MIG Welders

I'm considering buying a MIG welder and there seems to be a BIG price difference between those that use gas and those that don't. Is there more to it than the overall finished appearance of the weld?

Thanks,

Jim

 

ALL mig welders use gas. The other ones use a flux-cored wire and are just wire feed welders, not mig. The flux-core wire costs more and the welds look a lot worse since they are essentially arc welds.

 

Definately go gas, and if you can get a 220v machine. I love my miller 175! Wish I coulda step'd up and got a miller 210, but the 175 has done it all.

Kevo

 

I have a friend who has a body shop and teaches body work who gave me a list of MIG welders in order of his preference.

Miller
Hobart
None - end of list

 

I have the Lincoln 135 and it is a great welder. I have not used it a ton, but it is very nice. It also is capable of flux core. Great little welder.

 

kamel is right about the companys IMO

go MIG i got a flux core and i HATE it. Soon im going to get myself a 110 mig but only because i dont feel like having to have 220 run into my garage.

 

I have a Miller Millermatic 135 MIG. I absolutely LOVE it. It has infinite settings for wire speed and heat rather than 4 or 5 settings. It's very tunable. It'll weld 3/16" steel on a single pass and it's only a 110V machine. It was pretty reasonable too, I bought it a few years ago for less than $700.

 

I have a Lincoln SP175 plus and it's the best!!!!! I don't know about that but for whatever reason, Chicago is a huge Lincoln town. I'd stick with Lincoln or Miller.

IMO, I don't think red or blue really matters. I know people who've owned both and people who swear by both. I do think you can get more for your money with Lincoln however.

 

Red, white, or blue (Lincoln, Hobart, Miller) you can't go wrong. Flux core wire is not as bad as many people would have you believe. Yes, there is more spatter than with gas. The quality of the weld and look of the weld are entirely up to the skill of the weldor.
Most machines on the lower end of the price range come with flux core wire but can be converted to gas. When you buy your machine, if you go flux, make sure the polarity is set correctly. Even though the welder comes with flux core wire, it may be set to run gas. The wrong polarity will produce a lot of popping, splattering, and poor penetration.
No offense to Boyink, but it sounds like that may be what happened, in his case.

 

Just changed polarity yesterday on the Weldpak 100. Still have to change out the liner and tip.

 

My brother owns the Miller 135, and was able to weld with it as soon as he set it up.

Well, mostly - he says it works a lot better if you remember to open the gas bottle.

 

I haven't had any issue with my flux core welder. Would I rather it were a Miller, yes. But finances dictate purchases...so it was flux core. It does very nice for me and yes, the welds aren't quite as pretty, but hold just as good.

 

I just got at Hobart handler 180, got a good deal from a welding distributor in Indianapolis ($533 delivered). Came with a spool of Flux core and the hoses and valve for mig welding. I just got my garage wired for 220v last weekend and I have only had a chance to do a test weld but so far so good.

 

I own a Miller 135 its 110 and have done both flux core and gas. Works great for me. Like someone else said 3/16 in a single pass. Seems more than enough for most jeep jobs. Although my son who's taking a welding class says it not good enough to do cages and the like. My response is buy a better one and I'll certainly try it.

 

I've got a Lincoln SP-125 110v unit and a Millermatic 185 and like them both. The Lincoln is currently running flux core but is set up for gas also. When the current roll of flux core runs out it is getting switched to gas. More controllable, cleaner, easier to weld with. Flux core is great under windy or poor weather conditions though. The Miller is gas only and will stay that way. I've used Hobart, Miller, Lincoln, Solar, and many other brands. The "Big three" as I call them, the first three in this list seem to last the best, have the best options, and are very dependable. The SP series in lincoln cost a little more but are industrial quality and have infinite adjustability. Nickmil.

 

my reason for hateing the flux core is that most of my welding to this point has been sheet metal. A clean weld is really needed on this, not that once i got to the point i am on my body i was not good with the welder just the problem is I'm not now.

 

I really just want one to finish up the body work on the '69 and then have it available when I move on to the '68. I borrowed a buddy's to do the work so far, but I have to drag the Jeep to his house each time I need to use it. His is a gas welder, and it worked well, however, since you end up grinding almost everything off I'm thinking the flux core type will probably work fine. I don't want to invest a ton of money, since I don't know how much need I'll have once I've finished the Jeep projects.

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Jim