Do I need to get a 220v mig

[Tractorable]

I bought a dual voltage Millermatic 211 MIG last year which is the best of both worlds. I went with MIG because I’m restoring and old Land Cruiser FJ40 and MIG is great for auto body work. The 211 is also stout enough for heavier tractor work on 220V but as other posters already said MIG likes clean metal so I make it a point to take anything I weld down to bare metal first. I might pick up a 220V stick welder at some point to increase my options.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Out of curiosity, did you try a different roll of wire in it? Apparently there was a batch of them that were shipped out with wire that was garbage and that caused a lot of them to have issues very much like you're describing.

Aaron Z

He said stick welder and I know what he is talking about since I have one (blue and about the same size as the flux core unit)... on 110V the only rod I could get to work with it were 1/16" which are short and a pain to use being so flexible... I do know what you mean on the flux core welders, they are picky on wire, I've found they are more picky on diameter than brand, once I switched to .035" it was a game changer...

 

[aczlan]

He said stick welder and I know what he is talking about since I have one (blue and about the same size as the flux core unit)... on 110V the only rod I could get to work with it were 1/16" which are short and a pain to use being so flexible... I do know what you mean on the flux core welders, they are picky on wire, I've found they are more picky on diameter than brand, once I switched to .035" it was a game changer...

Well, that's what I get for misreading...

Aaron Z

 

[1 of U]

like anything else you should pick the right tool for the job , as a welder at work and a home machinist ,fabricator & welder
that builds most of my bobcat & tractor attachments I would tell anyone to look on their local Craigslist, look for a good 220 machine
preferably a 250 amp machine , a good stick welder a AC-DC if you can get one for 250.00 or less , and for sure pick up a 220 AC
machine , a Lincoln Tombstone welder I've welded tons of 7018 on some of those welders . Best thing is spend good money once
if you buy cheap that's what you end up with cheap shxt the burns up and quits working ..
good luck and run those stringers ...

 

[aczlan]

For $375 (probably less if you ask "Mark at Everlast" on here for the TBN discount) you can buy a Everlast PowerArc 200 STi.
That will do 0-200 amps of DC stick and (in my experience) will give you a much nicer weld than a tombstone.

Aaron Z

 

[MossRoad]

Hello,

I have a Miller 140 and have loved it until had to do some welding on my bucket and had to load some flux wire and still had some trouble getting a good weld. I am a relative noob to welding, but I am learning. Will the Harbor Freight 220v MIG make me happy welding 1/4"?

Thanks John.

I have a cheap 220v stick welder. Maybe I need to get it out and learn. Thanks for the info.

My nephew keeps nagging me to get on the stick welder! I guess I better get practicing. Thanks.

Before spending a lot of money, I'd get someone that knows how to stick weld to come over and see how your stick welder does. It could save you many hundreds of dollars.

I have a Hobart Handler 140 that runs on 110V that I use for most tacking and light welds. And, I have an old Craftsman AC/DC arc welder I bought new when I was 18 that I use for anything heavier than I feel comfortable with from the 110v wire feed machine. It still works 40+ years later.

Try what you have first.

 

[sd455dan]

Hello,

I have a Miller 140 and have loved it until had to do some welding on my bucket and had to load some flux wire and still had some trouble getting a good weld. I am a relative noob to welding, but I am learning. Will the Harbor Freight 220v MIG make me happy welding 1/4"?

Thanks John.

It might - but HF new warranty is poor...


We guarantee this product to be free from defects in materials and workmanship 90 days from the date of purchase. Limitations apply.

I do not understand why HF pulled some of their Vulcan warranties back to 90 days.


My son just had me order a new 3 in 1 "Hitbox" MIG 250, Its his money so he can do as he wants.

Amazon description says 230 amps output, ebay says 200 amps- this on a $275 welder:confused2: If this produces an honest 175 amps stick and MIG and lasts a couple years I will be impressed. Especially if it will run decent beads.

 

[BrokenTrack]

If it was me, and that is all I was doing was rebuilding a bucket, and not a lot of welding after that, I would just stick with the 120 volt welder and make it work. It just might mean multiple passes, but that is not so bad.

But as welders, there is something to be said for higher voltage. Really, we do not have much to work with. We can change the process (Stick, MIG, TIG, etc), and we can change our filler rod (6010, 6011, 7018, 12018, etc), and we can fuss with out electricity. Those three things are about all we can do. So to have more power available, the more we can work with it.

That is somewhat changing however, as inverter welders now, are getting DC frequencies in the 100,000 per second range and can manipulate it through digital, instead of analog controls. This is fairly new to me, but with the right welder now, a person can do almost as much with 120 volt versus 240 volt just because the conversion process from AC to DC power is so much more efficient. But it depends on the inverter welder too.

People would be surprised to learn that at home I use a AC stick welder for all my welding needs. The reason for that is, as a retired welder, I am used to 480 volts of 3 phase power. Since there is no way I could get that at home, I do not even try, and just get by with an old AC stick machine. But a good weld, no matter how it is made, will hold a lot.

 

[Demented]

Although there is a lot of negative information about Eastwood welders, 99% of it is old; as in 2013-2017 old. They've come quite a ways since then. I just picked up a MIG175 with a spool gun for aluminum for $550 a few weeks ago. During the unboxing and assembly, the part and build quality looks as good or better than anything else in it's class.

If I do my part, it lays down some really nice beads. For some reason, the arc seems a little louder than other machines but is completely stable and I was able to lay down a good bead on some 18ga using .030 wire without burning through. Pretty impressive. Eastwood says that you can go down to 24ga using .023 wire. The next time I get my hands on some, I'm going to have to give it a try. On the other end of the scale, it is rated for 5/16" mild steel in a single pass. However, I preheated a piece of 3/8 for a minute with a torch and cranked the amperage up and got full penetration with one pass.They also claim that it can run .030 or .035 flux-core wire if you don't have a bottle. The only downside is that this is a 240V only machine.

They have as good of a warranty as anybody in their class plus a "weld free for 30 days" trial period. Right now they have them on sale for $520. They might be worth a look.

 

[lennyzx11]

Before spending a lot of money, I'd get someone that knows how to stick weld to come over and see how your stick welder does. It could save you many hundreds of dollars.

I have a Hobart Handler 140 that runs on 110V that I use for most tacking and light welds. And, I have an old Craftsman AC/DC arc welder I bought new when I was 18 that I use for anything heavier than I feel comfortable with from the 110v wire feed machine. It still works 40+ years later.

Try what you have first.

I love new stuff. But I have to agree with this. Try what you have and learn the techniques to use it.

My Hobart 210MVP seems to trip a breaker when I attempt to use 110 seriously. Switch to 220 and it’s an animal.

My tombstone AC/DC is at least 40 years old that I know of. Don’t use it much but pulled it out the other day to deep weld some rusty channel iron.

I do have to say though. I splurged and bought (used) a speed glass auto darkening helmet.
That is the bestest greatest most awesomeness thing ever to help your welding!