Hobart Ironman is on sale at Fleet farm if anyone is interested

admin

Fleet is selling ironman 230 welders for $1349.00 until the 9th, one came home with me tonight.
Reply:My Ironman 230 is set up with a 10' Binzel Alpha 1 gun, so I tend to forget that the factory supplied gun hinders the units performance. I've been running  Hobart Brothers .030 HB-28 with C25 to weld up some horizontal T joints and lap joints constructed from 1/8". Tap #5 on the T joints and tap #4 on the lap joints. The results has been a smooth consistent soft arc , with a slight touch of drive to it, that  produces basically spatter free welds with good puddle wet out.  Anyway after seeing this post on the unit I decided to give the factory supplied gun a try, I was reminded quickly why I don't have it installed on the unit. The lead has a noticeable level of stiffness to it, I personally feel this stiffness is the creator of the inconsistencies that I see in the arc with this gun installed on the unit. To me it seems that any movement of this stiff lead results in a brief corruption of the smooth arc. The lead being stiff combined with fact that its 15' long length, in my 22' X 22' garage, has me having to have more curve in the lead then I 'd like, definitely doesn't help. I use to own a MM 210, on more than one occasion I robbed the 12' M-25 gun off it to use on the Ironman 230. The arc quality with the M-25 gun was as smooth as it is with the Alpha 1. I bought the 10' Alpha 1 back when my MM 210 was being used in my little 14' X 18' work  shed out at my Dad's. In my garage now,  I feel a 12' lead is a better fit and 15' is to long. In the near future I'll probably purchase 12' gun. I find the 10' work lead to be an annoying trip hazard. To get the work lead out from under my feet,  I currently have an additional 5' of lead that I clamp to my work piece or table. I attach the work clamp to the other end of this.  I have 20' of #2 lead out at my Dad's. Next time I go out there I am going grab it, so that I can turn into a 15' work lead for the Ironman 230.My attached weld pics are actually welds that I ran a few years ago; however, they are a good example of what I 've been seeing out of the Ironman 230 the past couple days with the Alpha 1 gun installed. Attached ImagesESAB Migmaster 250 Hobart Ironman 230Multimatic 215TWECO Fabricator 181i & 211iHH125EZ - nice little fluxcore only unitMaxstar 150 STH - very nice
Reply:I bought it for a backup welder. I was looking at the Northern Tool 250 amp welder but I was concerned with long term repair service and parts. I have the 210mvp and it has worked well for me and it often times gets used more than my bigger welders. I really like the simplicity of the Ironman and 210 as there isn't digital readouts to go bad. I had to have my Miller digital readout fixed and it wasn't cheap.I looked all over and the best deal for me was $1349.00 at Fleet Farm, I had the store clerk look up the last time they sold them at this price and it was two years ago. I figured it was the best deal going and brought one home. The wife isn't so happy. LOL.