MIG Welder Recommendation

[Ralphy]

I can verify to small of a unit. I have a SP 100 Lincoln, rated at 90 amp 20% gas. I can't get enough heat soak into heavier metals. I was told to try and use flux core with the gas and slow the wire. I have not tried this yet. Go for a 220V. Lincoln runs sales at times with their pro units, you get at welder supply houses. You can get a better unit then sold at HD or Lowe's for almost the same price. The 220 will run off a drier outlet.

I have people tell me they can weld up to 1/4" with my unit. Not seeing it, they must be better than me.

[trg-42]

The problem with ALL the 115 volt units ( and what gives them a bad name ) is no one reads the fine print....they all draw 20 amps at 115volts

The problem with that is most guys in their garage don't even have a "clean" 15 amps at that outlet , or worst...the use an extention chord

What will happen long before you pop a breaker is the voltage will drop enough into the input of the welder transformer that you won't have nearly the rated output

Secondly since current on wire feed process is a function of WFS and dia, you cannot draw max output of the machine with a typical .025" ( for autobody ) MIG wire. In either words, you can crank the output to wide open and you will not draw max capability of the welder !

You need a .030 or .035 dia for that

To make matters worst, gas supplier convince you that you need 75Ar25CO2 . Problem with that is you will have more arc energy with 100% CO2

A E71T-11 flux cored ( such as the Lincoln NR211, Hobart Fabshield 21B, ESAB Coreshield 11 ) will have for more penetration than MIG on these small machines . Don't let anyone tell you flux cored welds are not as strong

Lastly, may people are under the impression that its better to run a .045 wire on these machines. This is simply not true...its a current density thing

You would be suprised what you can do with 115 volt units if feed from a 20 amp ( or better 30 amp source ) , .030 electrode with 100%CO2

BTW -Been working in the field for 16years with Lincoln Electric as engineer who specialty is welding metallurgy and to lesser degree welding equipment design . As tech rep for Lincoln you figure out what works and what doesn't...since when things don't work out I get the call !

If you want, I can do a weld on 1/8 HSS tube with .030 on one of these 115 volt machines and cut and acid etch if you want to see the penetration profile. We usually don't have such small welders in our weld tech lab, but we can pull one from the warehouse easy enough. Just PM me if you want....or you can just splurge and buy a bigger welder !

[MAStuart]

You could fluxcore and co2 and get lots of penetration. Called duelshield.

Trg-42 post states the reasons for no long cords and large power supply wire. How come they dont supply 20 or 30 amp plugs. ............so they can sell more units! Everyone has 15 amp outlets. If you have 20 or 30 amp brakers you need the right wire and outlets.