MiG welder

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need more help I should be receiving MiG welder by middle of week Lincoln 180T  what i need to know now is what size bottle do i need & what gas do i need.I want to be able to use the solid wire as well as the flux core. just a hobby welder but have never done any MiG welding only stick.thanks for your help.
Reply:Get the larges cylinder you can.....80 cu ft cylinder should last you thru a 10/12 lbs spool of wire......the cost for a swap is mostly labor.....at my LWS the cost of a 160 cuft swap is $2 more than an 80 cuft...as for what gas you will want C25....or some places call it mig mix....75/25......
Reply:I agree, unless storage is a concern get a larger size bottle rather than a small one. A larger bottle is generally cheaper and saves on trips to the LWS. Its also nice to have enough gas to finsh your weekend project with out worrying about running out. I continually kept getting bigger bottles as I did more welding.The only reasons I would get a small bottle would be portability and storage limitations. The little 20cf bottle was great on my old 110v mig because we could just haul the machine where we wanted to go. Seemed like we filled thee bottle twice a day if we did any serious welding though. The bigger bottles limited the portability some what. My 220v machine lived under my bench at my old shop and an 80 cf tank just squeeked under if it wasn't on the cart. Its now got a 160 cf tank on the cart and stays where ever.
Reply:when you say 10/12 spool of wire do you mean 10 spools or just 1 spool for the 80 cf bottle.thanksLast edited by wheelerbuffy; 03-16-2008 at 11:28 AM.Reason: added more
Reply:That's the spool's weight.   Filler is sold by the pound.I like the 85/15 Ar/CO2 gas mix more than C25.  A little less spatter.  You can run pure C02 as well.   Cheaper than buying argon, but spattery.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:If you use 20 CFH and 80 cuft cylinder will last you 4 hours of welding.  JohnSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :