Seeking suggestions for a 110v MIG welder.

[Roert42]

Seems like a lot of these suggestions are what people would buy for doing work around their house.

It really depends on what your use case is. If you are charging people, you don't want to screw around, show up do the work as quickly and professionally as possible, and collect the check. You don't want to be monkey around with something cheap that "mostly does a good job" and they guy with the check book doesn't want to see that.

A lot of mobile welder will use 110v units simply because a lot of places don't have access to your truck or a 220v outlet. Like the basement of a hospital or the roof of a office building.


If you want to make money, show up with tools not toys.
If you want to weld your lawn mower back together, buy whatever you can get for cheap off craigslist that is close enough.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Hobart and Miller are the same company. Usually Hobart is the same machine, just with fewer features. Look up a Handler 210 vs a Miller 211 for example. Both are good quality.

Lincoln makes good machines too but as a Miller owner I'd rather be dead than Red as they say

I'd watch for sales on Cyberweld.com. My buddy picked up a 211 recently for about $1400, they come on sale all the time, as do other brands. ESAB and HTP both make good welders as well.

Basically what you're getting for more money is (a) a much higher duty cycle, (b) a much better/longer warranty, and (c) guaranteed parts availability for quite a few years.

Wow good to know. I dont need features, warranty or long duty cycles, just a simple mig that runs off 110 for occasional location work. Sounds like the handler might be what I'm looking for

 

[Eddo Rogue]

The esab Rebel seems to be popular for this.
Hear a lot of good stuff about HTP and prime weld, but I don’t know if they have a lunchbox mig.

I would personally rather go with a little inverter stick machine like a miller max star, I feel like stick is more versatile and easier to use for a portable repair rig.



Edit; looking at the Rebel online, about $2700 normally. Cyberweld has a $150 esab rebate, plus either a $350 cash discount or a $396 Optrel hood. https://store.cyberweld.com/esab-rebel-emp-215ic-welder-0558102240.html Brings it down to $2250 after both rebates. Pretty good considering its an actual multiprocess unit with all the fixin's

I have a little stick welder, looks like a cheapo no name brand and it works ok, just not very well. They had the rebel at airgas the other day. I might check it out next time I go get a tank swap.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Like someone else said, it's duty cycle and how heavy the machine is built. For happy homeowner use, you do not need a heavy built machine. What little a homeowner welds, he can stop and let the machine rest if he has to.

And then you have all the middle men that need to be paid. They have to eat too. Harbor Freight skips some of the middle men, and that's why they have better deals on the lighter duty machines. We know for a fact that the Harbor Freight floor jack is built in the same factory as the Snap on floor jack is. Don't know but it might be true with some of the welders also.

Well it is semi professional use, but handyman stuff like gates and fencing. Still short welds on nothing thicker than 1/4", mostly 1/8", sometimes 16ga tube.

Ya know its funny....almost seems like harbor freight stuff is getting better while home depot stuff is getting crappy. I have yet to buy a Milwaukee battery from HD that wasn't defective. Either they get the bottom of the barrel, or let them sit in the shelf too long or both.

My HF aluminum floor jacks have been hammered on and living outside for 7 years, still work great.

 

[Shran]

Wow good to know. I dont need features, warranty or long duty cycles, just a simple mig that runs off 110 for occasional location work. Sounds like the handler might be what I'm looking for

I'd have no problem rocking a Hobart. They do have a minimum 1 year warranty on everything, up to 5 years on bigger parts.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Seems like a lot of these suggestions are what people would buy for doing work around their house.

It really depends on what your use case is. If you are charging people, you don't want to screw around, show up do the work as quickly and professionally as possible, and collect the check. You don't want to be monkey around with something cheap that "mostly does a good job" and they guy with the check book doesn't want to see that.

A lot of mobile welder will use 110v units simply because a lot of places don't have access to your truck or a 220v outlet. Like the basement of a hospital or the roof of a office building.


If you want to make money, show up with tools not toys.
If you want to weld your lawn mower back together, buy whatever you can get for cheap off craigslist that is close enough.

This is my M.O. as well. My impressive packout kit is labeled no effing around. Inside it is only good stuff, I cant work with crappy tools, they frustrate and usually injure me...also take longer to work with and usually break. Inside my box is Makita, Milwaukee, Knipex, Stanley, Matco, Snap on etc. My welders are all lincoln.

I would rather not be seen with an off brand welder, as I mock the guys that use em.

I was considering getting a 240v generator and going self sufficient, but that would be way overkill for 99% of the jobs. I already have the small predator 110 genie from HF to power the tools. It works great, just cant run the welder.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

If you are a good welder you can make nice welds with a 120v $100 flux-core Chinese machine. I have an expensive 240V Lincoln, but I don't use it that much--just on things in the shop because I don't like to haul the tank around. I also have a 230amp Hobart stick welder. Most things, I like the 120V flux-core because it is easier with an extension cord. Big things, I stick weld them. Smaller things, I use the cheap cheap flux-core. Pretty things, I use the Lincoln. It's not too often.

I can weld with anything, especially mig....but something like inconsistent wire feed speed would drive me nuts. I do a lot of tacking (artsy fartsy stuff) and sometimes yes sheet metal yuck.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

I got my lincon 110 for very cheap from someone upgrading, and you can convert it to shielded gas mig very easily

Craigslist or word of mouth?

 

[Roert42]

For running a welder on a genny you are looking at 10k min running.

some welder don’t run will on gen power and vise Versa. If you want to go that route, gen one of the entry level gen welders from Hobart.

For lower price but good quality stuff. I like Hobart and Forney.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Go 220 volt and make an extension cord out of 10 ga wire. Easy to plug into a dryer outlet or a breaker. I used to do portable welding with a Millermatic 185. It's better to have power and a decent duty cycle that 220 volts gives you, IMO. Flux core is lame for serious work, unless it's farm work that you don't care what it looks like. Get a decent gas regulator with a flow ball meter. Buy your own standard size gas cylinder. Mini cylinders or renting is dumb. With practice and enough shielding gas, you can make almost TIG quality looking welds with a 185. Mine was made in the late 1990s and was bullet proof. I used to carry it and a full size cylinder, in a 2nd gen VW Scirocco with the passenger seat removed.

Buy an electronic hood, extra tips, a tip cleaner set, good gloves/leathers and anti splatter/stick paste or spray. Practice a lot and/or take a class before any serious welding. Most newbies don't get proper penetration and/or voids/inclusions/undercut roots. You really have to pay attention to the arc and puddle the whole time. You also might have to decrease/increase the amps and speed as the metal heats up. Don't be too proud to grind away some of your welds to make sure it's perfect.

I made a few chords. One regular extension, one generator plug adapter, and yes a dryer adapter as well.
Problem is at this current gig its one of those houses carved into the hillside of a sketchy narrow road off a busy city street. The dryer is good 75' uphill from where the work site of the property.

My last ditch resort is wiring two hot wires from 110V into each side of my 220 plug. Done it before in a pinch, but its super sketch and I'm not a kid anymore.

As far as gear I been welding/fabricating on and for 20 years. I am not a newbie, just maybe too humble for my own good.

I refuse to use a $50 auto darkening mask. I love my 15 year old Speedglas, and recently purchased the Miller T94i becuase the lens flips up to a clear face mask, so I dont have to remove/switch headgear to grind/dril/cut. It is much more heavy and bulky than my Speedglas, with all sorts of features I will never use, but it has excellent visibility and looks like a motorcycle helmet for the offspring of a storm trooper meets predator....keeps the idiots out of my metal shop.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

For running a welder on a genny you are looking at 10k min running.

some welder don’t run will on gen power and vise Versa. If you want to go that route, gen one of the entry level gen welders from Hobart.

For lower price but good quality stuff. I like Hobart and Forney.

I had 10k/7500 that ran my 220 lincoln fine. Sold it to my neighbor reluctantly because he was in a pinch for power. It was loud and heavy anyways. I would probably want an inverter type anyways.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

And to Will's point, that's why I have like 6 welders and a torch set... 3 stick welders, 3 wire feeds (the cheap 100A HFT flux core, the Titanium 170 and 200)...

I have multiples of stuff too. One out 3 will work at any given time but it will fail for sure if I don't have a backup. Trying to purge some of it and downsize, actually....get it down to only two of everything lol.

How many 10mm's do you have? lol

 

[Shran]

Interesting that some are suggesting that flux wire is junk. That is definitely not the case, it's just messy, think of it as stick welding but with an unending rod. It is perfect for working outside where the wind will blow away your shielding gas. I know a couple people that weld on mine equipment and they use a ton of flux wire. It just so happens that it works adequately with really cheap MIG welders... I did a lot of flux welding back in the day with a cheap Craftsman/Clarke 110v welder, it works great if you can live with the cleanup.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

This is my M.O. as well. My impressive packout kit is labeled no effing around. Inside it is only good stuff, I cant work with crappy tools, they frustrate and usually injure me...also take longer to work with and usually break. Inside my box is Makita, Milwaukee, Knipex, Stanley, Matco, Snap on etc. My welders are all lincoln.

I would rather not be seen with an off brand welder, as I mock the guys that use em.

I was considering getting a 240v generator and going self sufficient, but that would be way overkill for 99% of the jobs. I already have the small predator 110 genie from HF to power the tools. It works great, just cant run the welder.

Well, I typed out a big response and now it’s gone…

But yes, nothing is more frustrating than trying to work with crappy tools and poor organizing. Packout makes a huge difference.

Lincoln used to make a portable wire feed but it was out of my budget. Not sure if it’s still available or if there’s a new version but…

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Interesting that some are suggesting that flux wire is junk. That is definitely not the case, it's just messy, think of it as stick welding but with an unending rod. It is perfect for working outside where the wind will blow away your shielding gas. I know a couple people that weld on mine equipment and they use a ton of flux wire. It just so happens that it works adequately with really cheap MIG welders... I did a lot of flux welding back in the day with a cheap Craftsman/Clarke 110v welder, it works great if you can live with the cleanup.

I think the quality of the wire and the care for the machine makes a big difference. The cheap wire that HF supplies with their welders is total crap. The wire they sell in the store is actually better than what comes with the welders. Still not as good as like Lincoln or Hobart wire, IMHO. I actually just bought a spool of Kiswel wire, says it’s American made and it was pretty cheap. So far I’m impressed with it, minimal splatter and runs nice in my WeldPac.

I think another thing that often happens is poor care for portable machines. Whoever owned my WeldPac before me attached a metal bar to the handle and cinched the whip and wires tight around it which kinked TF out of the liner so it fed like poo and the tip was an absolute mess. Works a million times better with a new liner and tip and a little cleaning. Since most portable units get fed flux core and mis-handled, people just assume it’s the fault of the flux core. Or at least that’s my suspicion why it gets knocked so hard.