Attention Welders

[smok'n steve]

Hi guys,

I have a cheapo 120 volt mig welder that does great for my smoker mods that are 1/8 inch thick or less.

Any one out there who could tell me what to buy for a Mig that would be 240 volt and be capable of putting a nice bead on 1/4 inch steel?

I don't want to spend much more than $500 but would like something could play with to weld up fireboxes and smaller propane tanks (I test the tank for gas first, boom!)

 

[morkdach]

500$ 230volt ????? stay american.
check out hobart handler these are made by ITW (miller elec) i'm a miller service tech and these are a good little machine 3 year warrenty and will weld 3/8" no problem these come in 110 volt that would get 1/4" in 2 pass's step up to millermatic and price goes up but if you do alot of welding they cant be beat in that size.

 

[smok'n steve]

Obviously, I haven't done my homework on pricing......Thanks for the input, I noticed the hobart handler does come in a 230volt model which is around $650. I was thinking that 230 volt Migs would have better options, but do you think the cheaper 120volt is just as good for my needs?

 

[bb53chevpro]

I am no welding expert by any means. I have a Lincoln Mig pack 10. I have welded my truck frame with it as well as used it on body work without melting the sheet metal. It runs on 110 and gets a pretty good bead of weld. I do not use flux core wire with it as it creates too much splatter and slag. So you can hook up a bottle and works fine. It has 4 heat settings and a seperate feed rate. The only issue I have with this unit is wishing I had a little more control of the heat settings (a fine tune).
I bought this unit a few years ago for about 500 Canadian.

Hope this helps you.

 

[smok'n steve]

Thanks for your input, I use gas on my little no name welder and seem to like it better than the flux core as well. Where I have some difficulty is going to thicker steel, especially if both pieces are thick, like 1/4 ". Any more input out there appreciated:-)

 

[morkdach]

heres the specs on the hobart 140 25to140 amp out 90 amp rating output 120 volt 20 amp input.
the 180 25 to 180 amp out 130 amp rating 230 volt 20 amp input.
the 140 with gas will weld just about anything around the house for the hobby welder and a good sale price would be about 500$ these come ready to weld