which mig welder would you buy? (1 Viewer)

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serenity

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looking for some help in choosing a new welder for my home workshop. it will be used for the usual 4wd fab work, bars, cages framework etc. these 2 welders are in my price range are roughly the same price and seem comparable. anyone have any info that will swing my decision either way.

Thermadyne Asia Pacific - South Pacific

REDI-MIG® Plus 215c Ready-to-weld™, MIG Welders, MIG Welders, Welding & Cutting Equipment

Cheers,

Glenn


I can't comment on the arc quality of either one since I have not used them.

They both come from reputable manufacturer.

I would buy the lincoln. It has a better duty cycle and max amperage.

220A/25V@15% 130A/20.5V@60% 100A/19V@100%
 
Millermatic 211 gets my vote. Great warranty and it's made in the USA.
 
Millermatic 211 gets my vote. Great warranty and it's made in the USA.

MM211 is not even in the same class as these welders. MM211 is a nice dual voltage welder, but does not have the duty cycle like these full size welder. MM211 is a nice welder for home use, but there are times when you want the option to run 12" spool (better wire choices) and or weld on thicker material.
 
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Millermatic 211 gets my vote. Great warranty and it's made in the USA.

Have a look at my location, made in the usa generally equals PITA over here. I chose the lincoln and cigweld as they are readily available, as are spare parts for them.

I'm leaning towards the lincoln as it has slightly higher specs although it is a fraction dearer $100 - $200. is there anything negative to be said about the lincoln or the cigweld? for instance ease of use, maintainability, reliability etc?
 
i own a lincoln power mig 255 and have had no problems with it. they make a great machine ..i have never used the other machine so cant comment on it.. my vote is for lincoln .. good luck:cheers:
 
I can't comment on the arc quality of either one since I have not used them.

They both come from reputable manufacturer.

I would buy the lincoln. It has a better duty cycle and max amperage.

220A/25V@15% 130A/20.5V@60% 100A/19V@100%

Charles I cant help but wonder if you even weld things?

I have never seen you post up a build of anything with steel that you built or a project that you welded on. You always pop up in welder threads with advice tho.

Is this all based on what you have read or do you have any actual experience?

Can we see some of your welds?
 
This can't end well...but I am subscribed.

John
 
Charles I cant help but wonder if you even weld things?

I have never seen you post up a build of anything with steel that you built or a project that you welded on. You always pop up in welder threads with advice tho.

Is this all based on what you have read or do you have any actual experience?

Can we see some of your welds?

Why don't you see if I even own a Land Cruiser.
 
looking for some help in choosing a new welder for my home workshop. it will be used for the usual 4wd fab work, bars, cages framework etc. these 2 welders are in my price range are roughly the same price and seem comparable. anyone have any info that will swing my decision either way.

Thermadyne Asia Pacific - South Pacific

REDI-MIG® Plus 215c Ready-to-weld™, MIG Welders, MIG Welders, Welding & Cutting Equipment

Cheers,

Glenn


I've been in a lot of weld shops in this country (US) and can say with a fair amount of authority that the most common units by far will be Miller, Lincoln, and Hobart, and probably in that order. Given your choices I would opt for the Lincoln unit. They are high quality, used world wide, and available to you. The Thermadyne OTOH I have never seen. Anywhere.

Below is a little job I did in Texas (with some help. I'm not Superman). That crack you are looking at was about 2 feet wide and approximately 5 ft deep which completely separated a piece of steel that weighed approx. 500,000 lbs. Joining the two pieces back together required approximately 27,000 lbs of weld material and used more than one 1500 amp 100 % duty cycle Miller power source. IOW, I know a bit about using a welder. :)

IMG_2331.jpg
 
i have had a lincoln for over 15 years , all i have have had to do is change the occasional liner . we run 600 amp millers at work , they all perform flawlessly , along with a few 500 amp lincoln pipeliners from the 80's and one 500 air pack miller from the 70's . the only problems with those two is the lincoln takes a pretty good sniff of ether to run :) and on ocasion the air pack dies , but thats more on the deutz end .

personally i love esabs .
 
personally i love esabs .

Me too. I wonder why they don't get more respect? I know that ESAB is a Swedish company, but their large industrial welders are still made in the USA in Florence, SC. They used to be the Linde division of Union Carbide. Maybe it is the color?
 
Me too. I wonder why they don't get more respect? I know that ESAB is a Swedish company, but their large industrial welders are still made in the USA in Florence, SC. They used to be the Linde division of Union Carbide. Maybe it is the color?

I love my migmaster but geting parts for it is a nightmare.
 
I love my migmaster but geting parts for it is a nightmare.

My plazma is an esab and I could never get parts for it.

I finally converted it to a normal hypertherm torch and now can at least get consumables.

I still avoid using it cuz it eats tips and dont cut for s*** for a 50 amp machine.

I wont buy another one.
 
You got a drier on the compressor for that esab?
 
finally bought my welder after much procrastination. i ended up buying a lincoln 255c for what i was expecting to pay for the 215c which is great, it has 100% duty cycle at 120A so its certainly got enough juice for my purposes.

i'll try it out next week after i've hired a gas bottle and see how it goes. the first weld job planned is building a sheet metal bender to help out with my 40+60 series project, if that turns out well i'll throw some photos of it up in here.
Photo on 2011-05-18 at 18.13.jpg
 
Me too. I wonder why they don't get more respect? I know that ESAB is a Swedish company, but their large industrial welders are still made in the USA in Florence, SC. They used to be the Linde division of Union Carbide. Maybe it is the color?

x3. My dad has a little metal fab shop in Montana. Over the years he's had a number of various different machines. Of all of 250 amp size mobile welders ESAB welders are my favorite. They weld beautifully. Like an old heavy copper coiled machine, smooth and powerful.

The Panasonic Gunslinger he had for a year or so was probably the worst. It finally melted down in a cloud of smoke after about a year. Fortunately the warranty was excellent and the distributor just refunded the entire purchase price toward a different product.

At the moment he's got a MM252 which is a decent machine, but doesn't match the feel of the ESAB.

The only reason the ESAB went away was because the consumables were not always in stock at the distributor, and he took it to a mining shop to do some on site work and the shop owner, after using it, liked it and bought it.

There was a little lincoln suitcase welder around for a while. It actually was pretty nice for a 180amp welder. That's probably what I would buy for my garage. I think you'll be very happy with the one you bought. Sounds like you got a pretty good value too.
 
I've been in a lot of weld shops in this country (US) and can say with a fair amount of authority that the most common units by far will be Miller, Lincoln, and Hobart, and probably in that order. Given your choices I would opt for the Lincoln unit. They are high quality, used world wide, and available to you. The Thermadyne OTOH I have never seen. Anywhere.

Below is a little job I did in Texas (with some help. I'm not Superman). That crack you are looking at was about 2 feet wide and approximately 5 ft deep which completely separated a piece of steel that weighed approx. 500,000 lbs. Joining the two pieces back together required approximately 27,000 lbs of weld material and used more than one 1500 amp 100 % duty cycle Miller power source. IOW, I know a bit about using a welder. :)]

Sorry to hijack....can we back up a bit to this photo and explanation. What are we looking at exactly? Is it a ship hull, a bridge, a Disney exhibit, seriously....i feel like I am looking at spray on concrete. Where is the crack? Is it the walkway straight ahead with the 3 foot high sides?

Confused and really interested.
 

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