Which welder?

[waterpirate]

So the heavy chevy needs rockers and cab corners. I have had zero luck finding a shop to do the work. The one quote I got was for 4k per side, site unseen! No thank U!

I am looking at the hobart vs. miller 120v input mini migs. Miller seems to be more pricey, but specs look the same. The one miller machine has a auto set feature that i review said sucked, and it balled up the wire?

I have a hobart stick welder but it does not like sheet metal at any setting.

Comments on your mileage?

Eric

 

[Paladin]

The Miller with Auto set is a good little machine when used properly. I have found that most people expect to just turn a machine on and it will automatically make them a look like they know what they are doing! False!!! The wire birdcaging is generally due to dirty rollers or tension set too loose. Whatever you get just play with it for awhile and get use to it's quirks. Two identical welders coming off the assembly line back to back will not weld exactly the same, close but not the same. So grab a 12 pack and play with it! Good luck!!!

 

[waterpirate]

Thanx! I am leaning toward the hobart 140. Should be more than enough for my needs, and free shipping from northern.
Eric

 

[AKguy]

If I did not already have a MIG I would purchase one of these. My SIL has one on the way. The spool gun is a great bonus. I have one of their TIG225X machines and like it a lot. Primeweld customer service has been great for all my friends that have their product:

https://primeweld.com/products/mig180-mig-welder-with-spool-gun

 

[wanderinthru]

If your stick machine is DC, how about just a TIG torch?
If you just want to buy a little wire welder, I would agree and go with the Hobart, unless things have changed again, Miller owns Hobart and basically the new Hobart is the old Miller, so it has the kinks worked out. Personally I do not like auto set. Like Paladin said every welder will be a little different than the one next to it.

 

[bucket]

Until recently, I had never used a "fancy" welder with any kind of auto-set feature. A year or so ago, my friend bought the Vulcan Omnipro 220 welder that Harbor Freight peddles. We ended up using it on several large projects and boy I'll tell you what, that is one sweet little machine. I don't know how it determines the best settings (on the fly, even) but it does a damn good job. It actually CAN make someone look like they know what they are doing, lol.

But you really can't go wrong with Hobart. We have 4 of the Hobart 210's at work and only one of them has had issues. But they bounce around in the back of work trucks, so that's probably to be expected. I have a Hobart 190 at home and it has been good to me. It does a good job on the heavy stuff, but can handle the thin sheetmetal fine too.

 

[59840Surfer]

Being an old USN Shipfitter, I always went with a stick machine.

I hesitated to get wire and at first I was sure that I made a bad choice in a 120V MIG machine.

Then I got a 220V - and I won't have less since I burned that little 120V welder on some sheet metal ... so I figgered they were just weak with no penetration and bad spatter.

I still only use the wire unit to tack things together and finish things off with a nice 7018 bead.

 

[C10MixMaster]

I have a Hobart 135 110v Mig . From what I can tell Miller owns Hobart, I believe on the lower end machines they are probably the same just paying a little more for miller name. My experience is that my Hobart occasionally has wire feed issues, never really pinned down as to why but it sucks when it does it. when it feeds right its great. Its good up to 3/16 if welding thicker I would go 220. the truggy below was all done with the Hobart 135, never had a single weld on it break or crack and yes it was rock crawling and saw some air time too.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[bucket]

I have a Hobart 135 110v Mig . From what I can tell Miller owns Hobart, I believe on the lower end machines they are probably the same just paying a little more for miller name. My experience is that my Hobart occasionally has wire feed issues, never really pinned down as to why but it sucks when it does it. when it feeds right its great. Its good up to 3/16 if welding thicker I would go 220. the truggy below was all done with the Hobart 135, never had a single weld on it break or crack and yes it was rock crawling and saw some air time too.

You must be registered for see images attach

That is the problem with one of our Hobart 210 migs. It has an intermittent and inconsistent wire feed issue that is very annoying.

 

[wanderinthru]

That is the problem with one of our Hobart 210 migs. It has an intermittent and inconsistent wire feed issue that is very annoying.

Lot of times wire feed problems is just a wore out liner. My experience is one can keep the stinger lead straight and it works, bend it some and it dont, it's the liner. But hell a dirty contact tip will cause it as well.

Edit to add. Seems flux core is more prone to issues than solid wire.

 

[bucket]

Lot of times wire feed problems is just a wore out liner. My experience is one can keep the stinger lead straight and it works, bend it some and it dont, it's the liner. But hell a dirty contact tip will cause it as well.

Edit to add. Seems flux core is more prone to issues than solid wire.

In this case it's something with the drive mechanism itself. Swapping the noodle with another machine made no difference. We only run solid wire too.

 

[wanderinthru]

In this case it's something with the drive mechanism itself. Swapping the noodle with another machine made no difference. We only run solid wire too.

Where does it *** up? If its after the rollers it all but has to be in the noodle.

 

[wanderinthru]

In this case it's something with the drive mechanism itself. Swapping the noodle with another machine made no difference. We only run solid wire too.

Where does it *** up? If its after the rollers it all but has to be in the noodle.

 

[bucket]

Where does it *** up? If its after the rollers it all but has to be in the noodle.

It doesn't ball up, it just feeds very inconsistently. As if someone was screwing with you and messing with the wire speed as you weld. Or as if the spool has tangles, but that's not the issue either. We are 99.9% certain that it's the drive motor.

 

[wanderinthru]

It doesn't ball up, it just feeds very inconsistently. As if someone was screwing with you and messing with the wire speed as you weld. Or as if the spool has tangles, but that's not the issue either. We are 99.9% certain that it's the drive motor.

Oh, ok. Yup I agree.