Thermal Arc / Tweco / ESAB Fabricator series (141i, 181i, 211i, 252i) are all the same with different badges. They are all now owned by Victor, so are a "US brand" with "globally sourced" parts assembled in China. The fabricator line is being rebranded ESAB. I tried the Tweco 211i and it is real nice in MIG and stick mode. I didn't try TIG, but my experience is any DC stick welder will do TIG fine. If you have an educational affiliation, you can get the 211i for about $700. It has more features than the 141, like inductance and burn back and besides twice the power, it can handle a 12 inch spool of wire like the big dogs.
Which welder is for me? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter 22re
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2011
- Threads
- 225
- Messages
- 20,966
- Location
- Redding, California
- Website
- trail-tailor.com
My Tweco 211 has a 115/230V capability with the supplied cord. 115V is good for around 150 amps and 230V is good for up to 210 amps.
J
Greg, it's nice to have a multivoltage machine, but it sounds like you're pretty sure you'll never do heavy stuff and for body work, a 120V should be plenty. Add the tight budget to that (remember you'll still need to spend quite a bit of $ on equipment etc after the welder), and it sounds to me like the 120V is meeting your needs and constraints. And if you get a good resale potential machine (i.e. big name), you would not lose much $ if you ever end up needing a bigger one after all and would want to sell the first. I'd bet that a relatively inexpensive 120V used hobbyist machine would sell much easier than a costlier 240V pro one on Craigslist.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
Yeah the multi voltage machine wasn't necessarily a concern, more if it would be more beneficial to step up to the 230v vs. the 115v. From what it looks like the high voltage machine will give me a little more headroom should I start to weld something that is closer to the ceiling of the welder. All going to come down to availability of cash when the time comes.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
And to add a little bit more tech to the thread.. seems like there really is two camps here;
Camp A - buys from the big four (Hobart, Lincoln, Miller and/or Victor which includes ESAB, Tweco, Firepower, etc.) which all seem to be US Made
Camp B - buys from others (AKA Chinese or Oriental made) like Everlast, Eastwood, Forney, AHP, HTP, etc.
Many say that the "others" are completely inferior products, lack support and whatnot but the same can be said of the US Made as well. Really it comes down to what you need, how much you will need/use it, and other such questions. For me, well I like to have the best possible for my price point.... what brand and machine that means at this point really comes down to how much money I have in my pocket when I purchase.
Camp A - buys from the big four (Hobart, Lincoln, Miller and/or Victor which includes ESAB, Tweco, Firepower, etc.) which all seem to be US Made
Camp B - buys from others (AKA Chinese or Oriental made) like Everlast, Eastwood, Forney, AHP, HTP, etc.
Many say that the "others" are completely inferior products, lack support and whatnot but the same can be said of the US Made as well. Really it comes down to what you need, how much you will need/use it, and other such questions. For me, well I like to have the best possible for my price point.... what brand and machine that means at this point really comes down to how much money I have in my pocket when I purchase.
I would not assume that all welders from the big "US" companies are actually made in the US. I vaguely recall some "Assembled in the US" smaller ones instead, including probably my Hobart. But, yes, future parts availability should be much better for a big name welder, at least for a while.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
Yeah I guess that as long as support is there and the consumables aren't some random hard to find piece that is all that matters. Currently researching the Eastwood welders that one of the guys mentioned a few pages back. Seems like a few years ago they didn't get overly great reviews but has gotten better in recent years. They are now offering a multi-process machine similar to the Tweco in the 230v flavor for less than $700 (on sale) which seems pretty nifty. However it seems to be brand new, the others have good reviews and one thing that I really like that I have had two welder friends tell me about when working with me and the old Lincoln 175 I had was the infinitely adjustable voltage.
Seems like the ones that I have been looking at from Hobart, Lincoln, Miller all have distinctive settings (clicks) where as the Eastwood has a rheostat for more fine tuning. Is that something that is need, probably not as it is another variable for me to have to learn and remember but also allows me for those fine, incremental adjustments.
Seems like the ones that I have been looking at from Hobart, Lincoln, Miller all have distinctive settings (clicks) where as the Eastwood has a rheostat for more fine tuning. Is that something that is need, probably not as it is another variable for me to have to learn and remember but also allows me for those fine, incremental adjustments.
I just got the newer Miller 211, the smaller one with the handles on it. I am very happy with it. The autoset is so easy and I can fine tune it if I ever feel I know more than the engineers at Miller. I looked at the 215 but given that the tig leads were sold separability I couldn't justify it. Plus I just dont like touch screens on industrial equipment.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
Nice!!! However, I am curious as to why blue is sooooooo much more expensive than the others??
Quality, dealer network? Im not 100% sure. This machine does have some features others dont. I like how it feeds wire for example and its a very small package for what it does so I can fit it in the trunk of my Honda and take it to a friends if I need. Many auto shops use this welder for small repairs and exhausts (my friend's shop for example has one) so its a step above a home use unit (Hobart.) I did get a rebate through their build with blue program they have going on right now which softened the blow. My company has about 15 big 480V Miller machines plus plasmas and smog eaters so I knew if I got a Miller I had a connection for everything else. I look at it relitave to how much money Im saving vs paying someone to do it. I bought a nice chansaw for example but dropped 30 trees on my lot so I feel that was justified in savings. Did I get more than I need? Probably, but I expect it to last.
Last edited:
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
Yeah that is really where I am stuck at.... the main use for this will pretty much be my land cruiser as there really isn't anything specific for me to utilize it on with the house. For that, I do not plan to do any major structural welding so getting a super whiz-bang unit is not really necessary. BUT at the same point, I really want something that will last me for the duration of this truck AS WELL as the next down the line.
My main thing at this point is the fact that I will have better availability of the 230v circuit than the 115v in the garage due to the amount of "work" that was previously put in by the PO. Right now the dryer is on a dedicated circuit that goes to two 30amp breakers (if I remember correctly) where as the garage has 4 different breakers that have a multitude of plugs and branches that I honestly do not know where they go or what all they are tied into.
What I am looking at currently and relative prices (I have not checked locally)....
- Lincoln Power Mig 180HD ~$650 (230v)
- Hobart 190 ~$750 (230v)
- Miller 190 ~$950 (230v)
- Eastwood MIG175 ~$500 (230v)
The Eastwood is a known full Chicom machine but has received decent reviews in the recent past and has the right price for me. But part of me is leaning towards the Lincoln as it will fit the bill, be slightly more expensive than my budget (only slightly) and will have lots of local support. There is an AIRGAS store not far from my office so I am going to run by there after work and "kick some tires".
My main thing at this point is the fact that I will have better availability of the 230v circuit than the 115v in the garage due to the amount of "work" that was previously put in by the PO. Right now the dryer is on a dedicated circuit that goes to two 30amp breakers (if I remember correctly) where as the garage has 4 different breakers that have a multitude of plugs and branches that I honestly do not know where they go or what all they are tied into.
What I am looking at currently and relative prices (I have not checked locally)....
- Lincoln Power Mig 180HD ~$650 (230v)
- Hobart 190 ~$750 (230v)
- Miller 190 ~$950 (230v)
- Eastwood MIG175 ~$500 (230v)
The Eastwood is a known full Chicom machine but has received decent reviews in the recent past and has the right price for me. But part of me is leaning towards the Lincoln as it will fit the bill, be slightly more expensive than my budget (only slightly) and will have lots of local support. There is an AIRGAS store not far from my office so I am going to run by there after work and "kick some tires".
So ... I needed to weld some thin sheet metal including filling in a few holes and half-ass embarrassed to say I've never used the pulse settings on my HTC-221. All I have to say now, after using pulse GTAW, is WOW! I'm still a hack welder but just WOW the control it brought to my game 
Greg, the Power Mig 180s I've seen were more like $900. Are you thinking about the Weldpak 180 maybe, like those in the big box stores, which are around $650. IIRC, those are light duty machines.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
Yeah I am talking about the Weldpak that you get at HD/Lowe's. Actually went and talked with the guys at the local AirGas and they just had a sale on the PowerMig 180, going for $749 but I just missed the sale. The guy said they normally have them every couple of months and especially with the holidays coming that I would probably see some more sales so to drop by periodically. They actually had a special going on for the Lincoln 210MP going (their new multiprocess) and was a decent deal... $1100 out the door with everything and a credit (think it was $25) towards the purchase of a cylinder or other accessory.
Guy was really nice and chatted with me for a while about what I was looking to do and what not and he didn't try to push me towards a more powerful machine (115v vs. 230v) but did say that going with the smaller amperage machines would end up limiting me to what I wanted to do. Ultimately it will come down to what my budget can handle at the time when I actually purchase. I would rather support a local shop vs. purchase online but if the savings is significant then I will purchase online. For the time being I have my BILs Millermatic 110 (big 220v machine) that has worked for the welding up my exhaust at this point.
Guy was really nice and chatted with me for a while about what I was looking to do and what not and he didn't try to push me towards a more powerful machine (115v vs. 230v) but did say that going with the smaller amperage machines would end up limiting me to what I wanted to do. Ultimately it will come down to what my budget can handle at the time when I actually purchase. I would rather support a local shop vs. purchase online but if the savings is significant then I will purchase online. For the time being I have my BILs Millermatic 110 (big 220v machine) that has worked for the welding up my exhaust at this point.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
Wow... if I had the money right now I would be all over this...
Tweco Fabricator 211i MIG, TIG, Stick Welder Pkg. (W1004201)
Tweco Fabricator 211i MIG, TIG, Stick Welder Pkg. (W1004201)
Is this a copy of the Miller 211 ? I've never used Tweco and don't know anything about there reputation.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
@reevesci J correct me if I am wrong but I believe that Tweco is owned by Victor Technologies which is the parent company of many welders to include Miller.
Actually I think they are changing the name of Tweco to ESAB but I could be wrong... Could just be a new version like you are saying.
The Miller 211 is a single process MIG machine. The Tweco 211 is a multiprocess welder. There are a lot of other differences too.
Tweco is a well known name in welding accessories, like MIG guns, that was acquired by ESAB to brand their low cost line of welders that are globally sourced and assembled in China. Then ESAB was recently bought out by Victor Technologies, so it is now a US company.
ITW owns Miller and Hobart brands.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2011
- Threads
- 225
- Messages
- 20,966
- Location
- Redding, California
- Website
- trail-tailor.com
