welder for a novice??

[JimR]

I've had a Lincoln Tombstone since 1976. I finally sold it last year to pick up a used Sears (Miller) AC/DC unit for less than I sold the Lincoln for. I also bought a mig welder for the first time about 8-9 years ago. It was a Lincoln Weld Pak 100. I bought the gas conversion for it also. Last year I found a great deal on a used Lincoln Weld Pak 135HD and bought it. I sold the Weld Pak 100 the next day for more than the 135HD cost me. The 135HD still wasn't what I wanted. My next welder was a used Lincoln Weld Pak 175 Plus. So far this unit has done evertyhing that I have wanted to do with it. The 135HD was also sold to help pay for the 175 Plus. You won't lose money on a used welder if you buy it used for the right price. Look around before buying one. They are out there for cheap money. I bought the Lincoln 175 Plus off of Ebay and saved hundreds of dollars on it.

 

[Bugs]

I have been welding for years and taught my son to weld also, I had a Lincolon 225 that I bought at a pawn shop around 25 years ago and it still works but my son talked me into going with a Mig because i guess he got sick of me calling him every time I needed thin stuff welded, he has a Miller Mig and uses a Hobart at work, I did research on welders for about a year and found what I thought was the best, It is a HTP Mig 160, I had never used a mig before I got this one, always had my son do it with his, well I got mine, a tank of gas and went to town with it, you would think I had been mig welding all my life from the beads it lays down, my son came over and he did some heavy welding on a car dolly with it and said it made his Miller seem like a peice of junk and it is a lot better than the Hobart he uses too, you can weld with or without gas with it, just when you use flux cored wire you have to reverse the polarity on it

It has a good duty cycle too,20% at 160amps and 100% @78 amps, I have done some long and heavy welding with it and have yet to have it shut down on me and that's welding 1/4" and 5/16th" metal, I also got the kit for it so I cane weld aluminum, you just have to go to 100% argon gas and change to a teflon liner, it's a bit more tricky than welding steel

But if you want a fine welder HTP is the way to go, the folks I bought it from don't come any nicer either, I bet I emailed the head salesman 30 time asking questions before I finally bought it and he never once acted like he was getting sick of me

They have them in all price ranges too, I paid around $1100.00 for mine but that inclueds the tank and the aluminum welding kit, plus I went ahead and got a box of extra tips and sheilds for it, if anyone wants to check them out and are thinking of buying a welder and if it is allowed i will be happy to pass on their email address, like I said , it is without a dout the best we have ever came across, I just love mine, I used it for a couple of hours today building an air powered can smasher, fun fun

 

[gemini5362]

I have been welding for years and taught my son to weld also, I had a Lincolon 225 that I bought at a pawn shop around 25 years ago and it still works but my son talked me into going with a Mig because i guess he got sick of me calling him every time I needed thin stuff welded, he has a Miller Mig and uses a Hobart at work, I did research on welders for about a year and found what I thought was the best, It is a HTP Mig 160, I had never used a mig before I got this one, always had my son do it with his, well I got mine, a tank of gas and went to town with it, you would think I had been mig welding all my life from the beads it lays down, my son came over and he did some heavy welding on a car dolly with it and said it made his Miller seem like a peice of junk and it is a lot better than the Hobart he uses too, you can weld with or without gas with it, just when you use flux cored wire you have to reverse the polarity on it

It has a good duty cycle too,20% at 160amps and 100% @78 amps, I have done some long and heavy welding with it and have yet to have it shut down on me and that's welding 1/4" and 5/16th" metal, I also got the kit for it so I cane weld aluminum, you just have to go to 100% argon gas and change to a teflon liner, it's a bit more tricky than welding steel

But if you want a fine welder HTP is the way to go, the folks I bought it from don't come any nicer either, I bet I emailed the head salesman 30 time asking questions before I finally bought it and he never once acted like he was getting sick of me

They have them in all price ranges too, I paid around $1100.00 for mine but that inclueds the tank and the aluminum welding kit, plus I went ahead and got a box of extra tips and sheilds for it, if anyone wants to check them out and are thinking of buying a welder and if it is allowed i will be happy to pass on their email address, like I said , it is without a dout the best we have ever came across, I just love mine, I used it for a couple of hours today building an air powered can smasher, fun fun

I looked at the specs for this welder and to be honest I thought the specs on my Miller DVI were better and the price difference is not that great.

 

[JimR]

Here's the specs on my Lincoln 175Plus
Rated CV Output Amps/Volts/Duty Cycle
130/20/30%

Output Range
25-175A DC

Wire Feed Speed Range (IPM)
50-400

Wire Feed Speed Range (M/MIN)
1.2-10.2

Solid Wire Size Range
.023-.035"

Cored Wire Size Range
.035-.045"

 

[patrick_g]

Since the original issue was doing some light welding himself instead of taking everything to a pro I don't think stick or heavy duty welding is an appropriate issue.

A wire feed unit with flux cored wire instead of shielding gas is probably the best solution and certainly the easiest for a DIY once in a while situation. (AKA MIG, Metal Inert Gas where with flux cored wire the flux provides the shielding gas)

I have been abusing my Lincoln Weld Pak 100 for over 10 years and have changed only the contact tips and spools of wire. It just works. With practice you can make GOOD multipass welds on material up to 1/4 inch thick.

I do not recommend getting a brand X MIG to save a few bucks. All welding power supplies are not created equal. In the small sizes welding machines are not so expensive as to warrant buyiing brand X and the name brands are name brands for a good reason, good stuff. You MIGHT find a GOOD bargain machine but it is a sure thing with a name brand. Hobart, Lincoln, and Miller are the ones I recommend. NOt much diff between those brands, just good solid machines.

My little Lincoln "lunchbox" takes a 20 amp 120VAC outlet and runs terrific on my smallish portable generator (5000 Watts) I have just abused the heck out of it for over 10 years and it just keeps on ticking.

It is NOT GOOD PROCEDURE but the way I know when I exceed the duty cycle limits is when the welder goes into thermal shutdown from running too much power too long. So far in over 10 years it hasn't caused a problem.

I am a self taught welder and can do stick (including aluminum) but prefer the MIG for any job in its capabillity.

Pat

 

[JimR]

I'll have to agree with Patrick on the reliability of the Lincoln Weld Pak 100. That was my first mig welder also. I used that welder at least 8-10 hours a week for over five years making bolt handles without ever blowing the reset or having any issues with it. The only reason I sold it was I needed a more powerful welder.