Is this the Welder I need?

[tstepp920]

I am not a welder. I am a wanna be. Be fore I pay someone 10-15k to do the bodywork and paint needed on my 40 I will learn to do it myself. Will this welder do the trick. Besides body panel work I will also use it to weld on sliders, and build a new Smoker

Lincoln Electric Reconditioned SP 140T MIG Welder - U2688-3

 

[Splangy]

Great for sheetmetal. I wouldn’t expect adequate penetration for welding sliders, however.

 

[45Kevin]

I have a Hobart 140, which is also a 120V welder.

It is great for sheet metal and up to 1/8" steel.

For anything thicker, like for sliders and bumpers, only a very skilled welder could get a good enough weld to keep them together.

I am not a skilled welder, self taught like you intend to be.

If I had to do it again I would have coughed up for the 240V model.

For structural projects I tack it together with my 140 and take to someone with a better welder for finishing.

 

[tstepp920]

I also posted this in the Tools and Fabrication Forum and received the same advice basically. Thanks guys.

 

[e9999]

I have a Hobart 140, which is also a 120V welder.

It is great for sheet metal and up to 1/8" steel.

For anything thicker, like for sliders and bumpers, only a very skilled welder could get a good enough weld to keep them together.

I am not a skilled welder, self taught like you intend to be.

If I had to do it again I would have coughed up for the 240V model.

For structural projects I tack it together with my 140 and take to someone with a better welder for finishing.

No expert welder here either but I don't think it's true that you can't do more than 1/8" with a 120V machine. That may be the case if you mean one pass but you can do thicker with beveling and multiple passes. But will a 240V do thicker easier and/or faster? Of course. Then again, depending on the machine, maybe some more powerful ones won't be able to do thin sheet metal as easily as a smaller machine.

So, for mostly body work and maybe sliders (where breaking a bead won't be life or death), I think a 120V machine might be just fine. And may be easier to resell than a 240V one.

 

[PAToyota]

Then again, depending on the machine, maybe some more powerful ones won't be able to do thin sheet metal as easily as a smaller machine.

It depends on the machine. Looking at the specs for the Millermatic 141, 211, and 252, they all start at 30A. So you have no real benefit on the low end with the smaller machines. On the other end, the 141 goes to 140A, the 211 to 230A, and the 252 to 300A.

Yes, you can use a 120V machine and multiple passes to do thicker stuff, but you also have a much lower duty cycle. That 141 only has a 20% duty cycle at 90A (so 10% or 5% at the full 140A?), so you're going to be spending a lot more time sitting there waiting for the machine to cool down while doing heavier stuff while a larger machine can not only do it in one pass but also in one continuous pass without running up against the duty cycle.

I've got an old Millermatic 250X and paid less than double for it than the first link for the reconditioned 120V machine. Anything under about 160A I have 100% duty cycle and I regularly use it for sheet metal work as well.