Welder advice?

[morningsmiler]

I'm looking to buy a welder for some light body and exhaust work. Any advice on what to get. I haven't welded in about 25 years and that was a stick welder. I do have a pile of sheetmetal to practice on, though.

Been looking at flux core welders for price. Any experience with these?

[AndrewBird]

Do you have access to 220V? How much do you plan on using it?

I personally would go with a MIG setup over flux core. Much nicer welds and much more control. I'm a fan of Lincoln's stuff, but Miller and Hobart make nice stuff as well. The MIG 180 and 140 here are pretty nice light duty welders and will do both MIG and flux core and the 140 runs off of 110V instead of 220V. I'd suggest buying the best welder you can afford, instead of wishing you had boughten a better one later. Taken care of, a welder should pretty much last your lifetime.

[DCColegrove]

Flux core blows...

You need a MIG.

As to price there is a little unit made by Clark the 130EN that works pretty well. It's 110V so you can pretty much take it anywhere.

Miller, Licoln, Hobart etc are the way to go but you pay for it.

[rsafier]

I have a Hobart 135 (now I think they sell a 145 in its place), runs on 110V very nice and was closeout from harbor freight. Handles 22gauge to about 1/8" without much issues. Enought for me most of the time, tho when welding my rollcage I did find it really didn't have enough power to penitrate well so went to a buddy with a bigger 220V unit.
Don't bother with any flux core stuff unless you just want to do exhaust patching and not quality stuff at that.
Gas is cheap, a 80cf bottle refill is 30 bucks around me, lasts nearly 4 hours of welding.

[PiercedE30]

For sheet metal work, I would personally TIG it. Hell, I plan on building a new exhaust and TIG it all. Might be a little time consuming, but it's worth it.
Oh, and there is nothing wrong with flux core. You can run flux core in a normal MIG machine with 75/25 and get AWESOME looking welds.

[hoveringuy]

Just don't show pictures of your welds around here unless they're perfect.

You'll get

But, yeah, flux core can do nice work. Mig is flux core OR shielded gas.

[IceStationZebra]

The gas for the mig is important. Worth looking at getting a tank for it.

[hoveringuy]

The gas for the mig is important. Worth looking at getting a tank for it.

Yep, I have Argon/CO2 on my list. I haven't gotten it yet because I've moved every 2 years and the movers won't touch it.

[Sam Cogley]

Flux core blows...

You need a MIG.

As to price there is a little unit made by Clark the 130EN that works pretty well. It's 110V so you can pretty much take it anywhere.

Miller, Licoln, Hobart etc are the way to go but you pay for it.

I have an older Clarke 100EN with the gas kit, which makes it essentially the same as a 130EN. Nice welder, it hasn't ever let me down, and Clarke's customer service is top-notch.

[h82crash]

I got a Lincoln 135 mig machine at the big orange box store and it came with the gauges and hose for the gas and even a cheap helmet shield. I've been using flux core in it and it works well. It was about $480. I'd love a tig setup but the least expensive decent ones are $1500.

[morningsmiler]

Thanks for the advice. I looked at the 130EN online and that may be the way to go.

Have to wait a bit to buy it, but it will be cheaper than messing with flux core first, I think.

And yeah, I would never show pics of my welds...all the professional welders on here and all.

[winfred]

just saw good deals on lincoln migs at home depot today looks like they are blowing out old models, the big bad almost 500 unit was under 300, i would of smoked one if i didn't have a bad ass snap on (140 amp at 100% duty cycle off 110v it does dc tig and runs a bitchen spool gun for aluminum )

[PiercedE30]

just saw good deals on lincoln migs at home depot today looks like they are blowing out old models, the big bad almost 500 unit was under 300, i would of smoked one if i didn't have a bad ass snap on (140 amp at 100% duty cycle off 110v it does dc tig and runs a bitchen spool gun for aluminum )

I can definitely give a big thumbs up for the Snap-On machine. That thing IS a beast. I've used it (actually used Winfred's) in all 3 setups (MIG, TIG, and the spool gun). Bitch is bad.

[sl0ride]

cyberweld.com is a great place for miller welders at cheap prices. When buying a welder Dont skimp and buy a cheap one because u will end up replacing it when u cant weld enuf with it. plan on spending 800+ for a good one.

[der affe]

don't try to do sheet metal/bodywork with flux core wire, you will regret it! non gas shielded flux core welders are for building backyard trailers and fences, not for any kind of cosmetic welding.

the snap-on welders are nice, but a waste of $$$. the spool gun only welds new/super clean alum. no torch, no pre burn .
the tig will only weld steel/chromo/cast iron (sort of), it will not weld alum/mag. the mig is good, but that is a lot of $$ for a machine that does one feature really weld and so so for the other two.

if you can swing a 210 do it. it will get better penetration, be higher amperage, and more stable during long periods of usage. you will need a 60 amp breaker if you plan on doing anything like roll cages. a 40 will work most of the time, but it is right on the edge. a 210 will also be easier on your power bill. something to keep in mind is that a welder will put a serious dent in your power bill before you know it, be aware of that.

i run a matco 190. it is 210 amp and made by century for matco. 3 years old now and no problems. i picked it up at 6 months old from a tech who needed $$. the only thing i have replaced was the gun and sleeve which i switched out for a tweeco because it is much smaller than the original one

BTW i am I-CAR certified (auto body) and AWS certified