Thinking about getting a welder

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Viper21700

Viper21700

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Ok gents, expert opinion needed here.
Thinking about purchasing a welder.. Ive used MIG welder's before and got fairly good with them. I need a welder to do projects and stuff... and for working on the car with.
Ive looked at a few on C/L but Im kind of at a loss of exactly what I need for the jobs I will be doing (Axle tube welding- IE shorteneing axle tubes, light body repair etc)
Would a 110 Miller or equivalent work, or do I need a 240V mig with a gas hookup? Would I be better off getting a Stick welder? Ive never used stick welders but Im pretty good at picking up things and learning.
How much should I pay for a decent welder?
I know these have probably been answered, but I didn't find much in the search function on here. please chime in guys, my garage back home needs some new tools... Already shopping for air compressors too lol
 
I had great luck with a Hobart 135.I welded a lot of stuff up on my racecar with no problems shortened rear housing and welded it back up,held up great on a dirt track running about 100mph.Hobart can be found for about $400 new. Good Luck
 
For cars a mig welder is the best way to go I'm a welder by profession and i have a big stick/tig welder but I've only broke out the tig rig once on my car and it was for exhaust work that the mig could have handled i have a mig machine its a miller millermatic 140 hooks up to 110 and mixed gas can't go wrong with that does any and everything you could want to do with a car and a big thing with welding is being comfortable and as you said you have gotten pretty good with mig so i would say go that route
 
If you have 220V available get a 220 Mig. I "pushed" my little 120V Lincoln for years and finally bought a larger 180A. I would also not screw with flux core. I mostly use straight CO2. It's real cheap, the tank holds a lot more (liquified) and it does 99% of what I need.

Even if you don't "have 220" in your garage, if your breaker panel is nearby, accessible on the side of the house, etc, you could make up a long extension.

I'm a bit familiar with electrics. This is a long story, but I "cheat" and a long time ago "standardized" all my 220V crap with the big 50? A dryer plug

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I have a big extension cord which I can hook to a wall recep in the garage, and plug in the plasma cutter, the 180A mig, or the 2 post hoist. I also can easily hook a pigtail into the AC box and string the thing clear "out front" (when I built my carport)

DO NOT repeat DO NOT buy something like a Lincoln from a "big box" store like Lowe's. Buy it from a legit dealer. Some of the parts are different internally.

(This is true by the way, and has been true for many many years, clear back to "Monkey Wards" things like TV's, carburetors on lawn mowers, etc, were built under contract to Sears, etc, other big stores so they could sell cheaper. An engine you bought at Sears IS NOT the same as a Briggs or Tecumseh you bought on the "regular" market)

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I had a flux welder for several yrs. that I used and got decent with it but it did nowhere as good of a job as my buddy could do with his Miller 135 MIG so I broke down and bought a 175 amp (I have 220 in the garage) from Eastwood last summer. It had a lot of real good reviews so I took a chance on it and I have used it a lot in the last 8 months with great success. Sure is nice to be able to weld 3/8 on a single pass and if you turn it down it'll weld body panels great. Price was hard to beat too at $500 shipped. And it came with a spool gun for aluminum welding. I don't have the right gas for it so I haven't gave it a shot yet but will sometime in the near future. In the end my suggestion is no matter what brand you buy get a MIG welder. Little buzz box flux core welders are ok for something to carry to the pits for quick repairs but for great clean, strong welds it's hard to beat shielded gas welding.
 
Anything that will run on a 115 will get you what you want, but I would use an inert gas to shield the welds from contamination. ARC welding is dirty, as are flux core wire feed welds. They can be used for some things, but structural or sealing parts, like oil pans, valve covers, etc should not be welded with them.

Millers are a little on the high end for price range, but I would expect to pay about $600 or so for a used one. Hobart is also a fantastic machine that has plenty of parts and customer support representation behind it for a MIG machine. You can do just about anything you want with a 110 MIG that is set up with gas. You may have to channel the heavier parts a bit to weld them with a 110 and make multiple passes, but it depends on trial and error.

It's best to follow the suggested settings on or in the welder for metal. Most 110 machines will do up to 1/4" mild steel.
 
Millermatic 211 is a great machine that will work off 110 or 220 but is more that you really need for just auto work
 
Buy something you can get parts for. It sucks when you fry your tip or waste your feed cable liner in the middle of a project and have to order repair parts.
I am having problems with my Miller 185 feeding wire, Probably the liner. My Miller Vintage at work never has this problem. My 220 units do not dial down to do sheet metal very well like the 110 units do but do way better on anything thicker than 1/8". Buy the one you need.
 
Lincoln welders have a great warranty. 3 years parts and labor. Buy it at home depot or Lowe's. Cheaper and is the same welder the weld shops like airgas sells. They'll tell you it's not but it is. If it breaks and they sell it they have to service it. I got the largest 110 they make because I was doing sheet metal work. 220 is better for thick stuff but not sheet metal work.
 
I bought a Lincoln 180 on sale($465)comes with tank hookup.I built my race car with it,doing a minitub and roll cage easily.
 
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