Welder,

[K2ZJ]

In my personal shop at home (my current business), I have a Lincoln 140C MIG/wire feeder, a Miller AC/DC TIG welder, Miller plasma cutter. Miller is the choice for everything but the wire feeder. Nearly all union companies use the Lincoln wire feeder. They just hold up better (the new Hobarts are junk). Don't but anything "Chinese".

You have good taste, Lincoln for MIG Miller for TIG.

. As far as size..... I've never heard anybody say that they wish they had a smaller welder.

Before last summer I never heard it either. Until I had to weld the fenders on my trailer, I actually had to get my 110 out because the 220 was blasting right through them.

Lots of great info in this thread already. A good hood goes a long way, if you can't see your welds then it doesn't matter what welder you have.

 

[IdaSHO]

Goodness I hate hearing the typical "you cannot do anything with a 110 welder"

What a load of BS.


I picked up a Lincoln 135+ 10+ years ago, and it is easily within the top 5 best tools Ive EVER purchased.


Sure it wont due 3/8 or 1/2 steel in one pass, but who they hell needs to??

It is rated for 1/4, and Ive proven that time and time again.
Although I do recommend two passes if you do not have a few hundred hours behind it already when doing 1/4.

The machine needs to be dialed in just right, the stars need to be aligned, and you need to be on your game.


Within the (obvious) limitations of the machine, there is no reason it will not perform when compared to a 220V machine.

its lighter, and draws less to operate.

Try running a 220V machine off of a small generator in the field.
Not going to happen.

Ive run my lincoln off of my Honda 2k generator a handful of times with great success.
Without that combo, Id be SOL.

 

[tgreening]

Of course you can get it done with a 110v machine. It just depends on how hard you want to work. I could take a 110 unit and weld anything together, thickness wise, it's just harder and slower to do. Some folks dont know about pre-heat and multi-pass. I've taken 2 pieces of steel 5 feet thick and welded it 100% into a one solid piece of steel. Some conventional thought on hobby boards would say you cant do that properly because you can't generate enough heat.

Anyway, yes you can get it done on 110, but you can do more a lot easier with a 220 machine so why not?

And who says the miller wire feeders dont hold up? That is a world of bs friends. I run D64 feeders in my shop day in and out, almost 100% at max duty cycle from the welders (650 amp machines, 100% duty cycle btw) pumping .120 gas covered flux core, and some of those feeders are pushing 20 yrs in service now with just general routine maintenance.

Miller or Lincoln for the home, cant go wrong either way. Heavy industrial? Gimme Blue baby! Red is ok in the union shops. They only run at about 20% duty cycle any way. Bazinga!

 

[IdaSHO]

O

Anyway, yes you can get it done on 110, but you can do more a lot easier with a 220 machine so why not?

Thats an easy one

The benefits of a 110V machine far outweigh the drawbacks (for me anyhow)



For starters, I can plug it in anywhere, into anything.

It draws less than 20A on 110, and 110 can be found everywhere, including the smallest generators like the super popular Honda 2k EU
You are not going to find a small generator that is worth anything running 220V

You are also not going to find 220V as easily even in or around homes.
And even if you do, you will have to pony up some good money for an extension cord just to get it into the driveway.
110 machines will run all day long on a 50' 12 gauge extension cord.
With that said, I run mine all the time on a 100' 10 gauge cord.



"do More" is all relative.

I mean, what have you personally EVER done with a 220V machine that you absolutely could not do with a 110V machine?
A good 110V machine can and will do 1/4". Most chassis are that thick. So what are you welding on that needs capacity that exceeds 1/4"?



"Easier" is relative as well. Are you referring to ease on the machine, or speed at which it lays down a bead, or both?

Ive easily fed more than 400lbs of wire through my little lincoln, and it has taken it like a champ.
Only parts it has needed to date is one replacement cable liner and two drive rollers. Thats it.
Duty cycle can become a concern, but even my "old" Lincoln has safeties to protect the machine.
And if you are constantly creeping up on the duty cycle, simply dial back, take it slow, and allow the machine to rest. This isnt a race.
So if "easier" has anything to do with wear and tear on the machine, Id say your point is moot.


Ease and speed of welding is handy, but for the most part again, the point seems moot as it really doesnt matter.
I do a good deal of fabrication, and even I do not ever feel like I need to weld faster.
But maybe thats just me. Laying a nice bead, the smell and sounds of it all happening, is almost therapeutic. I dont rush it.




I know 220V machines are nice, but I have yet to justify the NEED for them for the average garage builder or even myself.

 

[tgreening]

Whatever works best for you is whats best, but more and easier are not really relative. Two is more than one. Nothing relative about that. Completeing a joint in one pass twice as fast is not only easier, it is also getting more done.

By your logic a normally aspirated 4-cyl is just as good as a normally aspirated twice as big 8-cyl. I have welders, the flesh and blood kind, that can burn through 400 lbs of wire in a day. And thats by hand, not automated. That is certainly not happening on a 110 machine.

As I said in the beginning, a 110 machine will weld most anything the average person is likely to weld, if they know what they're doing and dont mind working at it. A 220 machine gives you the capability to weld larger stuff and easily do the stuff where a 110 begins to struggle.

It gives up portability but for home use I dont see the issue. Most semi-modern homes these days will have a 220 circuit already available for their washer/drier and/or oven. I have 220 in my house and my detached garage. It was built that way by the 70 yr old man that had it constructed, not added by me. Either way, just how far away from the garage or home shop does one need to use their welder? I have both machines art my home btw, 110 and 220 and have never used either more than a car length away from the garage doors. I use an extension cord for the 220 even inside the garage because it came with a sadly short cord of its own, and the garage is 40' long. Making the cord didnt break the bank by any stretch.

As I said, if the 110 works for you and you're satisfied with it then thats great, but to think a 220 has no real advantage is simply not the case.

On the personal level you mentioned, I'll take that to mean what I've done at my home shop vs what I've done at my work shop. Probably the thickest I've worked on at home was welding up a welding table. It was 1/4" sq tube with a 4' x 8' x 3/4" top plate. Not easily happening with a small 110v.

 

[IdaSHO]

Whatever works best for you is whats best, but more and easier are not really relative.

Like hell it isnt. You just proved my point about being relative:

I have welders, the flesh and blood kind, that can burn through 400 lbs of wire in a day. And thats by hand, not automated. That is certainly not happening on a 110 machine.

I can promise you this....

You could count on ONE hand the number of people that burn through 400 lbs of wire in a day on this site.

It is all relative.

As I said in the beginning, a 110 machine will weld most anything the average person is likely to weld, if they know what they're doing and dont mind working at it. A 220 machine gives you the capability to weld larger stuff and easily do the stuff where a 110 begins to struggle.

Ob I absolutely agree. But as noted, the benefit to tackle large stuff (+ 1/4" ) relative to the audience here is FAR outweighed by the portability and plug in anywhere benefits.

It gives up portability but for home use I dont see the issue. ....... Either way, just how far away from the garage or home shop does one need to use their welder? I have both machines art my home btw, 110 and 220 and have never used either more than a car length away from the garage doors.

That might be where you are missing my point. As even you mentioned, once you have a welder you become amazed at how useful they really are, and projects/repairs seem to jump out of nowhere.

Ive used the welder beyond the reach of an extension cord plenty of times. And that is just on my city located property.

With the crew on this forum, I see my use of a 110V welder in the sticks as a VERY valid and important point that we should not ignore.

Trail repairs are a fact of life. Most peeps running heavy with camper in expo form already have small generators. Another 35lbs or so for a 110V Mig is a very nice addition.

As I said, if the 110 works for you and you're satisfied with it then thats great, but to think a 220 has no real advantage is simply not the case.

To be clear, never did I say that a 220V has no real advantage. What I did say is that the advantages for myself are overshadowed by the obvious drawbacks.

 

[tgreening]

Like hell it isnt. You just proved my point about being relative:



I can promise you this....

You could count on ONE hand the number of people that burn through 400 lbs of wire in a day on this site.

It is all relative.



Ob I absolutely agree. But as noted, the benefit to tackle large stuff (+ 1/4" ) relative to the audience here is FAR outweighed by the portability and plug in anywhere benefits.



That might be where you are missing my point. As even you mentioned, once you have a welder you become amazed at how useful they really are, and projects/repairs seem to jump out of nowhere.

Ive used the welder beyond the reach of an extension cord plenty of times. And that is just on my city located property.

With the crew on this forum, I see my use of a 110V welder in the sticks as a VERY valid and important point that we should not ignore.

Trail repairs are a fact of life. Most peeps running heavy with camper in expo form already have small generators. Another 35lbs or so for a 110V Mig is a very nice addition.



To be clear, never did I say that a 220V has no real advantage. What I did say is that the advantages for myself are overshadowed by the obvious drawbacks.

Ok. You're right.

 

[jeverich]

To OP...

Fabricator 211i, for a good all around machine.

I'm in your area.

Ignore the asinine argument about 220V vs 120V machines, everything is relative - and no one can tell you what you're going to do with your machine. It's your choice. Sure, the Fabricator 211i is dual voltage, but I have yet to use it on the 120V tap. Quite frankly, I wouldn't let it become a determining factor in your search for a machine. I weld in my shop, jobs are brought to me. Sure, it's great that I can run the machine off an extension cord; but then I've got to move my plasma cutter, grinders, band saw and everything else.

It won't weld 3/8" single pass like my XMT 304/12 VS - but that's not what I bought it for.

It'll run 7018 well, 6010 is just okay.

I highly recommend Central Welding just off of I-5. Great guys, excellent service and competitive pricing. Also, check out Best Tools right across from Wilson Toyota. They don't have a sign out front, but the pricing on abrasives, bits, hand tools, etc. is world's better than Hardware Sales.

For those that are saying "don't buy Chinese"; I agree. Somewhat. The TA is a Chinese inverter machine, but - it's owned by Victor Technologies out of Texas. American customer support, great reputation (ever hear of a Victor O/A torch?) and readily available parts (Central Welding).

That being said, check Craigslist. Sure, there are a lot of idiots trying to sell absolute crap - but often there are diamonds in the rough that are either red or blue.







Let me know if you'd like some real-world advice on this machine, or other elements of getting started with your setup.

- jake

 

[jeverich]

And more importantly; please hone your skills before welding on ANY kind of trailer. You've already stated that you plan to take some courses at the CC, that seems like a great option to get some exposure to practical theory and technique.

One of my first projects is to weld on my new trailer and add a bumper cut and extend my tongue add a receiver to the back for cooler/wood rack, etc. I don't ever see needing to weld 1/4"

 

[Louisd75]

I'm in your area.

No you aren't, if you were then my truck would be in your driveway getting sliders fitted.

Ignore the asinine argument about 220V vs 120V machines, everything is relative - and no one can tell you what you're going to do with your machine. It's your choice. Sure, the Fabricator 211i is dual voltage, but I have yet to use it on the 120V tap. Quite frankly, I wouldn't let it become a determining factor in your search for a machine. I weld in my shop, jobs are brought to me. Sure, it's great that I can run the machine off an extension cord; but then I've got to move my plasma cutter, grinders, band saw and everything else.

One important thing to remember though is the capacity of the outlet you're plugging into. I've got the Miller 211. At my previous house I didn't have easy access to 220 but I quickly learned that the breaker would trip about halfway through the third tack weld. I could make it to five tacks before the breaker opened if I turned off everything else on the circuit. Wound up having to get an extension cord from the 220 in the laundry room out to the garage.

I highly recommend Central Welding just off of I-5. Great guys, excellent service and competitive pricing. Also, check out Best Tools right across from Wilson Toyota. They don't have a sign out front, but the pricing on abrasives, bits, hand tools, etc. is world's better than Hardware Sales.

Grizzly Tool also has some decent stuff. I'll have to check out Best Tools.

 

[jeverich]

No you aren't, if you were then my truck would be in your driveway getting sliders fitted.

You jerk. Soon enough.

 

[Wilbah]

And more importantly; please hone your skills before welding on ANY kind of trailer. You've already stated that you plan to take some courses at the CC, that seems like a great option to get some exposure to practical theory and technique.

One of my first projects is to weld on my new trailer and add a bumper cut and extend my tongue add a receiver to the back for cooler/wood rack, etc. I don't ever see needing to weld 1/4"

Ditto this. I am in the same stage as the OP- planning a welder purchase and my first thought was things I could do to my utility trailer, etc. But after reading a lot of threads on one of the weldingweb forums about trailer fails and the dangers of weak welds I won't be doing anything to any moving vehicle/trailer or anything similar until I have done enough welding on scrap, cut them open to see the penetration, vice tested them etc. to be sure that what I am doing is safe.

 

[WSS]

Of course you can get it done with a 110v machine. It just depends on how hard you want to work. I could take a 110 unit and weld anything together, thickness wise, it's just harder and slower to do. Some folks dont know about pre-heat and multi-pass. I've taken 2 pieces of steel 5 feet thick and welded it 100% into a one solid piece of steel. Some conventional thought on hobby boards would say you cant do that properly because you can't generate enough heat.

Anyway, yes you can get it done on 110, but you can do more a lot easier with a 220 machine so why not?

And who says the miller wire feeders dont hold up? That is a world of bs friends. I run D64 feeders in my shop day in and out, almost 100% at max duty cycle from the welders (650 amp machines, 100% duty cycle btw) pumping .120 gas covered flux core, and some of those feeders are pushing 20 yrs in service now with just general routine maintenance.

Miller or Lincoln for the home, cant go wrong either way. Heavy industrial? Gimme Blue baby! Red is ok in the union shops. They only run at about 20% duty cycle any way. Bazinga!

Near 100 percent true. I have three dimension 652's running S-64's (one has a D-64 w .045 and 1/16) pushing 100lbs of 1/16 solid wire all day (each). We mix our own gas and burn near 80 percent duty cycle. It will idle when a drum needs changing or a tip changed/cleaned. Running tweco tam guns (water cooled) too. My personal machine is a XMT 456 with a D-74dx running 030 and 045, love this machine. I run the Miller app on my iphone, don't even have to know how to weld now, just answer the few questions and set accordingly (it really works, or should say gets you real close).

A guy on jeep forum (CJ section) bought a hobart handler 110v machine running flux and gets great results, he took the time to learn too plus had a special breaker and receptacle put in for it, has plenty of 110v amps to run it properly. If you don't have sufficient power supplied to the caps, the welder will run out of steam after a short run and start to act up, requiring a break for a second or two while the caps fill again.


***VERY important*** NR-211 is a "lincoln" brand. There are many brands of E71T(11) wires available in many sizes, These are "out of position" wires but the quick cooling required to be used "out of position" does create those hard welds. Try a flat position wire and run cool if you have to weld over or up.

Most union welders (Operating Engineers) I work with run Miller gear. Rarely see lincoln gear anymore, once in a while an old LN-22 can be seen in use. When I was a kid, one of my jobs was to keep the motors cooled on Lincoln LN-8 feeders, I would carry a water filled fire extinguisher and hose em every fifteen minutes or so to keep them running. Yes I am old. I also had a submerged arc weld head that had thyratron tubes to run the drives (L&B, which became Linde, then L-tec, then esab? I missed one I think, was union carbide in there somewhere?).

I know it is a Ford/Chevy style debate and both (Hobart too) probably would serve the OP well but I cannot afford to run red gear in my shop, production is numero uno unfortunately, in a custom shop or garage scenarios are different, production is not a issue "duty cycle" ranks low on the chart.

 

[WSS]

It seems the general consensus in this thread is .250" max welds. Then a welder rated for .250 will be light. A welder rated for .375" would work better for you. Yes multi pass is possible but a single, well laid pass will be easier and look better for the casual welder. Consider that a Blue Torch Fab DIY diff cover is a .250" shell welded to a .375" ring, thats a simple project that already pushes a .375" machines limit.

 

[UK4X4]

I started with a hobart 110v and it welded everything I threw at it trailer and car fab wise....

It died in Oman and I got a bigger miller 212...........yep its way faster penetrates deeper and welds wonderfully

But the hobart still did the job......

Trailer welds wise.....you have to think about what connects to what and which items can be over lapped- strengthened, where do the loads go

You don't run the draw hitch from 1 weld for example....more than likelyl the trailer failures come firstly from a bad design and then the weld failed.

This was my second trailer build with the hobart.....still works fine 5 countries and 7 years later