ESAB Caddy MIG 200 vs. Thermal Arc 118i ?

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Looking for excellent low end (thin sheet steel), plus enough Oomph! on the upper end to  MIG up to 5/16"..or other recommendations in the under $1,000.00 range, without getting into TIG?"Good Enough Never Is"MIller AC/DC  ThunderboltHobart HH180, 125EZRiland Cut 40 Plasma oxy/act  outfitTons of "stuff", all treasures to me!
Reply:5/16 would be pushing the max of either of those machines. Neither has much more power than your HH180.If you need to MIG 5/16" steel regularly, you can find good used MIGs in the 200-250A range in your price range.JohnA few weldersA lot of hammersA whole lot of C-clamps
Reply:I am surprised art the power of the little caddy-mig. 200. Burns in real hot too. More power is better, but the Esab will do what you ask..Low end is really good and stable at the very bottom. (.023 wire)The gun probably would melt before it shut down. Not much you can do to upgrade the gun. It has enough power to spray-arc ,Really tons more voltage, then my passport It's really great on input power. Might be it's best quality.I picked mine up for $850.00 shipped, and I already had a Thermal 161s. So no need for the stick feature on the Thermal. Lot of value in the Thermal 181 machine though. Attached ImagesLast edited by Brand X; 05-15-2012 at 02:59 AM.Esab/Lorch ET-220iEsab 160i caddyThermal LM-200 Lincoln feedersThermal Pee-Wee 85sThermal 60i- 3phase /RPC powered (Beast)Thermal Drag-gun 35CINE 1500 Klutch 140i
Reply:I do like the ESAB Caddy machine, if it ran on 120V I would have one already. The Thermal 181i ain't no great shakes in the stick department, but I'm anxiously awaiting their 211i which is dual-voltage. I'd like to see how it compares to the Miller Multimatic, as I'd like to have a dual-voltage MIG that has decent power on 230, and preferably doesn't weigh a ton.A few weldersA lot of hammersA whole lot of C-clamps
Reply:Originally Posted by Silicon-basedI do like the ESAB Caddy machine, if it ran on 120V I would have one already. The Thermal 181i ain't no great shakes in the stick department, but I'm anxiously awaiting their 211i which is dual-voltage. I'd like to see how it compares to the Miller Multimatic, as I'd like to have a dual-voltage MIG that has decent power on 230, and preferably doesn't weigh a ton.