Opinions welcome. Hobart Stickmate LX AC/DC

[rankrank1]

AC/DC WELDER / Lincoln Idealarc 250/250

If this is still up, grab the Idealarc and skip the Stickmate! :thumbsup: Stickmates are good, but Idealarc machines are a whole 'nother class.
Wonderful arc, and manuals are still available from Lincoln. They are tough and routinely outlive their owners.

They'll run off a 50A breaker (not maxed out, but you won't normally need to) and are fine commercial stick machines.

We trained structural and pipe welders using a fleet of the square top variety, and they make excellent scratch-start TIG machines.

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I agree the Lincoln idealarc 250/250, idealarc 300/300, or even the Miller dialarc are all a step above the smaller buzzboxes and they can be found rather cheap.

That said they are not necessarily the best choice for everyone:
a) First you need big wiring wiring to run the industrial machines on the order of 90-100 amp service to run one safely and properly. Running one of these on oversize breaker on undersized wire is NOT permitted as their duty cycle is too high. (A smaller buzzbox on the other hand will easily run off 10 gauge wire with an oversize breaker on undersized wire and is NEC code legal due to the lower duty cycle).
b) The industrial machines are immensely big and heavy - notice that each one has a lifting hook on it for a crane lift. No huge problem if you have a nice shop with concrete as you can build a cart to push it around on with vast amounts of concrete - or you can leave it parked in one spot. (If you are like me though without a good shop then I need something that I can easily move outside in the grass, gravel, or mud. With the smaller class of buzzboxes you can easily move them around. Smaller buzzbox is also easy enough to pick up and load in the truck by hand and take to a friends house. 10 gauge cord out to 95' and I can power a small buzzbox off a friend's stove or dryer power in a pinch).

Again not knocking the big industrials as they are great machines, but there are also some trade-offs to them that are not really related to their actual performance which is admittingly better.

 

[dex3361]

I currently use a hobart AC/DC stickmate and it does a great job for the type of welding I do. Great little machine. I bought mine when my old Miller 300A industrial production gave up the ghost and I needed to weld asap. I paid about $400 for it from TSC.

 

[monckywrench]

The weight issue usually doesn't matter much except when obtaining the machine and getting it home. After that, they usually go on a rolling cart.

Rougher floor or ground? Use larger wheels. My engine hoists for example have car spindles in the rear (with low-profile space-saver spare tires which roll acceptably when flat!) and solid lawn tractor tires (non-castering) on the front legs. I can pull 460 Fords with transmission attached in my sandy yard. I winch them back and forth using a comealong when the loads are inconvenient to push.

Welders are great for making everything mobile. :thumbsup:

Prospective buyers will figure out if its too heavy for them when the check out the machine.

I don't manually lift my AC-225/DC-125 either since I have a bad back and don't care to make it worse. I run a strap through the handle loops and crane it that way.

Usual custom with larger machines is "hardwire to the breaker since plugs are expensive" and locate the machine close to the panel. Add more welding lead as you need it.

I never use an oversize breaker on undersized wire. Everything from panel to outlet is to code and in conduit. I do sometimes run equipment which is capable of popping the breaker it's connected to, but not at levels which do so. So do many other welders.

I can power a small buzzbox off a friend's stove or dryer power in a pinch).

Done that with an adapter I still use for light work with my Migmaster 250 (on auto sheet metal, no duty cycle issues). You can easily pop 30A breakers with a Lincoln or Stickmate-sized buzzbox, but it's fine for medium work using them. I've popped a 50A but I was maxed out piercing plate at the time (long ago, before I got torches).

 

[rankrank1]

The weight issue usually doesn't matter much except when obtaining the machine and getting it home. After that, they usually go on a rolling cart.

Rougher floor or ground? Use larger wheels. My engine hoists for example have car spindles in the rear (with low-profile space-saver spare tires which roll acceptably when flat!) and solid lawn tractor tires (non-castering) on the front legs. I can pull 460 Fords with transmission attached in my sandy yard. I winch them back and forth using a comealong when the loads are inconvenient to push.

Welders are great for making everything mobile. :thumbsup:

Prospective buyers will figure out if its too heavy for them when the check out the machine.

I don't manually lift my AC-225/DC-125 either since I have a bad back and don't care to make it worse. I run a strap through the handle loops and crane it that way.

Usual custom with larger machines is "hardwire to the breaker since plugs are expensive" and locate the machine close to the panel. Add more welding lead as you need it.

I never use an oversize breaker on undersized wire. Everything from panel to outlet is to code and in conduit. I do sometimes run equipment which is capable of popping the breaker it's connected to, but not at levels which do so. So do many other welders.


Done that with an adapter I still use for light work with my Migmaster 250 (on auto sheet metal, no duty cycle issues). You can easily pop 30A breakers with a Lincoln or Stickmate-sized buzzbox, but it's fine for medium work using them. I've popped a 50A but I was maxed out piercing plate at the time (long ago, before I got torches).

Oh boy where to go with all this.

First it is 100% NEC code legal to run an oversized breaker on undersized wire for use with a Welder only if certain criteria are met. Your implication that it not code legal to do so is totally incorrect. That said there is a magic formula based on welder duty cycle and welder amp draw that must be adhered to - if you upgrade to bigger welder then you must recheck the formula to insure that you still comply. Also, the oversized breaker on the undersized wire circuit can then only be used to power a welder that meets the criteria. In other words the circuit can NOT be used for any other purpose such as an air compressor or plasma cutter. Look at the power cord from the factory on the Hobart Stickmate, Miller Thunderbolt, or Lincoln tombstones - it is either 12 gage or 14 gage so unless you replaced the cord you are already running an oversized breaker on undersized wire. (In short, it is no problem to power any of the small buzzboxes with low duty cycle off of 10 gage wire and an oversized 50 amp breaker. Some case you can even use 12 gage wire but I would not go that route myself). The industrial machines though will not comply with oversize breaker on undersize wire as their amp draws are way too high as are their duty cycles.

As for Pushing that industrial machine around - as stated in my first post easy to do with concrete - not so much though in gravel and mud regardless of how big I make the wheels. Can I push it - sure. Do I want to push it - heck No.

Like those of us with less than ideal shops usually have a crane handy for our use too. If we are lucky we might have a tractor with a loader, but even that is rather rare. On the other hand, the small buzzbox are pretty light. I too have a bad back and can easily pick one up - almost all of them are aluminum wound transformers. Matter of fact I usually pick it up and carry it in rough terrain as it is easier on me.

Not sure why you had to throw your Migmaster for your portable applications in though as it is totally irrevalent to the OP's original question regarding an arc welder since I doubt the OP has multiple machines like you. At least the industrial machines that you mentioned do relate relate to the OP's original question (and can be good viable choices which I agreed with you on if their few drawbacks that I mentioned do not pose a problem). Although it does pretty much validate what I said about the industrial machines being a pain to move and improvise powering them off of a dryer or stove plug is nearly fruitless. On the other hand a small buzzbox will work quite decently on only a 30 amp dryer circuit while it will work great on a 40 amp stove circuit.

 

[monckywrench]

The MigMaster was simply an example of what one can run off an adapter, that is all.

OP may, like many of us, begin with a buzzbox and end up with more machines. An idea of things he might do can't hurt.

Tool and equipment collections tend to grow over time.