Mig welders, suggestions..?

Planning to buy a mig welder for diy projects. Been looking at the hobart 140, 190, and 210 from northerntool.com. Any feedback on hobart or similar products is appreciated.

 

I bought the Hobart 210 a few weeks ago to learn myself, too. I like that it can run on normal household outlets -- mainly so I can practice -- but is readily capable to run off a proper outlet. So far I'm happy with it. I've only gotten a little practice with FC but am going to get a bottle of gas soon.

 

I've had a 140 for about 10 years, if all you're looking for is normal household type repairs it's a great machine. I figure anything structural is better left to a pro but I can at least tack it in place.

 

Hobart will do the job. When it comes to the Mig process, Lincoln gets my vote. Make sure your running 220 and depending on your thickness range you want a decent duty cycle. Between 40 -60. Post some pics of your welder and work.

 

Kris you will want to run off 220 vs 110 . There are a few ways you can go about your process here. 1- You can weld with a fluxed cored wire minus gas. You can run bare wire with a 75/25 Argon/ Carbon Dioxide. The best coverage and cleaner weld is going duel shield, which is using both. A flux cored wire and gas. You will be good on 110 household for just practicing, but would jump to a 220 for your projects. Good luck .

 

Negative TJ, wire has nothing to do with the polarity. You would change polarity to A/C for aluminum welding or when you use the Tig process. Flux Cored wire allows you to weld with no gas.

 

It comes already pre-wired for FC.

 

I don't have a 220 outlet near the garage. The laundry room doesn't have one either. I'm sure there's one behind the oven but I'm not about to run a long extension cord from there to the garage. When I move to a new place, one of my requirements is making sure it has a proper outlet.

I do plan on going to gas eventually but I just wanted to practice my technique with my hands. For my current projects that need to go on the truck, such as my rear bumper, I'm just taking things in place with FC but then having a friend do the final welds.

 

Why not? Whatcha got pertaining to your wire selection. I'm more on the Tig side, so I could be wrong

 

Well there ya go. I always ran duel shield. Interesting

 

Hahaha, your right. Learn something new everyday

 

Yes that's called duel shield what is used at most of your shipyards

 

If you want an even cleaner weld , use helium, expensive though

 

Wait.. that's a real thing? I know FC can get hotter and/or better penetration but is just messy so.. do people really use FC with gas?

 

I had the Hobart 190... I cheaped out at first and bought a no name mig off Craigslist.

Night and day between the two, if I ever need a mig again the it's either another one of those or a Miller equivalent

Sadly I sold mine to get into tig... Which while I love it, isn't anywhere near as convenient .

I'd also use gas out of the gate rather than FC, saves you getting annoying cleaning shit off. I'd also invest in a decent helmet. I wish I'd had my current helmet when I was doing lots of mig work, it's amazing what a difference it makes.

 

Yes. I will say this Kris, and to all if the DIY'S. If your gonna get serious and a lot of your welding is gonna be on your vehicle, I would suggest investing in a GTAW (Tig) process. It's way cleaner and your welds will be a lot cleaner, cosmetically look a lot better. It's more expensive set-up , but worth the investment.

 

I agree 100%... You just need to budget for extra tools as tig is brutal in terms of fit up tolerances....

Mig feels like the glue gun equivalent of welding in comparison...

 

Well you always want a good fit up. A foot pedal to start with, then once you get the hang of it, you can move to other options. Slider, push button, etc. When you factor in your wire and tungsten and gas, it becomes pricey, but well worth it. You can find deals on all that just doing some research.

 

TJ, that's a nice little set-up. Definitely want to run on 220. Me personally I want the Dynasty Tig Runner, which last time I looked it was around 8k . A very solid machine that will cover all of your welding needs. For the shop the Miller Synchrowave 250/350 is a solid choice.