want to buy a welder immediately!

[BigPinoyHunk]

i'm getting tired of going places and borrowing and yada yada yada to use a welder so i want to get my own. i've always heard people say, get a 220 and don't think about a 110. looking at specs of most 110's it looks like they will weld 3/16's just fine. however, hobart will weld 1/4 inch with a single pass. it looks like people's reviews looks like the welder wil actually do it. the specific welder i'm speaking of is a hobart welder 140.

there now are welders that will use 110 plug and a 220 plug for dual playage. i don't know how much it'll cost to wire up a 220 plug in my house but the good news is where i'll plug it in at is right on the opposite of the wall of my fuse box. i guess some people rig up a dryer plug to run off of the dryer outlet so maybe i can do this because my dryer is right next to my garage. the dryer is only a 30 amp fuse and i hear welders have 50 amp fuses in them but yet again people do this all the time.

i'm looking for help on deciding but it looks like a hobart handler 140 will do what i want to do cuz i don't think i'll ever weld anything thicker than 1/4 inch. hell, i believe the main part of my trailer is made up of 3/16 thick metal. the ramps it came with is 3/16 or thinner. my subframe connectors are definitely aren't 3/16 thick. so i don't know if its really important to get something to be able to weld something thicker than 1/4.

i've never used a 110v welder thought so i don't know what to expect and i don't know anybody who has one. i plan on at first using it with flux core wire without the gas but of course eventually using the gas for better welds.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Don65Stang]

Olie, The Hobart welders are good as are the Lincolns and Millers. The problem with the name brand 110 volt welders is that they are all increase the heat setting (voltage) in steps. That works fine but if you step up to beyond their entry models then you get a continuous variable heat control that allows precise voltage for the thickness your welding.

My Lincoln welder died when Katrina put my house under water a few years ago. I bought an Eastwood 110 mig unit & couldn't be happier. It has variable voltage and in my opinion is as good as and has better features than the big 3 name brands. Plus it has a 3year warrantee. Check it out before you pull the trigger on the Hobart. They have an ebay site where you can get it with shipping for $320 or so. It arrived 2 days after I ordered.

 

[BigPinoyHunk]

Olie, The Hobart welders are good as are the Lincolns and Millers. The problem with the name brand 110 volt welders is that they are all increase the heat setting (voltage) in steps. That works fine but if you step up to beyond their entry models then you get a continuous variable heat control that allows precise voltage for the thickness your welding.

My Lincoln welder died when Katrina put my house under water a few years ago. I bought an Eastwood 110 mig unit & couldn't be happier. It has variable voltage and in my opinion is as good as and has better features than the big 3 name brands. Plus it has a 3year warrantee. Check it out before you pull the trigger on the Hobart. They have an ebay site where you can get it with shipping for $320 or so. It arrived 2 days after I ordered.

are you able to weld up to 1/4 inch on a single pass? are you able to weld with good results?

i need to repair two areas on the floor pan before i put carpet in and a few holes on the floor.

 

[Don65Stang]

It welds as good as or better than my Lincoln did. I've never welded 1/4 inch stuff so I don't know. Try googling the question...I'm sure someone has an opinion about welding thick stuff with it. It works great on sheet metal. I use an argon blend gas to shield with.

 

[turtle5353]

A 110 welder and a bottle of gas will weld any sheet metal repair you need to do. I bought an eastwood 220 welder and love it. I have had it about year and half with no problems and use it alot. It was around 500 bucks and came with a spool gun to weld aluminum.

 

[BigPinoyHunk]

A 110 welder and a bottle of gas will weld any sheet metal repair you need to do. I bought an eastwood 220 welder and love it. I have had it about year and half with no problems and use it alot. It was around 500 bucks and came with a spool gun to weld aluminum.

i like to weld up thing like, bracing the saddles on the axle housing. welding brackets onto the car, welding box frame onto the trailer. d- rings onto a trailer and yada yada yada so i'm not just doing sheet metal stuff.

most of the time i'll be welding 1/8 and 3/16 stuff.

 

[JimNiki]

my panther 172 unimig (aussie) can go down to 27A, whereas the less powerful one's and including many aluminum transformer one's cannot go that low. The lower they can go lower which is better for sheet metal. Try to get a copper transformer name brand and you can't go wrong.

 

[MotoArts]

I have a Hobart Handler 135 in 110V. Works great on sheetmetal and things like angle iron up to the advertised 3/16"ish thickness. Quality in welding thicker stock varies depending on wire thickness, flux or shielded wire, etc.

Used a Snap On 220V back to back with mine when fabbing up new rear control arms for my Expedition and found the 220 MUCH easier to lay a proper bead with (approx. 3/16" stock) with my first guesstimate settings (wire speed and output). I was kind of surprised at the difference, honestly.

I would definitely consider a 220 if doing anything heavier than basic garage hobby type sheetmetal work.

Oh, and as for the flux core wire, it sucks. I only use it in a pinch when I run out of argon, or fixing typically crappy PA rusty stuff that I can't clean properly.

And even then it still sucks.

 

[turtle5353]

Definately want to run the argon/co2 mix, flux core sux bad!! If you are welding brackets on your rear end and things like that i would definately step up to the 220volt to get the proper penetration for the weld. A 110 can laydown a nice bead but that doesnt mean it burned in deep enough. I have seen plenty of "pretty" welds break right off because of the lack of penetration . I had a 110 hobart for a few years and it worked good on the smaller stuff and sheetmetal. but the 220 is the way to go in my opinion. hope this helps a little.

 

[BigPinoyHunk]

Definately want to run the argon/co2 mix, flux core sux bad!! If you are welding brackets on your rear end and things like that i would definately step up to the 220volt to get the proper penetration for the weld. A 110 can laydown a nice bead but that doesnt mean it burned in deep enough. I have seen plenty of "pretty" welds break right off because of the lack of penetration . I had a 110 hobart for a few years and it worked good on the smaller stuff and sheetmetal. but the 220 is the way to go in my opinion. hope this helps a little.

ok, now the question is how do i cheaply wire a 220 plug outlet into my garage or how do i make a dryer plug work with the welder?

 

[turtle5353]

Definately want to run the argon/co2 mix, flux core sux bad!! If you are welding brackets on your rear end and things like that i would definately step up to the 220volt to get the proper penetration for the weld. A 110 can laydown a nice bead but that doesnt mean it burned in deep enough. I have seen plenty of "pretty" welds break right off because of the lack of penetration . I had a 110 hobart for a few years and it worked good on the smaller stuff and sheetmetal. but the 220 is the way to go in my opinion. hope this helps a little.

ok, now the question is how do i cheaply wire a 220 plug outlet into my garage or how do i make a dryer plug work with the welder?

Do you already have 220 in your garage? or a fuse box close? I bought a 50ft 6 guage wire cord with 3 wires in it and wired it to a 30 amp breaker in my fuse box. That way i can reach anywhere in my garage with my welder. You can either buy a plug that matches your welder or remove the cord on the welder and hard wire it right into the fuse panel.

 

[marks73]

For 20 amps all you need is #12 wire. 30 amps #10, #8 is 40 amps and #6 is 55 amps. Check the FLA (Full load amps) on the machine you intend to purchase and be sure to breaker to the size wire you use. 95% of all household fires are the result of improper wiring!

 

[BigPinoyHunk]

Definately want to run the argon/co2 mix, flux core sux bad!! If you are welding brackets on your rear end and things like that i would definately step up to the 220volt to get the proper penetration for the weld. A 110 can laydown a nice bead but that doesnt mean it burned in deep enough. I have seen plenty of "pretty" welds break right off because of the lack of penetration . I had a 110 hobart for a few years and it worked good on the smaller stuff and sheetmetal. but the 220 is the way to go in my opinion. hope this helps a little.

ok, now the question is how do i cheaply wire a 220 plug outlet into my garage or how do i make a dryer plug work with the welder?

Do you already have 220 in your garage? or a fuse box close? I bought a 50ft 6 guage wire cord with 3 wires in it and wired it to a 30 amp breaker in my fuse box. That way i can reach anywhere in my garage with my welder. You can either buy a plug that matches your welder or remove the cord on the welder and hard wire it right into the fuse panel.

i don't have a 220 plug in the garage but my dryer is within feet of my garage though. my fuse panel is on the other side of the wall of the garage where i intend on placing it.

 

[caspianwendell]

I am a licensed electrician so I can not tell you to hook a 50 amp welder in a 30 amp plug but I will say this, #10 wire is good for 35 amps, you can only use 80 percent of rating for extended times but on a short burst you can, however caution should be observed as the wire inside the wall will overheat and melt down. A #8 wire would work much better here and not that hard to change in place of the #10 and the dryer will not be effected. I have both 110 and 220 welders and the 220 to me is the only way to go...better penetrating welds and less distortion to metal cause you get a quicker tack. Just my opinion

ok, now the question is how do i cheaply wire a 220 plug outlet into my garage or how do i make a dryer plug work with the welder?

Do you already have 220 in your garage? or a fuse box close? I bought a 50ft 6 guage wire cord with 3 wires in it and wired it to a 30 amp breaker in my fuse box. That way i can reach anywhere in my garage with my welder. You can either buy a plug that matches your welder or remove the cord on the welder and hard wire it right into the fuse panel.

DO NOT HARD WIRE DIRECT..N.E.C. requires a means of disconnect within 6 feet of any device. this is a safety issue due to overheat...if a breaker fails "and they do" it can cause a fire and you don't want to be running all over the place trying to shut it down. You can however place a disconnect in line as long as you can access it readily and is not susceptible to moisture.

i don't have a 220 plug in the garage but my dryer is within feet of my garage though. my fuse panel is on the other side of the wall of the garage where i intend on placing it.

 

[73 MACH 1 MAN]

I've never used a 110 mig. I have a Lincoln 175 220v and it serves me very well. Definetly go with the 25% Argon the fluxwire is a pain and its better to learn with the Argon since in the end thats what you'll be using. Its not that expensive I just swapped my bottle about 2 months ago it cost me $35. Didnt you say you have a fuse panel in your garage? 1st thing I would do is to see if your panel has room to place a 220/240v circuit breaker in if you do you can place a female socket on the wall beside it which saves the time in running the wire across the room. I placed my socket right beside my panel and made a 35' extension cord that I keep on my cart. That way I can place the welder wherever I want to work even outside on the driveway! Your 1st project and good for learning to use the welder is to build a cart for it that'll hold the welder, bottle, accessories and even grinders and cutoff saws. I built mine out of old bedframes I had laying around and it was my 1st project with it.

 

[BigPinoyHunk]

well i think i'm hooked onto the idea of using a 220 for expandability now. i called a local electrician and asked him to come over saturday for a price quote to install a 220 outlet. i want it on one of the walls in the garage and then the panel box is on the other side of that wall (outside of house)

he said i need to make sure what input amperage it is and it looks like both welders are about 20-21 amps. so that should work fine going off of a dryer outlet. here are two welders i priced out in town:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/wirefeed/handler190/ at trailer and tractor supply which is onsale or $650 with no military discount so it'll come out to $697.12 out the door.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/assets/en_US/Products/literature/E727.pdf at lowe's which i have a lowe's card and its at $669 but gives 10% off for military and for a total of $645.75

it looks like the hobart will weld thicker steel. so now i guess i need help deciding on what welder i want to purchase because both are within 50 dollars. unless you guys know somewhere that has a better deal.

well i think i'm hooked onto the idea of using a 220 for expandability now. i called a local electrician and asked him to come over saturday for a price quote to install a 220 outlet. i want it on one of the walls in the garage and then the panel box is on the other side of that wall (outside of house)

he said i need to make sure what input amperage it is and it looks like both welders are about 20-21 amps. so that should work fine going off of a dryer outlet. here are two welders i priced out in town:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/wirefeed/handler190/ at trailer and tractor supply which is onsale or $650 with no military discount so it'll come out to $697.12 out the door.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/assets/en_US/Products/literature/E727.pdf at lowe's which i have a lowe's card and its at $669 but gives 10% off for military and for a total of $645.75

it looks like the hobart will weld thicker steel. so now i guess i need help deciding on what welder i want to purchase because both are within 50 dollars. unless you guys know somewhere that has a better deal.

it looks like the hobart comes with a 20oz co2 bottle over the lincoln. however the 650 price tag is on a 50 dollar sale until the end of the month.

 

[turtle5353]

well i think i'm hooked onto the idea of using a 220 for expandability now. i called a local electrician and asked him to come over saturday for a price quote to install a 220 outlet. i want it on one of the walls in the garage and then the panel box is on the other side of that wall (outside of house)

he said i need to make sure what input amperage it is and it looks like both welders are about 20-21 amps. so that should work fine going off of a dryer outlet. here are two welders i priced out in town:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/wirefeed/handler190/ at trailer and tractor supply which is onsale or $650 with no military discount so it'll come out to $697.12 out the door.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/assets/en_US/Products/literature/E727.pdf at lowe's which i have a lowe's card and its at $669 but gives 10% off for military and for a total of $645.75

it looks like the hobart will weld thicker steel. so now i guess i need help deciding on what welder i want to purchase because both are within 50 dollars. unless you guys know somewhere that has a better deal.

well i think i'm hooked onto the idea of using a 220 for expandability now. i called a local electrician and asked him to come over saturday for a price quote to install a 220 outlet. i want it on one of the walls in the garage and then the panel box is on the other side of that wall (outside of house)

he said i need to make sure what input amperage it is and it looks like both welders are about 20-21 amps. so that should work fine going off of a dryer outlet. here are two welders i priced out in town:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/wirefeed/handler190/ at trailer and tractor supply which is onsale or $650 with no military discount so it'll come out to $697.12 out the door.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/assets/en_US/Products/literature/E727.pdf at lowe's which i have a lowe's card and its at $669 but gives 10% off for military and for a total of $645.75

it looks like the hobart will weld thicker steel. so now i guess i need help deciding on what welder i want to purchase because both are within 50 dollars. unless you guys know somewhere that has a better deal.

it looks like the hobart comes with a 20oz co2 bottle over the lincoln. however the 650 price tag is on a 50 dollar sale until the end of the month.

if i had to decide between the hobart and lincoln, i would go with the lincoln. Both are very good welders , its just personal preference. My brother owns a really nice lincoln 180 and it weld awsome. Up to you, both will make you very happy .

 

[BigPinoyHunk]

well i think i'm hooked onto the idea of using a 220 for expandability now. i called a local electrician and asked him to come over saturday for a price quote to install a 220 outlet. i want it on one of the walls in the garage and then the panel box is on the other side of that wall (outside of house)

he said i need to make sure what input amperage it is and it looks like both welders are about 20-21 amps. so that should work fine going off of a dryer outlet. here are two welders i priced out in town:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/wirefeed/handler190/ at trailer and tractor supply which is onsale or $650 with no military discount so it'll come out to $697.12 out the door.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/assets/en_US/Products/literature/E727.pdf at lowe's which i have a lowe's card and its at $669 but gives 10% off for military and for a total of $645.75

it looks like the hobart will weld thicker steel. so now i guess i need help deciding on what welder i want to purchase because both are within 50 dollars. unless you guys know somewhere that has a better deal.

well i think i'm hooked onto the idea of using a 220 for expandability now. i called a local electrician and asked him to come over saturday for a price quote to install a 220 outlet. i want it on one of the walls in the garage and then the panel box is on the other side of that wall (outside of house)

he said i need to make sure what input amperage it is and it looks like both welders are about 20-21 amps. so that should work fine going off of a dryer outlet. here are two welders i priced out in town:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/wirefeed/handler190/ at trailer and tractor supply which is onsale or $650 with no military discount so it'll come out to $697.12 out the door.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/assets/en_US/Products/literature/E727.pdf at lowe's which i have a lowe's card and its at $669 but gives 10% off for military and for a total of $645.75

it looks like the hobart will weld thicker steel. so now i guess i need help deciding on what welder i want to purchase because both are within 50 dollars. unless you guys know somewhere that has a better deal.

it looks like the hobart comes with a 20oz co2 bottle over the lincoln. however the 650 price tag is on a 50 dollar sale until the end of the month.

if i had to decide between the hobart and lincoln, i would go with the lincoln. Both are very good welders , its just personal preference. My brother owns a really nice lincoln 180 and it weld awsome. Up to you, both will make you very happy .

it looks like lincolns are a lowe's company welder because all of their manuals have the lowe's logo on them.

i am just worried about how much it'll cost to wire up my 220 plug.

 

[turtle5353]

Even if its a couple hundred bucks to do everything, it will be one of your best investments you will make for your garage. you wont be dissappointed when your out there welding away. I use mine all the time!! you will probably get a few buddies too, they always need something welded up! LOL