small arc welder recommendation

[MillWeld]

It's been a while since I have posted. I have moved to a retirement home and had to give up a lot of hobbies (sawmilling, wood heat, welding). I am thinking about resuming my welding with a 120 VAC arc welder because I think I can do small tasks with a smaller unit whereas the 240 vac 50 amp I sold can't be plugged in at my garage and the need to do the large projects I once did are no longer needed. I think I can use a smaller unit occasionally without upsetting neighbors. I want to stick with a stick welder because I have 50+ years experience with it. Any recommendations?

 

[Roadworthy]

There are two types of 120 volt outlets. Most are fifteen amp outlets. A few are twenty amp which require heavier wire. Check your breaker panel to see which you have. That will limit your choice of welders. Although you want a stick welder you may be limited to a wire feed if you're limited to 120 volts. Some wire has a flux core and some requires a cover gas. Flux core units are more like a stick welder.

 

[JohnP3616]

I had a 120V Eastwood that I fried on one of its first tasks which was making a hog trap. I upgraded to a 240V Hobart which had served me well. I know some people have had good experiences with a 120V, but mine was disappointing. If you can swing it at all, I would recommend wiring in 240V. Sorry, but that is my experience.

 

[California]

I see you're living somewhere with only 125 volt service available.

There are several cheap 125 volt stick welders on Amazon, with a third-party 3 year warranty offered alongside it for some $20.

Stick, so long as it is DC not AC, will be the simplest to set up, store, and (with your experience) use. Avoid the heavier transformer-based units if you will need to put it away between uses. A semiconductor-based unit is far smaller and lighter.

'Project Farm' on YouTube has reviews of relevant units.

I think the next step up would be HF's Titanium Easy-Flux 125 Welder. It is DC. Avoid HF's cheapest AC-only transformer based (much heaver) flux welder.

You can step up from hobby-grade gear to more expensive, and better quality and features. Dual voltage, MIG gas, digital settings, lots more.

Best choice depends on how much workshop space you have, cost, complexity of projects. I'm assuming here you want simplest that can do the job if this just retirement hobby work.

The pros will be along shortly to recommend pro-grade gear if you need to impress the neighbors or you just want to spend more on this hobby.

 

[BigGG]

It's been a while since I have posted. I have moved to a retirement home and had to give up a lot of hobbies (sawmilling, wood heat, welding). I am thinking about resuming my welding with a 120 VAC arc welder because I think I can do small tasks with a smaller unit whereas the 240 vac 50 amp I sold can't be plugged in at my garage and the need to do the large projects I once did are no longer needed. I think I can use a smaller unit occasionally without upsetting neighbors. I want to stick with a stick welder because I have 50+ years experience with it. Any recommendations?

Harbor Freight has a Titanium Stick 225 for $299. It's a 110/220v inverter, so DC. It'll probably give you 100A or so on 110v.

 

[MillWeld]

I do have a 240 vac 20 amp receptacle that I asked the maintenance people install for my compressor. I didn't intend on using it for anything else but I could share it with a welder. From the comments it sounds like I will have more options with this. Since I asked for this receptacle I assume nothing else is operated by it but the labeling in the breaker slot says KIT GFI and Bath heater; I'll bet it is an old label and they didn't update it. (In any event I won't weld while I'm taking a shower.) Thanks for all the comments. I've seen ads as low as 69$ for small welders but I don't want something that can't maintain the arc.

 

[Jrasband]

Titanium Stick 225 from Harbor Freight is a excellent welder to start out with I highly recommend, and its only $300.

 

[California]

I do have a 240 vac 20 amp

Great! In this case don't consider anything that is 120-only.

 

[MillWeld]

Thanks for the recommendations. I have enough to go on now to make a decision.

 

[CliffordK]

Does your house have all electric appliances, or natural gas appliances? Almost all current wiring in the USA has 220V ... somewhere.

I haven't been happy with 120v welding, but perhaps there are times when it is good. Frankly, most of my welding is less than 100 Amps.

What type of welding do you like?

I love my TIG welder. Not so fast, but a unique way to weld. A little finesse. Think oxy-acetylene with electricity.

I haven't done a lot of wire feed with gas (MIG) but if you get it going, you can get a sweet weld.

I ignored flux core wire for quite some time, but tried it a bit, and really isn't that bad, and you don't have to drag a bottle around.

I also got into stick welding a little late in the game. If you need LOTS OF POWER (thick metal) then stick is the way to go.

Oh, that reminds me, oxy-acetylene shouldn't be ignored, especially if you wish to use brazing, or are interested in certain types of art.

There is, of course, also plasma cutting.

 

[California]

I haven't been happy with 120v welding, but perhaps there are times when it is good. Frankly, most of my welding is less than 100 Amps.

I ignored flux core wire for quite some time, but tried it a bit, and really isn't that bad, and you don't have to drag a bottle around.

This hitch ball mount was welded on with flux core and a Century 130, a quality 120v welder marketed to auto body shops. I think projects like this are the limit for 120 volts.

The Century manual says for '130' it needs a 30 amp breaker, so actual output in typical use is likely in the 90~100A range.

 

[chim]

I've had an Everlast 200STi for a couple years and really like it. It's an inverter 120/240V DC stick machine that is smooth and lightweight. It can do lighter stuff at 120V, and it's happy running off of the 120/240v generator (repurposed light tower). If you do run an inverter welder on a generator, verify the THD is less than 5%. It gets used more frequently than the Millermatic 175 I've had for many years.

 

[Jrasband]

I've had an Everlast 200STi for a couple years and really like it. It's an inverter 120/240V DC stick machine that is smooth and lightweight. It can do lighter stuff at 120V, and it's happy running off of the 120/240v generator (repurposed light tower). If you do run an inverter welder on a generator, verify the THD is less than 5%. It gets used more frequently than the Millermatic 175 I've had for many years.

Yeah I live off solar and so my first stick welder I got ran great off my powerhorse generator for the first 5 hours or so, than it never seemed to do it anymore without lots of splatter and I couldnt mantain a arc. So I started looking for a new generator with low THC. Then I got turned to welder generators and never looked back. I bought a Ruffian ES 150G EDW

 

[MillWeld]

I looked at the Titanium Stick 225 from Harbor Freight and saw that the plug won't fit. Here's my 220 outlet. I forgot to post it earlier. Does this limit me to a wimpy welder?

 

[Racenut]

I looked at the Titanium Stick 225 from Harbor Freight and saw that the plug won't fit. Here's my 220 outlet. I forgot to post it earlier. Does this limit me to a wimpy welder?

That's not a 220V outlet, that's a 120V 20A outlet. Similar to a 120v 15A but the one prong turned sideways.

Corrected... I should pay closer attention before trying to be smart on the internet

 

[RandyT]

That's not a 220V outlet, that's a 120V 20A outlet. Similar to a 120v 15A but the one prong turned sideways.

Actually that is a 220 v 20 amp single outlet

Legrand® Pass & Seymour Ivory 20-Amp Side Wire Single Outlet

These sturdy receptacles offer excellent value. They deliver rugged, lasting construction that hold up in a high-use commercial environment. This outlet is ideal for use where a second outlet would not be needed, such as behind an appliance like a refrigerator.

www.menards.com

 

[RandyT]

I looked at the Titanium Stick 225 from Harbor Freight and saw that the plug won't fit. Here's my 220 outlet. I forgot to post it earlier. Does this limit me to a wimpy welder?

I suspect the welder has the 50 amp welder outlet on the cord.

Legrand® Pass & Seymour® 30/50-Amp NEMA 6-30P NEMA 6-50P Angle Straight Blade Plug

Power devices are used in industrial, institutional, commercial, and certain residential applications to provide higher amperage power to equipment such as air conditioners, copiers, small welders, ranges, and dryers. Legrand power plugs are made of quality, time tested materials, so you can be...

www.menards.com

 

[Jrasband]

You can get or make a adapter to go from one plug to another, go to Home depot and ask someone in electrical to help you.

 

[California]

You can get or make a adapter to go from one plug to another, go to Home depot and ask someone in electrical to help you.

Here's something similar, to give you an idea. Adapt this idea as needed.

I had an old-style 3 blade 'clothes dryer' outlet. So I made an adapter using an old dryer cord, going to a 'welder' (6-50R) outlet.

 

[MillWeld]

I looked at an enlarged picture of the plug on the Titanium 225 and the prongs ARE parallel. When I was at HR I didn't look closely enough at the plug; I just saw a big black one that looked like a 50 amp one. So, I think I am back in the running.