Re: Thinking about a mig welder?

Posted by gregCO on November 21, 2016 at 20:06:22 from (72.168.177.73):

In Reply to: Thinking about a mig welder? posted by tomstractorsandtoys on November 20, 2016 at 14:55:10:

Like some of the others have said, but the biggest one you can afford. I have used Miller, Hobart, Esab and Lincoln and like them all. I prefer 220 volt machines. I have used 110 volt machines and they are ok for some stuff, but can be a little low on power and the control is very limited on the less expensive models. The newer ones are better than the older ones were for sure with better control settings.
Whatever you do, do not buy a Century. They are really affordable, but are not very durable. I bought a new 225 amp machine back in the day off of the Matco tool truck. It had the Matco name on it, but was a real oddball when it came to parts and was made by Century. Mack, Matco, Snap-on, Cornwell all are or were in the day built by Century and re-branded for their tool line. Parts were a pain to get and it broke down often. After three control boards and one transformer I gave up on it and bought a Lincoln 350MP industrial machine. Love it. Super smooth and really nice control of your work.
The big box stores have some common names like Lincoln and Hobart, but they are not the same machine you would get at the welding store. They are a price point machine and not very heavy duty. If your work is limited to small repairs a little fab work they are probably fine, but work them hard and the difference is noticeable pretty quick. Parts for them may be hard to get from your local welding supply store because they are not going to be in their catalog. Loose a control board and it may be many weeks before you get one. Same with drive rolls and tips. The gun may say Tweco, but the parts for the gun may be really oddball stuff built for re-branding. For my old Matco machine I couldn't find a Tweco tip to fit the gun. I ended up using a Lincoln tip that was way too long and cutting it down to fit.
If you have time and the patients to shop around and shop used machines there are some really good deals out there. The Lincoln I have now was a demo machine I bought from the local welding dealer. I ended up with a basically new industrial machine that was a year old for two thirds the price of a new one and a warranty good for a year. The warranty on a new Lincoln of that model is five years, but for the cost savings I am likely going to come out ok on it. It looks new and I have no reason to believe it was beat on. It literally didn't have but one scratch on it and they put a new leash and gun on it for me because I wanted a 15 foot leash. Not a bad deal.

Greg

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