Anyone used the Chicago-Electric 151 welder?

[mabrodis]

Chicago-Electric is Harbor Freight's in-house brand...which I would normally say is crap...and it very well may be. However, I was looking today and I can get a 151 welder (means nothing, but what does mean something is.."Duty cycle: 15% @ 115 amps; Draws 15 amps @ 230V; Max. open circuit voltage: 36V; Weldable wires: .023", .030", and .035 steel or stainless steel; .030" and .035" aluminum; .030" flux core ") for $159 then 20% off that from a e-mail coupon Harbor Freight just sent me...so it'd be like $127.

I am well aware of the normal opinion of cheap welders, and I fully understand buying quality, etc...but I'm just curious if anyone has used this specific welder. A normal Miller/Lincoln 180 welder is rated at 130amps (and usually 30% duty cycle), so this is obviously lower, but curious if anyone has used this one (yes I'm repeating myself for clairty)...

That is all.

Here is the new welder...for $199


Here is the refurb one for $159 which is what I was looking at, just seemed bastardly cheap for something that *might* do atleast a few welds...

 

[ironpig70]

not used that one. i have a century 155amp and its 20% duty cycle and i love it. only down side is heavy steel 1/4" is about the max i'd weld with it. got mine from grizzly tools. nice that its 110 volts and 70 pounds and i can run ,23. ,30, ,35 and it uses gas. just another option to your miller and licholn

 

[brownbear]

might work fine, the duty cycle is low.
15% is like a 1.5 mins every ten minutes time. so you can weld for a couple mins and have to wait for 8 minutes.

it might not handle any think stuff for bumpers. but would handle sheet metal

also what set up does it have for the shielding gas? does it have the on and off solenoid? can you just hook a bottle up and be done?

I paid 599 Canuck dollars for lincoln mig pak 15(sp175). I had to get a bottle and regulator, so about 300 more. but I can weld up to 5/16 thick in a single pass.

momma loves the extension cord going to the dryer plug in where else I am going get a 230 plug in so easy!

 

[mabrodis]

not used that one. i have a century 155amp and its 20% duty cycle and i love it. only down side is heavy steel 1/4" is about the max i'd weld with it. got mine from grizzly tools. nice that its 110 volts and 70 pounds and i can run ,23. ,30, ,35 and it uses gas. just another option to your miller and licholn

What's the actual amps on that 110v one? No-way it's 155amps and 20% duty cycle...a normal 110v welder is like 88-90amps and 15-20% duty cycle, and that will often trip a dedicated 20A breaker, which means you're getting all the juice you can and no other model or brand is going to get more.

The Chicago-Electric 151 is all setup for gas, has the regulator and all that, nothing extra to buy..I already have a bottle, so it would all just hookup. However, I'm not totally sold on it...online it's $159 for the reman one, but my coupon is only for in-store, and the stores don't carry any reman welders...so that might be a lost cause...the non-reman one is $199 (well that's what it's listed for online, instore it's $249, but I'm sure they would match their online price), minus 20% would give it to me for $160 + tax...not a horrible deal, but not sure if I want to get it or not. (also weighing on my mind is when I called today the guy said they had like 4 there, the computer said 10 but he said that atleast 1 was on display and he thought there were 2 or 3 defective ones...I'm like wow, defective welders out of the box...nice )

I agree with you the duty cycle is low, however, I've never fully trusted those things, I had a Lincoln Weldpak 100, which is 88amps and some really low duty-cycle, but I could weld that thing almost forever, in the 3 years I beat on it I only had one time it shut-down from heat, and it was ready to go again pretty quick...so I thought their duty-cycle numbers were way conservative...but maybe Chicago-Electric's aren't that conservative...

 

[mabrodis]

momma loves the extension cord going to the dryer plug in where else I am going get a 230 plug in so easy!

You know it's usually not that hard to put in a dedicated welding outlet in a garage area...sometimes you can't but usually a breaker panel has room for it, and the wiring is stupid-easy...

 

[honk]

Not to disparage anyone in here but why not take the question to a room full of welding fanatics? http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/

 

[2badfjs]

you can borrow mine anytime mark

as long as i'm not using it

which seems to be always

buy your oun!!!!

no really you can