110 mig welders

Hi Guys, Looking for advise, I have not picked up a welding stinger since high school, (over 20 years ago) and am looking to buy a portable welder for the occasional broken bits and pieces we tend to run into in this hobby. I have a 100 amp panel and it is pretty full, I can PROBABY add a 220 service to garage , BUT, like the idea of just plugging something into my 110 outlet. I have asked friends about 110 MIG welders and the responce has been mixed, I have searched the archives and the responce is also mixed....everything from those using a 110 mig to build big trailers to those claiming anything that was not hooked to a 220 outlet had to be a joke!! I assume technology has advanced a little in the past 20 years and would like to know if a 110 mig can handle things like rocker arm repairs and small shaft supports as well as filling in chunked out castings. . I know that I will have to build some repairs up and the time it takes is of little consequence.Is there a brand or style that is more up to the task, I am looking at a picture of a Lincoln weld-pak 3200, claiming it can weld 5/16 steel, Too good to be true?

I have A Century 110 volt 140 amp.this was no cheap unit, I paid almost $800.00 at Farm and Fleet. It works well for the purpose I intended it for, heavy sheet metal. Like mower decks ect. You must understand one thing that I found out the hard way, (after I sold my Lincolin buzz box.) This 140 amps is not the same as was my lincolin stick welder. Yes it claims 5/16 steel and it will as long as there is not too much mass. I had to do some welding on my trailer and it would not do it, due to the heat being pulled away too fast on larger items. So I went out and purchased another 220 v lincolin. For $229.00 you cant beat that Lincolin buzz box and it has enough heat to weld almost any home type job. Hope I have given you some helpfull info and maby saved you some $$$$

Where can you buy a Lincoln 220V stick welder for $229?

Farm and Fleet amoung other places 220volt 235amp. Lowes also has them.

Al -

Thanks!!

Chris

I have a Miller 120 volt MIG unit with feeder, you can run flux wire with out gas, or set it up with a gas bottle. I have built 2 oilfield engine stands, 4" I beams, and many tractor and mower repairs. Costs about $700. Scott Gross somtimes runs good deals. Been a good unit.

The machines commonly referred to as 110 volt MIG welders are extremely limited, both by hteir design, and their duty cycle. At best, using flux cored wire, and being connected to power at the pannel, these machines are limited to 1/8 thickness steel. Beyond 1/8, they are not welding, but rather piling crap onto metal in the manner of a hot glue gun. 110 volt welders are built to self destruct, in that they do not have sufficient cooling, and consistantly overheat to the point of kicking the protective device in the machine. I have yet to see a manufacturer producing a 110 volt MIG machine that will weld anything on a hit and miss, with the possible exception of gas tanks. These machines are produced and marketed with more false information than box store air compressors. The 175 amp class, now 180 amp class, 220 volt machines are barely adequit to begin welding on anything up to 3/16 steel.

If you are not discouraged yet, I suggest you find someone who will let you try one out before you pay your cash. Dave in Holt.

I have a Clark dual MIG (gas and no gas) that only cost about $350 and I have welded up to a 1/4 inch think metal. Now you'll have to V it and use gasless to get enough heat but it will work. At my brothers place we have an arc welder and a 110 volt mig and we almost always use the mig.

I had a 110V Miller MIG and it welded a LOT of stuff for me without problems; no complaints . I was even able to weld some ~5/16 steel for a cart for an oilfield engine. I kept kicking out the thermal overload on the welder on that project but the Miller was able to take it. I did some cast iron and stainless using the Ar/CO2 bottle. Eventually, you may get to the point, as I did that, your skill and size of projects increases and 110V just will not cut the Mustard. I feel the Miller 110V MIG was a helluva machine for the money...BUT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A 20A outlet for it to get the maximum use out of it.

Personaly I use a mig only for the thin stuff. I then go to the stick welder for 1/8 and thicker. It's a lot faster that way.

Chuck in Central Oregon

I have a 110 mig with gas, works great on up to 1/8" stuff. Any thing heaver than that, your not welding, your filling. Not enough heat. Got to be a phyices lesson here somewhere. More voltage,more heat? D. Smith

G'Day Eric I have read the answers to your question with interest,I purchased my UNIMIG 250 amp single phase 240 volt welder about 11 years ago,at a cost of $2400,I have welded all sizes of steel from 16 gauge sheet up to 1" plate.It is quite capable of blowing a hole in 3/8 plate if you turn up the herbs.The primary current at stall is as high 45 amps at maximum power,the key to it all is DUTY CYCLE,at setting 4 out of 6 my machine has a 100% duty Cycle from memory.The other important consideration is your power supply I have a 32 amp power supply to the shed (the old power supply to the electric heater in the house) so get the biggest plug you can put on it,and last keep the lead as short as possible. Regards Phillip

Guys:

Last year, I sold the stick welder my Dad and I made in the 1950's because we are moving to FL and I didn't have space for it. We made the welder out of a couple of 6-volt fast battery chargers (the kind on the rollaround carts). It would do 100 Amps on 120 Volts but could pop a 60 Amp breaker if you stuck a rod at maximum setting.

Enter Mr. Murphy......About a month ago I had a tractor day. A wheel arm broke on my 4' mower and I had no way to fix it so I just HAD to get the Lincoln 120 Volt (110 Amp) MIG welder!

To make a long story short, with a little practice, I was able to make decent welds on 1/4" plate using the flux core wire. This was accomplished at the next to highest heat (voltage) setting.

So far, I'm really happy with the outfit. One reason is that I'm not having to change rods every time I get going good. Just lay 'er on the workpiece and commence.

I also REALLY like the auto-darkening helmet a good friend gave me (he got a better one but mine's just fine). No more groping around after lowering the helmet or squinting before striking the arc and then shaking the helmet down.

Boy! This is fun!

Take care - Elden

[Arthur]

After reading this old post,I couldn't help myself,I just had to tell you fellows about being 1 of 4 weldors chosen to build a 3 chord boom about 100 yrds. long. 1 pipe on top,2 on bottom,triangler design. The pipe was 16" o.d.x 1" wall thickness. I don't remember the exact size of the webbing ( bracing pipe,) but it was about 10" o.d. something like 3/8" wall . It was for a 72 cu.yard bucket. All welding done on this boom was Mig, .035 wire with gas shielding. No stick welding was allowed. We had to use propane rosebud torches to preheat to 325 - 350 degrees and maintain that temp. throughout the welding process because of the low heat input of that small wire. The boom was bent a time or 2,(operator error), but no weld failures that I remember. The bent chord had to be cut out and replaced,just the bent area. That was not yesterday !, around 65 or 67 when I was a young squirt. Hope I haven't bored you with this tale. There was a lot of good posts about Mig welders. Best regards to all, Arthur

[Arthur]

I could have made a mistake concerning preheat with a rosebud torch,I believe it was a acetylene gas, manifolded bottles instead of propane. We did use propane burners on the bow of the bucket over the weekend to start welding monday morning with mig.welders again,two welders at each joint, as on the boom ( two joints). I well remember that one because the canvas shielding to block wind, somehow caught fire and even caught the propane lines on fire. they turned the tanks off before any big damage,then we started welding. took all day and all night steady welding,couldn't let it cool down once we started. Sorry I made a mistake about the gas. Arthur Ps. there was more than two joints on the boom.

[Tanner Remillard]

I am a STRONG believer in Miller welders. I put several 400 lb. barrels of wire through a Miller Deltaweld 450 and only had minor problems with the lead cables. These welders ALSO can arc weld with the flip of a switch, so it pretty much eliminates the need for a seperate arc welder. This IS a 220v unit though. But if you had the money, and did alot of welding, that is what I would go for, but they are'nt cheap.

[MoRo]

Sorry to go further from the thread, but I noted that a few of you have sited overheating problems with a 110V welder.
I have a Clarke stick welder, 110V that did the same thing. cut out the back of the case to accomodate a small fan from an old computer. That helped a whole heap! Only kicked out once.
~M~