Welder Advice

[#40Fan]

I hate to say this, but I bought a $200 MIG welder off of Amazon that I am amazed with. My Millermatic 221 that has auto set fried its motherboard and I needed a welder faster than I could get the board, so I bought an Arccaptain 165A and had it in hand the next day. 110/220 volt capable, gas or flux core as well as stick welding and has a comparable auto set feature.

I've been so impressed, I still haven't ordered the motherboard for the Miller. The auto set feature on both welders can take a beginner and make them look like someone that knows what they are doing.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

No aluminum, welds would be on carbon and mild steel from 24ga - 1/4" plate for all the stuff I've been putting off. Sounding like a decent 220 mig would give me the best chance at actually succeeding at faking my way through them. I'd still like to end up around $400 though if that's even reasonable.

Here's two mail-order possibilities, they both have everything for stick, MIG and flux, except gas regulator. Harbor Freight

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I hate to say this, but I bought a $200 MIG welder off of Amazon that I am amazed with. My Millermatic 221 that has auto set fried its motherboard and I needed a welder faster than I could get the board, so I bought an Arccaptain 165A and had it in hand the next day. 110/220 volt capable, gas or flux core as well as stick welding and has a comparable auto set feature.

I've been so impressed, I still haven't ordered the motherboard for the Miller. The auto set feature on both welders can take a beginner and make them look like someone that knows what they are doing.

I've been seeing Arccaptain Ads all over the place and wondered if anyone other than a Youtube mouth peice had anything good to say about them.

 

[#40Fan]

I've been seeing Arccaptain Ads all over the place and wondered if anyone other than a Youtube mouth peice had anything good to say about them.

I was the same way when I was looking at it. I could have purchased it from the company directly and saved a few $$, but buying from Amazon, I knew I'd have recourse if it turned out to be a pile of junk. Other than it can't weld as long as the Miller could at the highest setting and it didn't come with a regulator, it surprised the hell out of me.

One other draw back....it will only fit the small 2 lb. wire spools. The machine is tiny.

Edited to add: It reverts to flux core after every power cycle. It scared me the first time it did it. Switching it now isn't a big deal.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

I've been seeing Arccaptain Ads all over the place and wondered if anyone other than a Youtube mouth peice had anything good to say about them.

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the Chinese machines use components from the same factory. They seem to have the same features. Just a new brand every few years.

I haven't used my yeswelder a bunch, but it still works. I'm not enough of a welder to know, but it seems adequate. One place they save money is the case, they may roll out soup cans. They make improvements periodically, the current 'pro' model supports a spool gun, I think, and has settings for more wire (I'm not a big fan of synergy so far). They've gone to a manly black paint, mine sports baby blue. And mine has a 110 plug on the cord. Which means the adapter is a short cord with a 220 male plug on one end and a 110 female receptacle on the other. Better not plug your grinder into that! I understand they've reversed that on the newer rev's.

I looked at Miller, Lincoln, Hobart and ESAB. They make some fine machines, most likely better controls since they're designed by real welding companies. But for this hacker, I couldn't/wouldn't pay the price. And the multi-function machines are all made in China, I think.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Hard to add to all the good advice posted above.

My ‘vote' would be for a MIG machine for sure.

There seems to be a smaller learning curve for MIG Vs. TIG.


I will just add that my “personal experience” with Thermal Arc was/has been stellar.

Not sure if they make MIG machines or not though.

I wanted a Miller Dynasty, but like the saying goes “Want in one hand, and sh1t in the other, and see which one fills up first” applied here.

I can’t recall exactly when I bought it, but it must have been nearly 15-20 years ago.

Got lots of hours out of it so far.



EDIT; I also agree with the “practice, practice, practice” idea.

And I really like watching this guy the “Weld Monger” ..(Jodie?)

I like the fact that he tends to cut his welds open, to show how well (or not) his welds were.