110v Mig Welders?

admin

What do you guys think of 110V mig welders?
Reply:If you ask me I think they have their place, but you must be careful with them.  They runoutta steam real fast.  I think for any serious fabrication, trailers or farm work, you really need to upgrade to a 230V.   However, if you stick to 1/4" or less, and generally the less side you will be alright.  I have seen one used on thicker stuff and it managed to surprisingly do ok, but its still mediocre and for something with load bearing I wouldnt trust the welds.  Does this help? If you have more specifics on what you plan with this machien I can maybe give you some more advice.CHRIS
Reply:If you really know what you're doing, they can work pretty well for even thicker materials.  The problem is that most folks that use a 120VAC welder don't really know what they're doing.I was welding on some 5/16" plate earlier this evening with a MM135.  With a little preheat and lots of prep I was able to get good penetration.  The downside was that after a few inches of bead I'd have to stop and let the welder rest and cool down.I've used the MM135 a great deal and like it for what it is, a small under-powered mig unit.  I also haven't heard too many complaints from people using the Lincoln 135T and Plus, or the HH140.  I have heard many complaints about cheap harbor freight welders and just about anything smaller than the 135 amp class machines.  A friend of mine has a cheap 90A mig welder and it really is a joke.  It's more like a toy than a welder.  There's no contactor, so it's always hot, there's no gas solenoid, it leaks argon, and I'm surprised the wire-feed mechanism works at all.
Reply:I use a millermatic 130 as a portable mig for farm equip.  It works really well on sheet metal and stuff up to 1/4".  One issue I have had with this (and other nice consumer-oriented 110v welders) is that at full power it becomes more difficult to control the heat and feed rate.  The wire feed speed starts to oscillate, faster and then slower.  I have experienced this on both my miller 130 and on a friend's lincoln 135 (has this been other's experiences?).  This doesnt seem to be as much of an issue with 220v units.  All of the 220v units I have used are pretty smooth running up to the top settings. If you like the idea of one of these type welders, you might get a nice used one and try it out for a while.  If you like it keep it.  When it doesnt suit your needs anymore, sell it to the next guy in your current situation along with some good advice.  You might want to check out the introduction section.  There is a guy who just posted a website with his new ham radio tower/trailer he built with a 110v miller.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:I meant to say check out the New Posts section for the radio tower.  Sorry about the newbie mistakes.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:I was the one made the post about the radio tower in the projects section.  I did use an MM135 for that and have had similar experiences.  I've run it at the max output settings for long periods of time actually trying to get the thermal switch to trip which hasn't happened.  The quality of the weld suffers, though.At some point while running at max output the arc will get shorter, I'll get stubbing, or both.  Continuing to weld at that point will yield cold welds with crappy penetration.  Letting the welder rest for a couple minutes will fix that right up.I've considered an MM175 as a portable unit, but I understand it's got some auto wire-speed tracking business that scares me.  That, and I'd really like something that can get into the 250A range for atleast a little while.
Reply:Now that you mention the thermal switch, mine never has tripped either.  I have, on several occasions, ran way past the rated duty cycle of the machine.  I have tripped a circuit breaker on the line, but never made the thermal switch fault.  I bought the machine specifically becasue it uses 110v and at the time I got it found it to be the best of the bunch.  I bought it used and I tried several brands out (all used), century, lincoln, clarke, (but I never tried the hobart clone so I cant comment on those) and the miller 130 just felt better.  Maybe they are more likely to be kept up better, or maybe they just hold up better.  I am not a miller man.  I am not a brand person at all.  To me, brands only mean as much as a product's quality can convey.  However, one of my favorite welders is the millermatic 200 from about 15-20 years ago.  I got to use one regularly over a 3-year period in the maintenance shop at my old college.  I still see them all the time.  I wish I had one.  I liked the mm130 because its welding characteristics felt like a little version of the old miller 200.I think portable and 250A is likely to be really hard in a single unit.  For higher amp in a wire feeder, I use a powcon 300 and a hobart suitcase.  At about 100 pounds total and using a 220 volt plug, that ain't REALLY portable, but it's close.  It WILL go in the trunk of a camry.  BTW, I showed your tower to a friend that lives in a reception black hole.  He was wondering if you'ld like to build one to install on the roof of his 70 ford ranger or can it be built on a large spring base and attached with a magnet?Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:A mag-mount tower?  That might be a challenge.I've been eyeing those Powcon units on ebay, thinking I might get one of them and a suitcase feeder.  Which do you have and how does it weld?
Reply:I actually have a 300sm and a 300ss.  I have two suitcases also, a hobart hefty cc/cv and a hobart porta-wire cc/cv.  They both work well for the things I do.  Since I mostly work on heavy equip for my dad, I cant say much about the precision of the feeders for lighter guage work, but for medium and heavy guage welding, they work great and can be found at really nice prices.  You can often times get a 300ss on ebay for around $200-$325 and a 300sm for $400-$500 depending on the phase of the moon.  And as a stick welder, they are both great.With a cc/cv type suitcase, either will work.  I use my hefty+300ss in cc mode most of the time, and all I do is adjust the amps at the welder and dial in the wire speed on the suitcase and go.  I dont know about aluminum with the 300ss, but with the 300sm the welds are ok...not as good as on a big millermatic with a spoolgun, but ok.  This might be 'cause I'm using the same gun and liner for both steel and aluminum and lack experience with the setup.  I only recently got the 300sm so I have only a dozen or so hours of welding on it.  The hobart suitcases arent supported anymore, but they also dont break much.  I got mine off ebay for about $500 for the hefty, with gas valve, pre- and post-flow, contactor, voltage guage, and wirespeed guage (shipped).  Not a great price, but pretty good.  Since then I picked up the porta-wire for less than $200 with gas valve (no contactor or guages).  So, with a little patience and some luck, you could have a suitcase feeder/welder combo for less than a used millermatic 210, that's capable of actually being sorta portable.  Miller also has a few suitcases that do the same thing (s-32s-super, the 8vs and 12vs), so does lincoln (LN-25).  In fact, most major brands offer something like these.  I have used the ln-25.  They are very nice also, but generally cost more.Either powcon is stated to run around 200 amps in single phase, but can run up to 375 amps in 3-phase (I think in single phase, at full power it's actually more than 200 amps).  The phase switch-over takes about 5-10 minutes and obviously requres a different plug.  Note: I have heard of reliability problems running inverter welders off generators, but dont have any first hand knowledge.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:I use a Linclon WeldPac 100. Have had it for 3 1/2 years. Never tripped a breaker or the thermal overload. I have not regreted buying it for one second. It's never let me down. But lets be honest I'm not a professional weldor. If I was i'd have bought a 100% duty cycle $2000 machine. But for around the backyard shop/farm I'd recommend it. But if you are going to do it, do it right and buy a good reputable brand with a company that is proud of their product.