Lincoln 140c review

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So I just bought a new 140c Lincoln, nice little mig welder. I am not too impressed with the overall power of the machine. I'm building a welding cart for my plasma cutter with it, and it seems that penetration could be better on the 1/8" steel that I'm using. I have selected .030" wire and 75/25 shielding gas. It works ok, but seems penetration could be better. I am plugged into a direct outlet at 20amps. It does work great on sheet metal, unlike my 255c. I guess I'm glad I have my Lincoln 255c for the heavier materials. It seems the 110 units just doesn't have the grunt. The drive roll system seems heavy duty for the size of the welder and seems well made, just not overly impressed with the power, thought it would have more.
Reply:That is a general consensus about machines powered by 110VAC. Crank it up wide open, preheat the work, maybe try the smallest wire possible, or experiment with different gases. I dare say you have ample machinery for cartology (cartography?) work!City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:HI Tangledive, I agree the 110 is a bit weak. I kinda knew that going into it, but I don't care too much, because I have a 255c Lincoln mig for my larger stuff. I wanted the 110 for primarily autobody repair. It's easy to move around the shop, and you can plug it in anywhere if you are only welding sheet metal.  I would say that it welds too cold for doing 1/8" steel and would consider a 110 unit only for very light duty service. I also have a 225 Precision Tig if needed, and an older weld-pak 155...maybe I have too many welders!!
Reply:On sheetmetal, those 'size' machines are sweeet.For 1/8 thick steel, they sort-of do OK with FCAW, I feel they really don't have the oooomph to do it with GMAW.GMAW and C25 on gauge thickness workpieces?  Yup.Remember, that machine is 'rated' at 90A 19.5V and a 20% duty-cycle.  It's not going to be a power-house no matter what you do.That's what the 255 is for!    The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:i got stuck using one and i found that if you use an 023-025 wire, you will notice a considerable difference.  it should be able to handle that 1/8th inch metal with no preheat.  the machine i was using didn't like 030 wire.the guy who owns it said his likes weld-it wire much better than lincoln's wire.  from what i have read the l-56 is a great wire but runs better at the top end which the smaller units don't have.  we used literally tons of l-56 at the shop i worked for.