Welder for metal replacement?

[Stubborn3]

Looking at welders to replace my floors, upper and lower 1/4s, and rockers. Was looking at a wire feed 180 from somewhere. Any advice or suggestions?

[Kinder]

A 180 would work, use thinner wire & a low setting. My 180 did fine on the thicker steel around the door posts & floors, but struggled with the thin stuff like the hardtop.

[Justin]

New or used? Budget?

[Stubborn3]

new or used, as long as it works for what I need it for. I'm sort of figuring out the budget as I go... looked at one from Harbor freight the other night for $300 or there abouts, think it was a chicago 180 mig/flux wire feed or something, think there was a 170 for $200 also. I've never used a wire feed set up before either but they seem common. Don't want to warp the body panels but also want enough juice to do radius arm mounts and shock hoops and such once I get this tragic body situation done with. I know you know a lot more about this than I do.

[Kinder]

You'll want a MIG gas compatible machine that you can turn down to the lowest heat while still getting the weld correct.

[Gunnibronco]

You can always turn the machine down. We use a 250amp 220v MIG welder at the body shop. We set it to heat level 1, 2 or 3 when doing sheetmetal. Set the welder up with .023 wire for bodywork & .030 for heavier work. If you do stitch welds across a panel, you will warp it, its almost impossible not to. Welding 1" at a time helps.

TIG puts less heat in the metal, but they are expensive & take lots of practice to get right.

180 amps will weld shock hoops & other structural stuff. When I was shopping for a welder, the owner of our welding shop said I should go a little bigger than necessary, because I'm not certified/trained structural welder. He recommended 210 amps, because it has more than enough power to do 1/4".

Just don't buy a 110v model, it will do the sheet metal, but frustrate you doing anything thick. There are lots of used 110v welders on Craigslist for a reason. When I was looking, there were lots of Lincoln & Miller 180s available used, but not many 210's. I'd shy away from a cheap welder (Just because I think you get what you pay for). A new 180 Hobart (made by Miller, but less expensive) are about $700, if I remember. I doubt you'll get the same reliability out of a $200 welder.

Then practice, practice, practice.

[Justin]

I'll echo Gunni's suggestions. I started with a 110v and upgraded a year later. If you're looking in the used market any of the 180 amp welders from the major brands (Lincoln, Miller, and Hobart) will suit you well. For home use, Hobarts represent a good value, especially the 210MVP. Stay away from the Harbor Freight machines, as this is an area where you get what you pay for. Thermal Arc also has a Fabricator line of multi-process welders that are inverter (rather than transformer), can do MIG, TIG and stick welding, and have a good feature set for the money. ESAB welders pop up on craigslist from time to time and can be a really good deal. Many are USA made, high quality, and can be really inexpensive since the brand is not as well known. I'd also second the opinion to go as big as you can afford. My welder maxes out at 210a, which allows it to do 3/8" in a single pass. While I don't weld much that this thick, it'll weld 1/4" all day long with plenty of power left over, and has given me some extra oomph when welding 1/4" brackets to my 1/2" axle housing. You might talk to Trei about his welder (viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6690) or look at the refurbished Lincoln SP-180 (http://www.weldingmart.com/sp-180t-24090).

[trei75bronco]

I have a mig welder for sale

[Stubborn3]

Thanks, I am also of the school of buy right the first time. I'de love a Hobart my issue is like all of us money spent on this is money not spent on bronco toys. I appreciate the input as it's been 8 years since i welded last. I was thinking about buying a 180-220 but since I have to do body first I didn't want something that would burn pannels up... can't wait til i'm doing fun stuff like suspension. Thanks again- i'll save my pennies.

[Justin]

180-220 will be fine for body work. I've welded 22ga with my 210 just fine. Keep your eyes peeled on Craigslist, there are great deals to be had. 180a is likely to be the cost/power sweet spot.

[Unaweep]

One of the best little MIG welders out in the market currently is the Miller 211. It will run off 110v or 220V (or 221V, what ever it takes). It come with both the 110V & 220V plug for whatever power source you have, I love the Miller for some jobs and it doesn't take up a lot of space.

It also has a very very good arc, welds .023 nice and .045 ok too.

It does weld better on 220V, the arc is a little more aggressive.

The Miller AutoSet version works ok to get you in the ball park for machine settings.

I have a Lincoln MIG 125++ but the Miller works much better.

Miller bought Hobart, so if your budget minded that's also an option.

Using a bigger machine is possible and ok, but all machines have a sweet spot, so a 250amp machine might not be happy welding such tiny stuff with .023, but a new person welder won't notice that.

Here's a link, I've bought from them before and would do so again.


http://www.weldersupply.com/C/36/MigWelding


However - the BEST machine just about produced ever is the ESAB or Linde MigMaster 251 (ESAB bought Linde) and I think ESAB stopped production a few years ago on that model, now they have a 250 model but its not the same. They have been around for over 20+ years - if you find a used one buy it - I'll buy it if you don't. By far the most kick ass 250 machine out there.

J.E.



http://www.weldersupply.com/C/36/MigWelding