Cheap Welder

[BDSax]

How much do electricians charge to put in a 220 outlet? ~ballpark?

depends on the amprage size and run of the line. need details george.

your dryer outlet will work for most 220v welder, btw

you are wrong. dryer lines are 30 amp and most high quality welders are 50 amp. so how will they work?

[FredK]

you are wrong. dryer lines are 30 amp and most high quality welders are 50 amp. so how will they work?

Weld in the kitchen on the oven receptacle? :???:

[BDSax]

youz krazy fredzkz.z.z.z

[!kid]

How much do electricians charge to put in a 220 outlet? ~ballpark?

my coworker helped me do it for free. we had to go under my house to run the line. we also put in a 6 foot ground rod that was fun. hahah, i am sure it would help the price out if you ran the wires and then let the electrician hook it up.

[mrsleeve]

george, go talk to a electrical supply house (not a big box store like lowes, HD or Meanrds) tell them what you are doing. Make sure your sure you have the capacity on your residential service (should be 200amp). and that you have 2 slots left in your panel. Get what they recommend for your app, run the wire your self and call the electrician to do the final terminations at the panel and the outlet. will save you some money, but most electricians I know wont get outta the truck for less than 75 bucks. The big price will be in the wire, all depends on how far you have to run from the panel.

[BDSax]

is your panel surface mount? is your panel in your garage? easiest thing is to make the outlet below or to the side of the panel and make a long tail for the welder. what brand panel is it?

[hcash]

Dude, you could take a con-ed welding class at Fo-tech. I'm in the welding program there... Con-ed classes are like 70 bucks. You can bring in your own projects and use any machine there you want. Just have to bring in your own metal... If you get a welder, call me. I can show you some stuff. Particularly if you get a tigg welder.

P.S. Don't buy a lincoln.


Some was asking about hoods. You can't really go wrong with any cheap hood other than the auto darkening ones. Auto Darkening is something you don't want to cheap out on. The delay time is something you really want to pay attention to. No, 1/12000 of a second isn't fast. Also, auto darkening hoods are fragile...

[BDSax]

fragile...

must be italian

[mrsleeve]

I am a blue box guy, but I am gonna call BULL SHIT on the dont buy a Lincoln. Arguably the best welders made and entire industries are built on and by Lincons alone. I work around welders all day, as a NDT tech and will have my CWI by this summer. this is Something I know a little about.

It has more to do with the skill and adaptability of the guy running the stinger than the machine. But good equipment makes the job all that much easier

P.S. Don't buy a lincoln.

.

[808BMW]

Even the miller guys that swear "Nothing feeds like a miller" have told me a Lincoln/Hobart is fine.

I've been looking at small lincoln mig's for a while, just haven't taken the plunge.

[hcash]

I should have said I wouldn't buy a lincoln. The lincolns I've used I didn't like. Might have something to do with me learning on a miller. More than anything it was the layout of the machine. That might seem insignificant... For stick and tig there isn't a significant difference. Mig was no contest in my experience. I HAVEN'T USED EVERY MACHINE OUT THERE. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other...

[416stroker]

Even the miller guys that swear "Nothing feeds like a miller" have told me a Lincoln/Hobart is fine.

I've been looking at small lincoln mig's for a while, just haven't taken the plunge.

hobart and miller are the same thing

[Skafrog]

I have worked with Lincolns and Millers, and I went through the same questions when I purchased my home welder.
I ended up with a Millermatic 140 for two reasons: Miller guns seem to ramp the wire speed up when you press the trigger, giving you that last millisecond of correction.
The biggest reason? Parts availability. I live in the land of Tractor Supply Company, who carries the Hobart line, which means 99% of my Miller can be serviced from off the shelf parts at a shop 3 miles away from my house.
For me, 110 volts was a requirement. I take my welder around with me, and knowing that I can always plug in is a must. Besides, I don't see myself welding 1/4" steel on a BMW anytime soon.

[Justin B]

Really the big 3 are Blue boxes = Miller, red boxes = Lincoln, and Yellow boxes= Essab.

As you say hobart are the cheaper hobbiest version of miller and are nearly identical other than some key electronics that lower the duty cycle some compared to a miller. hell the hobarts even come with a miller book. SO I leave the hobart in the blue box category

Agreed. I felt a little bit of shorting out in my head when I was writing that, lol. Listen to that ^. I mean, the hobart that my friend martin has, has boards in it that say Miller! One in the same, I messed up :)

[whiltebeitel]

Speaking of welders, a Millermatic 140 with running gear goes for $705 at Praxair, they are running a fall/winter (ends Dec. 31st) special on Miller MIG welders.

LINK!