Rusty,
I agree about long welds. If I have to run a bead for 6 minutes my arm will know it did something and I hate to think of what kind of shapes the work might take with a constant application of heat for that long. So I doubt many of us homeshop typpes will strain the duty cycle all that often.
I like the 175 sized welders. Both Miller and Lincoln versions have 30% duty cycles at 130 amps out, so they're not really 175's now are they? I think that they could do most things around here though. I think it NOW, but bought more welder THEN).
The 175 machines are a good place to show how misleading promotionals can lead us down a wrong path. Miller's promotional material says this about theirs:
"All-in-one wire welding package welds 24 gauge - 1/4 in (0.8 - 6.4 mm) mild steel"
While Lincoln's promo material says this:
"MIG weld on mild steel as thin as 24 gauge with .025" SuperArc™ L-56 wire. Flux-cored wire weld up to 5/16" mild steel plate with Innershield® NR®-211-MP and up to 1/2" plate with .045" Innershield NR-212"
Both quotes are from the respective websites, go see for yourself.
Now, a trained welder (No, I'm NOT a trained welder) will be able to see what's going on wiith that, but an excited kid looking to get into welding up all of the neat things for his truck might not. That kid is going to take one look at the Lincoln info, Lincoln hopes, and buy the Lincoln because it's clearly able to weld a lot better than the Miller will. Right? Clearly.
But WHAT is all that Lincoln gobbledygook?? You might as well call it a pack of lies designed to suck in a neophyte, but it isn't really b.s. entirely. A trained welder equipped with the item numbers specified probably COULD get that little welder to weld thickness as claimed but he won't be doing it without careful prep and more than one pass, not to mention a very highly developed skillset. Nevermind that the SP-175 welder does not come equipped to run .045" wire. Nevermind that the specified Lincoln fluxcore wire is some specialized, read expensive, stuff and again, the welder does not come with an "Innershield® NR®-211-MP" to carry the wire to the torch. Lincoln is content to let you find out about these things AFTER you've bought their welder.
This is what I meant above about questionable advertizing and as you see it gets me riled up because not all that long ago I was in the market for welders and trying to make those big money decisions based on every bit of info I could find and subject to my best estimation of how much welding power I would, or might, eventually need. I had used a torch pretty regularly over ten years of one career, and also used a stick welder as needed during that time so I knew just enough to realize how little I knew.
It's not an easy place to be if you don't have the advantage of some kind of welding background. Lots of ideas and projects in mind but not wanting to spend thousands of dollars to do them. That's why you'll see me recommend finding a short welding course. You don't have to enroll in a professional preparation for work as a welder, there are lots of adult ed, junior and high school afterhours courses set up in communities all over the country that are there just for people who want to learn to do hobby welding. You won't likely learn much welding in a few weeks of once or twice a week two hour blocks, but you'll meet other people in your same boat and can bounce this kind of stuff around while you try out many kinds of metal joining at little or no cost to you. It's time well spent, believe me.
Boy, I called the post above a rant? Silly me.
