Small project Welder Suggestions

rockwoodrv9a

rockwoodrv9a

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rockwoodrv9a
I have an old huge Miller Regency 250 Welder with gas that I dont have a clue how to use. A friend needed some cash several years ago so I ended up with the welder. My only welding experience is with an old buzz box. I did ok and built several lumber racks and a trailer. Other than trying to figure out the Miller, does anyone have a suggestion for a smaller unit that will do light welding on steel and I would like to try aluminum. I dont want to spend a ton but dont want crap.

Im working on a tug for my RV 9A and need to do some welding. Thanks.
 
I've heard good things about the Harbor Freight Vulcan/Titanium welders. You want TIG I'd assume for aluminum, and most of their smaller units are 120V/240V switchable for input.
 
I had a 180 amp Lincoln stick/tig combination box years back. Man, did I fabricate some stuff with that. I used the tig torch much more than the stick since I welded a bit of SS and Al and a little Inconel.
 
Built my Hatz with a Miller Dynasty 200. No pulse, but is capable of welding a-lu-minium. Also can run in 110V. Really enjoyed working with it.
 
Not sure what your definition of 'spending a ton' is, but I've been having fun with the Miller Multimatic. Runs on 110 or 220, does gas or flux shielded mig, regular stick and tig. Haven't tried my hand at the tig yet, but it's on the to-do list. Only downside is that now I can't blame my crappy looking welds on "that old worn out Lincoln red box" like I did welding hog crates on the farm.
 
Since you already know how to weld stick, it would probably be really easy to use a wire feed flux core MIG (which really isn't mig at that point). The old HF welders were OK, and I think the Titanium series a little better. They have one that does stick/mig/flux and tig that isn't too expensive, and that runs on either 120 or 240. Any that run 120 only are going to be a little light for anything past 16 gauge with flux, in my opinion. For aluminum, you need either a spool gun for MIG and pure argon, or an AC TIG. I bring that up because many of those units will do TIG but only DC, that won't work for Al, and they normally don't have a high frequency start, which means you need to scratch start, which is a quick way to burn up and contaminate tungstens on TIG. To me Al TIG is more difficult than sheet metal welding with stick, but some people pick it up quick.
 
Amazon. Yes Welder. I have two. One's a stick/TIG and the other is a MIG/TIG. The TIG torches initiate differently but both work great. I own a steel fab shop and have several Miller machines there. I wouldn’t use a Yes machine in that setting but don’t need a Miller at home.
 
That 250P Yes welder looks like a heck of a deal for $425 from Amazon. Looks like it does everything my old Lincoln square wave did for like a quarter of the price. You might check at your local welding shop. In addition to Miller and Lincoln, they sell a consumer line of inexpensive boxes.
 
I have 4 welders, 2 harbor freights and 2 from Prime weld. Both of the Harbor Freight welders are "cheap" mig flux core 110v welders and both have consistently impressed me. The first was a cheap Chicago electric that was purchased for a whole 70 bucks about15yrs ago and has put in waaaay more work than anyone would have thought reasonable. It started having issues so I bought a new one last year to replace it from the titanium line and am really really happy with it. I use these for field repairs around my little hobby farm and for putting jeeps back together on trails. And as a bonus I figured out what was wrong with the first one and fixed it after getting the new titanium so boom ... 2 cheap welders lol. My other 2 are both from Prime Weld and are multi-process Tig-Stick-Plasma cutters. 1 of them will do arc start plasma cutting and arc gouging. I cannot state how pleased I have been with both welders and more importantly Prime Welds customer service. I have welded/cut with both machines for hours and never heat soaked or hit the duty cycle limits. they may not be as fancy as the big blue and red machines but bang for buck I think they may be the best welders on the market right now and highly under appreciated. They have welders for just about any budget and job. Just my 2 cents worth ymmv ...
 
Has anyone seen some of the new type of welders that seem to show up all over TikToc? What are they and do they really work? The videos make them look really easy to use. I'm just curious.
Thanks in advance
 
William Pete Hodges said:
Has anyone seen some of the new type of welders that seem to show up all over TikToc? What are they and do they really work? The videos make them look really easy to use. I'm just curious.
Thanks in advance
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The laser welder? Yeah, I’ve seen the videos and then I checked the price…$$$$$
 
I am absurdly happy with my Lincoln MIG 211- it's an inverter machine that is dual voltage. It replaced an older transformer based 120V Lincoln wire welder. It could do aluminum with a spool gun.

If you get impatient and aren't married to doing it yourself, I'm down the road near KARB/Y47
 
I use a Hobart 140 set up for MIG for all my auto body stuff, it's only a 120v but if you don't need to weld anything really thick it's nice to not be tethered to a 240v outlet. I'm mostly doing sheet metal but I've welded some 1/8" and 3/16" stuff too and it handled it. I've never tried aluminum so can't report on how well it does there. My one minor complaint is the voltage knob has 5 discreet settings rather than being infinitely adjustable... it's generally not an issue but it would be nice to have a little more ability to fine-tune the heat.
 
Waaayyyyyyy overkill for what you're doing. But my miller multimatic 200 is pretty slick. I've got one on both my service trucks. Auto senses if it's on 120 or 240. Mig, stick, DC tig (all stick welders can DC tig), I've even got the spool gun to run aluminum off it. Although I much prefer the spool gun off my truck. It's really compact for what it does. It would be nice if it had a high frequency start for tig. The multimatic 220 is more set up for tig than the 200, but that mf'er is heavy.

As for laser welders....the good ones are 50k. And they need a really good fit up.
 
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painless said:
Built my Hatz with a Miller Dynasty 200. No pulse, but is capable of welding a-lu-minium. Also can run in 110V. Really enjoyed working with it.
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The 200DX has built in pulse. I have one.
 
This is always a borderline religious topic like oil brand allegiance. IMO, get a good used machine built by a reputable brand that's supported by your local welding shop, in case it ever needs parts or service. Then spend the hours required to build your skillset.

I bought a Lincoln Square Wave 175 about 15 years ago for $750... just a simple transformer machine with one knob. Added a cooler, a CK super flex torch, a two-line regulator/flowmeter, and built a nice cart. I routinely TIG mild steel, stainless, chromoly, and aluminum. Despite being a total dinosaur, I haven't really found the machine's capabilities to be a limiting factor yet (aside from thick aluminum, where it simply lacks the requisite power.) However, I'm not a production worker who welds 8 hours/day, just a hobbyist and farm maintenance guy.

I also have a Lincoln 180C and Power Mig 256 for the .023/.030 and .035/.045 squirt gun stuff, respectively.

Bought one of those little Harbor Freight suitcase fluxcore machines for an on-site railing job a few years ago. "Titanium Easy-Flux 125," I think. Thankfully it didn't completely **** the bed and end up in my dumpster until I had finished the job and hammered the check. Stick with proven manufacturers: Miller, Lincoln, ESAB, Hobart, Fronius, etc.

YMMV and all that.





I attached some thumbnails of my work. Some farm maintenance stuff, welding cart, delivery truck ICC bumpers, flatbed body for my truck, chromoly landing gear parts for my biplane, etc.
 

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I ended up with a Miller 200DX. The inverter machines are sweet. Light weight and more control over the arc. I don't have to switch tungstens to weld aluminum.

For MIG, I have a Miller 175. At the time, the Lincolns had plastic wire feed wheels.
 
When you think about it, there’s something satisfying about doing gas welding. It’s so…..Neanderthal

“Me build with fire!”
 
I have one of the small 120V Lincoln MIGs and I've been happy with it. I've never hooked up a gas bottle, though I could, and just use flux core. Most of what I weld is outdoors (repairing a paddock gate, fixing a tow bar on a muck cart, building a rack for horse blankets, reinforcing legs on a charcoal grill, etc.), so flux core is the better choice 90% of the time. Outdoors, even a light breeze will disturb the shielding gas. Flux core wire avoids that problem.

If you stay within its limitations and are good about surface prep, the little welder does just fine. I've built a tire rack for a race car trailer, a patio table, cribs for firewood, and other small projects and it's been perfectly adequate.

Prior to the Lincoln, I had one of the HF Chicago Electric wire feed welders and its reliability sucked. I replaced a fried transistor a couple of times and a failed power resistor once before I gave up. It doesn't have squat for over temp protection and the circuitry is too wimpy for any serious use.

Word To The Wise - With any of the smaller MIG/flux core welders, don't waste time with the supplies that come in the box. Toss the nozzle and the spool of wire and buy good ones, especially fresh wire, before you even set it up. You'll thank me.
 
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