Lincoln welders, two wire feed and one TIG, and two Miller welders, a 300 amp wire feed and a 300 amp TIG machine. They are all great machines. My newest is the Lincoln 200 amp TIG welder. It is a joy to use. I'm sure you will love your new welder.
Eric

 

[gsganzer]

I brought it out to my shop yesterday, hooked it up and welded on some 14 and 16ga scrap I had. Wow, what a difference from the clunky LN25. The LN had a 300 or 400A gun, the 211i has a much more nimble 100A gun.

The start and arc stability are really nice and the beads look great. Sounds like you have an angry bumble bee trapped in a box, a nice steady buzz that's music to my ears. There's a reason they call them a "monkey gun". It's pretty hard to screw up a weld.

I'm putting some new LED lights out in the shop to give me some brighter lighting and then later this winter I'll build a couple hunting tripods I want for my deer lease.

 

[5030]

Not 'monkey gun'.... Glue Gun. MIG has to be the easiest process there is. I oiwn a pair of older Hobart 210 MIGS, both transformer machines and both on 75-25 gas and I buy all my FILLED 120 cubic Foot bottles from Weldfabulous in Winona, Minnesota and they ship them Fed-Ex for free. In fact I get my Argon bottles from them as well as all my TIG stuff except Tung, which I buy from Midwest Tungsten in Northbrook, Illinois.

I had and sold a Lincoln Square Wave machine as well as a Hypertherm 80 amp plasma cutter. HT's consumables got stupid priced.

Replaced the TIG machine with a Harbor Freight Pro-Tig 205 and the Plasma with a Harbor Freight Titanium 65. The HF plasma comes with the plasma table interface no charge and the consumables are 1/3rd the cost of the HT's.

Best part of the whole deal was I bought the Pro-Tig and the plasma cutter on sale (ITC Club) at basically a couple hundred bucks off their regular price and put them on my HF credit card with 3 years to pay, no interest. Finally, I got the 3 year no questions asked warranty on both of them. If they crap out, they get replaced with a NEW machine, no charge. Hard to beat that plus any HF store will honor the warranty. I TIG mostly steel and stainless and very limited aluminum so the 205 has plenty of balls for what I require. I did add a CK International water cooled 250 amp torch as well as an Everlast water cooler. I don't like a warm torch hand.

Got the torch and fittings from Weldfablous again.

One of my friends happens to be an AWS Certified Nuclear welder and he's used the Pro Tig himself and told me the Pro Tig produces the smoothest arc he's ever experienced. In fact he's going to sell his Miller and get one for himself.

Hard to beat an IGBT machine today. Very efficient on electric use and produce a very stable arc and of course the Pro-Tig can also stick weld low hydrogen SMAW elerctrodes (just like the Squarewave could). I don't stick weld as a rule unless I have my engine drive Ranger in the truck.

Finally, you can run the Pro-Tig on 110-1 as well but the output amperage is less.

Nice welder, fantastic guarantee and excellent price too. All digital with post and pre flow (user adjustable) as well as HF start and adjustable pulse settings. Unlike the Squarewave, no knobs to set, just push buttons and it has a large, easy to read digital readout.

Would I ever sell my Hobart MIGS? Never. Great machines but today, like Lincoln, they are over priced.

Just my 2 cents. Take it as you will.

 

[5030]

Additionally, I only use INE 0.030 solid wire. I've tried all of them over the years and the INE wire is the best I've found anywhere. I run 030 even when spray arc transfer.

Only thing I would change is I prefer large spools of wire versus the 10 pound INE spools.

 

[Cycledude]

Not 'monkey gun'.... Glue Gun. MIG has to be the easiest process there is. I oiwn a pair of older Hobart 210 MIGS, both transformer machines and both on 75-25 gas and I buy all my FILLED 120 cubic Foot bottles from Weldfabulous in Winona, Minnesota and they ship them Fed-Ex for free. In fact I get my Argon bottles from them as well as all my TIG stuff except Tung, which I buy from Midwest Tungsten in Northbrook, Illinois.

I had and sold a Lincoln Square Wave machine as well as a Hypertherm 80 amp plasma cutter. HT's consumables got stupid priced.

Replaced the TIG machine with a Harbor Freight Pro-Tig 205 and the Plasma with a Harbor Freight Titanium 65. The HF plasma comes with the plasma table interface no charge and the consumables are 1/3rd the cost of the HT's.

Best part of the whole deal was I bought the Pro-Tig and the plasma cutter on sale (ITC Club) at basically a couple hundred bucks off their regular price and put them on my HF credit card with 3 years to pay, no interest. Finally, I got the 3 year no questions asked warranty on both of them. If they crap out, they get replaced with a NEW machine, no charge. Hard to beat that plus any HF store will honor the warranty. I TIG mostly steel and stainless and very limited aluminum so the 205 has plenty of balls for what I require. I did add a CK International water cooled 250 amp torch as well as an Everlast water cooler. I don't like a warm torch hand.

Got the torch and fittings from Weldfablous again.

One of my friends happens to be an AWS Certified Nuclear welder and he's used the Pro Tig himself and told me the Pro Tig produces the smoothest arc he's ever experienced. In fact he's going to sell his Miller and get one for himself.

Hard to beat an IGBT machine today. Very efficient on electric use and produce a very stable arc and of course the Pro-Tig can also stick weld low hydrogen SMAW elerctrodes (just like the Squarewave could). I don't stick weld as a rule unless I have my engine drive Ranger in the truck.

Finally, you can run the Pro-Tig on 110-1 as well but the output amperage is less.

Nice welder, fantastic guarantee and excellent price too. All digital with post and pre flow (user adjustable) as well as HF start and adjustable pulse settings. Unlike the Squarewave, no knobs to set, just push buttons and it has a large, easy to read digital readout.

Would I ever sell my Hobart MIGS? Never. Great machines but today, like Lincoln, they are over priced.

Just my 2 cents. Take it as you will.

How thick of steel can you comfortably weld with those Harbor Freight welders ?

 

[Mike1955]

How thick of steel can you comfortably weld with those Harbor Freight welders ?

Cycle dude I have a Vulcan mig from harbor freight. It will weld quarter inch with decent penetration. Probably thicker but not deep penetration. I am currently in vo tech school trying to reach full use of everything. I can buy tig stuff for it but I might be best to just buy a tig machine. A lot of this depends on who you talk to

 

[5030]

I have a Pro-Tig 205 and added a CK water cooled torch and an Everlast water cooler. It's a fine machine and has every feature you could want plus it's ac-dc and pulse so it's +10 on aluminum and it has a very stable arc. Think I said that one of my buddies is a Nuclear welder - refitter and he is very impressed as well. In fact he told me he's ditching his Miller and getting one. I also have 2 Hobart 210 gas MIGS and a pair of Titanium plasma cutters, the 45 and 65 amp machines. The 65 is on my plasma table and the 45 is for around the shop use.