What do you use for a welder?

[CaveCreekRay]

Question for the experienced guys out there: I have a new Lincoln 140 110v welder and a nice gas bottle for it. Its still in the new box. I now have 220v in my workshop. Does the 220v do that much more than the 110v welder to warrant taking it back and swapping it for the 220v model? I need to make that call before I crack the box.

Finally getting caught up to where I can use it...

Thanks,

Ray

 

[Daren Todd]

Ray, there's a big difference between a 110 and 220 volt welder. On a 110 volt welder, you can comfortably weld between 3/16" and 1/4" metal depending on the machine. After that they start to really struggle. The 220 volt welder will handle up to 1" metal depending on the machine. 1/2" comfortably If your gonna do anything structural for safety, like fixing a trailer frame, or tow hooks for your tractor for example. Use a 220 volt welder. They get way better penetration

I personally think the extra horsepower of the 220 volt makes it easier to use. The only experience with the 110 models are the harbor freight That thing struggles!!!! Now the miller 252, 220 volt welder at work is a Cadillac I can lay down some nice welds with that And have gone up to 5/8" metal with it.

Burned through about 5 lbs of welding rods on my old ancient arc welder this week. Took about 4 1/2 lbs of rods before I finally started getting some decent looking welds, and getting away from the bubble gum looking ones

 

[Daren Todd]

Made some more progress on the bumper for the bota. Gotta drill the holes for the mounting bolts while it's still light enough to move by hand Gotta mount the tie down hooks also. Then fill with sand and weld on the top. Gotta bring home the lift cart from work before I finish the bumper. This way, when it's complete I can roll it into place and bolt it up






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[D2Cat]

What are you going to do with the Bull Horns, mount them on the go cart?

 

[Daren Todd]

What are you going to do with the Bull Horns, mount them on the go cart?

Bull horns are at the landfill

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Thanks Daren!

I'll swap it out...

 

[Daren Todd]

Thanks Daren!

I'll swap it out...

Take your time swapping your 110 out Think about what you want to do with it, and check out the features. Even in your 220 volt models there are big differences between machines.

Most of our branches use the miller auto set welder. Can't remember the model number. You flip the wire speed to auto, turn your dial for the voltage to the thickness of metal and go. That really took some getting used to for me. Our miller 252 at the shop has two dials. One for wire speed and one for voltage. And has a flip chart to dial it in close. After a test run, I'll either adjust the wire speed or voltage for me I find the 252 easier to use. But it's also what I'm used too. The miller 252 can also have a spool gun added for aluminum. Some machines are Arc, Mig, And Tig capable. Just depends on the budget

There's big differences in your arc welders also. Dad's 1960 something tombstone has a duty cycle, and will only go down to 80 amps. My 1975 Montgomery Ward arc welder is continuous duty and will go down to 25 amps. And can do brazing with carbon rods.

 

[Daren Todd]

Been making some progress on the bumper.

Got gussets on the mounting plate.



Got the snatch hooks mounted.



Filled it up with 100 lbs of sand.

And been working on getting the top welded on




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[Daren Todd]

It's all together. Tops welded on, plus the top plate. Got a bunch of grinding and smoothing, and then it will be ready for install. Did a test fit earlier, so I know it will bolt up [emoji51][emoji51][emoji51]

Total weight is somewhere between 210 and 220 lbs. Metal was right at 120 lbs. Took just under 2 full 50 lb bags of sand to fill it.





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[BadDog]

Thanks Daren!

I'll swap it out...

I agree on all points. There are very few circumstances I would even consider a 110V welder. And as suggested, take your time to figure out what you need, and what you want. Years ago, after much debate, I bought a Miller MM175 around y2k or so. It's the largest of what was considered a "portable", but certainly not something you would want to lug around much, but still possible. I think they call it a 180 now? As opposed to the old 180 which was a floor model. Anyway, I have used it a lot and it's served me very well. It is rated for and works well up to 1/4, and can go further with preheat and/or multiple passes. Sometimes I work at it's limits, but that's pretty rare really. 1/2" isn't to terribly unpleasant but takes some time. I welded 3/4" once with it, wouldn't want to do that again. So generally I'm very satisfied with my choice and it's served me well. That said, I've had some time on a 252, and it's much more machine, with a much smoother globular transfer arc, and capable of going to spray transfer, running spool guns, etc. With the Sync 351 to handle big stuff, I certainly can't justify it, but if buying again with the idea of having only the one machine, it would be something in the class of a MM252. And, as you can probably tell, when it comes to welders, my blood runs blue. That's mainly inherited as there were boilermakers, pipe fitters, etc all through my family, and with the exception of one old tombstone every machine I grew up around was blue.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Thanks guys...

I have the Lincoln 140 and I am going to swap into the 180 which is the 220 version and still gives you all the capability of the 140 only with a little more zoot. (MIG with gas or flux core) I can use the 220 model remotely powered by my generator too, if needed, for mobile repairs.

Ray

 

[Daren Todd]

So generally I'm very satisfied with my choice and it's served me well. That said, I've had some time on a 252, and it's much more machine, with a much smoother globular transfer arc, and capable of going to spray transfer, running spool guns, etc. With the Sync 351 to handle big stuff, I certainly can't justify it, but if buying again with the idea of having only the one machine, it would be something in the class of a MM252. And, as you can probably tell, when it comes to welders, my blood runs blue. That's mainly inherited as there were boilermakers, pipe fitters, etc all through my family, and with the exception of one old tombstone every machine I grew up around was blue.

As stated earlier. Our other locations have the miller 212 auto set. I had to swing by air gas yesterday to swap out the argon bottle Got some prices when I was in there. The miller 210 runs at 1200$ and has a 200$ rebate. It comes with the hardware to mig and stick out of the box. You can purchase the tig set up for it. It will only Tig steel though.

The miller 212 auto set runs around $1500. And the 252 comes in around 2k ish. If I remember right, when we went to purchase the welder for the shop, they didn't have the 212, and gave us the 252 for close to the same price. After using the 252 for 5 years before trying the 212, i wasn't all that thrilled with the 212 I had been spoiled

 

[RCW]

Ray - -

Just food-for-thought - if you're looking at the Lincoln 180 - take a peek at the 201MP. I got one last year, and really like it. The first one went "pop" and quit real early on, but my LWS fixed me up with a new one right away. Was a new model last year, and had some good deals on them then.

Very similar to the MM210 Daren mentioned - 110 and 220, mig, tig, and stick. It's also a DC inverter, so draws less juice.

For most of my putterin', I find the 110 mig sufficient, but I'm not building bridges, either. Pretty light-gauge stuff at maybe 3/16 or less. I have a subpanel project in the works for 220 in the garage.

There are often debates about red vs. blue. I think both are very good, but you seem to see more blue in commercial ops.

Just look at Daren's welds, and I think you see why!!

 

[Daren Todd]

RCW, i think some of the reason you see more blue then red in the corporate sector is because of vendors and corporate contracts. I didn't really think about it yesterday when I stopped in to refill the argon tank. But when I asked about there welder prices, he never even mentioned the Lincoln's on the floor. They seem to really push the miller's. They did that a year ago as well when I stopped in for some parts for my father in laws mig. We got to talking about the Chicago electric of my fil's, and he brought up the miller 210. Never mentioned a comparable Lincoln that they might have in the store

 

[Daren Todd]

Bumper is finished and installed. Gave it a quick test fit with the hood to check clearance. When hood is raised, the is 1 1/2" clearance

Now to remove the hood. Clean up my mess. And hit it with some rust treatment before priming.












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[Daren Todd]

Here's one of where it mounts.




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[Tooljunkie]

Daren, what are you going to bump with that? It looks like you could demolish buildings with it.
Should have some decent weight when you are done.

Im pretty much done with my lincoln mig.
It will be a miller if i have any choice in the matter.
The 252 was an awesome welder at my last job.

 

[Daren Todd]

Daren, what are you going to bump with that? It looks like you could demolish buildings with it.
Should have some decent weight when you are done.

Im pretty much done with my lincoln mig.
It will be a miller if i have any choice in the matter.
The 252 was an awesome welder at my last job.

Frank, bumper weighs around 210, to 220 lbs. I had around 240 lbs on the front before the redo, between the bull horns and the 1" plate steel. So it should still keep the wheels planted with the bush hog on the back

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Dang!

I was thinking the same thing as Frank. That bumper would look right at home on the front of a diesel locomotive. Be easy on the gas or you may affect the Earth's rotation.

Am I the only one who notices the similarity:

 

[Daren Todd]

Dammit Ray!!!!! Now you got my wife out there looking at it going "well you know..... it wouldn't take too much to mask off the teeth while it's just primer!! It sure would get the neighbors talking"