Help me decide on which Lincoln MIG to buy. Here are 2 Choices !

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New here ! Hey now!I don't have 220 in my home garage and I'm perfectly content with using 110.What I need a welder for is:1. Manifold work2. Racecar Bracket Work3. General BS4. 3/16 Mild Steel Welding is a mustAlright, I've narrowed it down to two models (I need to pick one up this weekend).1. Lincoln Electric Handy MIG Welder:Sears offers this unit for $299 http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...&cName=Welding2. Lincoln Electric Weld Pak 3200HD Wire Feed Welder: Home Depot offers this unit for $457 http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...ctId=100093231My question is, is the $157 price difference really worth it ? I don't need any long explanations but would like to know what the "Real" differences are. I do like the fact that I can somewhat dabble in aluminum work with the HD3200. But, will I be able to do anything worthwhile like weld an intercooler pipe ? Thanks guys, this looks like an awesome group of dudes here !
Reply:Hey there,  I'd say spend the money once and get exactly what you want. I mean whats $160 more if its gonna be something your happy with-right? Thats about half the price of a name brand autodark. Ive got 3 nice engine driven welders and a 110 lincoln wirefeed and for a lot of things its easier just to use the wirefeed, and they weld just fine. You can get the same wire as the big machines and mig conversions as well.  I dont know how big of brackets your going to build for your cars, but I really dont see a 10% duty cycle as bieng a problem.  Also they are just handy for the thin stuff you have to weld from time to time. And if you weld aluminium even a couple of times it'll have justified the added expense. Have a good one-J.
Reply:I agree.  And for 3/16" out of these machines, you are planning on sticking with flux-core, right?If you took the little bit of time to put in 240V, you'd be amazed how quickly you'd be discontent with only 120V.
Reply:The 3200HD has a better high-end output (135A vs 88A) and a lower low-end as well (25A vs 35A) than the Handy MIG.To me, the 3200 is just about at its upper limits with 1/8 inch thick steel work pieces.  With FCAW.  Stretching past that thickness I wasn't all that confident or comfortable with the fusion into the base metal.No way do I see an 88A machine getting you good welds on 3/16 material.  It looks like the Handy MIG is rated to do up to 1/8 inch thick with 0.035 FCAW wire.These little MIG machines are capable and good machines within their limits.  They really do quite well on the thinner stuff.But unless you are doing thin stuff and only thin stuff (to me that means sheet metal mostly and -ocassionally- having to do maybe 1/8 inch or so stuff with FCAW), you'll be squeezing the torch handle trying to get more amps out of the machine when you go to weld something just a little bit thicker.At which point you'll probably be getting a 240V MIG.  One of the 175-180A class machines.  Usually priced about $550 or so.  Find a used name-brand one or score a good deal on ebay and you might do a little better on price.Or you get hooked on welding and go up to the bigger 'industrial' boys.  With the bigger capabilities and the bigger price tags as well.Remember the welding rule of thumb for steel: 1 amp for each 0.001 inch of metal thickness.  For single-pass full depth penetration welding.  So 1/8 inch work calls for 125 amps.  Go to the Miller website and look at their online MIG/GMAW and FCAW calculators and see the sort of welding parameters that they call out.  Go to Lincoln's website and look through their product and process literature as well.  Look up the manuals for the different machines and check what the listed capabilities are.You want to do aluminum as well?  Then I'd say look into the Lincoln PM180 and the SG100 spool gun.  About $550-$650 and $200 respectively.  Plus a tank of argon for GMAW on aluminum, and a tank of C25 for steel, and you are looking at near $1k.  What with a grinder (or two), some discs for the grinder(s), a decent auto-dark helmet, some gloves, a welding jacket/sleeves, some wire brushes (manual and for the grinder), clamps, saw(s), etc you are around $1k.Last edited by MoonRise; 09-13-2007 at 05:11 PM.
Reply:Just go as big as you can.  You will keep hitting a wall with the smaller stuff.  More power = more stuff you can weld properly.  I personally doubt you will get 135 amps out of any 110 volt machine no matter what it sez on the label.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Hey if you can, check out Lincoln's Promig 140 which sells for about $500 at Lowes.  It is a bit more machine than the HandyMig and HD3200.  If you can though, run 220 volt power and go with a Lincoln Promig 180 or larger.  The 180 I believe sells for about $600-$700 also at Lowes.  Althouth the HandyMig is a decent unit for what it was designed for, I think you would be limited with what you want to do.  When in doubt, go larger.  You can power down if needed, but you cant always power up.A few of my toys !LinuxMintManjaroMiller Roughneck 2E Lincoln WeldPak 100HTP MTS 160 Chicago Electric 80amp Inverter   Victor O/A
Reply:If you MUST go with the 110V, get the 3200HD.  I live in military housing and can't run 220 outside.  But I wanted a 220V welder.  So, I bought the 175HD and made a big 100' 10ga extension cord.  I plug it into my dryer outlet.  I had to make the plugs for each end.  I have over $100 invested in the extension cord alone.  It's basically a 10ga extension cord that I cut the ends off of and put 220V ends on it.  It works like a champ!  So, if you have an electric dryer, you can get a 220V welder assuming it's reasonably close to where you want to weld.  I would like to have a 110V welder for when I'm on the road with my generators though.  110V would be very handy for when somebody wants you to come over and weld something or whatever.  When I buy a 110V welder, I'll get the 3200HD.Matt in OKCLincoln 175HD
Reply:Yeah, I picked up the 3200HD 3 weeks ago. Nice little dude.
Reply:Sweet!  I want to get a 3200HD that I can take on the road with me and use with my generators.  I have a school bus conversion and I race dirt bikes.  There's always something that needs welded it seems!Matt in OKCLincoln 175HD
Reply:I purchased a WeldPak HD a year ago specifically for repairing handrails and burglar bars after spending a week dragging a weldpak 155 (same as todays 175) up and down 3 flights of stairs along with the 100 ft super heavy cord that 220 volt thing requires. The HD is the same thing as the handy. It is fantastic for what I got it for, but it does have it's limits at 88 amps. My advice is get the biggest you can because sooner or later it won't be big enough.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.