Please help with valuing welder

Yep.

If it's the plus, that's a good deal. Infinitely variable voltage is a very nice feature on a small box like that when welding thin sheetmetal. It is not easy to retrofit; could be done but not easily or cheaply.

If most of your welding would be 1/16" and thicker, a 4-position voltage control would probably be OK. I've had no problem with the

7-position switch on my Millermatic 210, but I sure like that variable-voltage on my little red Linc SP125+ when doing steel .035 and thinner, as in autobody rust work.

When I visited a professional auto-restoration place some years ago, I noted an SP125+ at every workstation. These guys were artists with metal -- no bondo in that shop! They had stretchers, shrinkers, an English wheel, the whole shootin' match and they were good with them.

Thanks for the welder info. And thanks to the others who posted. I bought the thing a few hours ago. The guy dropped it off at my neighbor's house who happens to be the father-in-law of the seller. Anyway, the guy said it worked, but he couldn't get it to to what he wanted. All I was concerned about was whether it was the plus model or not. It was the plus so I handed over 250 to my neighbor and brought it back to the weld bench. It came with a new 10 lb spool of 70S something .035 wire. The wire is a little rusty and I had some problems getting it to feed properly. The broken regulator had two problems. The first was a leak where it screwew into the gas bottle. The cause was obvious damage in the form of an annular sctatch. I filed and polished out the damage and the leak is gone. The second problem was damage to the low pressure gauge. It had been dropped or something. I took it apart and re-positioned the needle. Checking it against a gauge of known quality it now reads 2 lbs high at all pressures. That's OK. I got the wire to feed, turned on the gas, and tried some welds. It works great. Imagine my surprise when I realized that the machine that I had been told was an SP 135 was actually an SP125 Plus. I went back and checked my notes and he had indeed told me it was a 135. But I don't think he was trying to fool me or anything. I mean it has 125 Plus right on the front and all. Sheesh! I should be more obversant. I mean observant. I don't think he ever got the thing to weld. From what he said about the damaged regulator I think he tried to repair the leak with no luck. It had teflon tape where the low pressure gauge and the bottle fitting screw into the regulator. I think he was trying to fix the leak but didn't know where it was coming from. The gas bottle is full and the spool of wire is full. It had never even been used once. Thanks Again for the advice. Now I need to get a manual. Eric

From the

site in pdf (proud owner of a SP100 with infinite controls, for the past 18 years)

If you look at the manuals, I think you'll find that there is no notable difference between the SP125+ and the SP135+ other than age. They both have the same rating at 20% dutycycle, and they both recommend the same settings for given thicknesses of steel. I think they just renamed it as a marketing move.

Note: these machines do not like dirty or rusty wire. If there is even a hint of rust, it may feed erratically. Strip a few layers off of your spool until you get to bright wire.

After I learned this the hard way, for idle periods of more than a day or two I now remove the wire and bag it in a ziplock backfilled with dry gas, or with a desiccant bag within.

You did well, Eric. The SP125+ is a very sweet little machine for light work -- up to .125" or so. I still use mine in preference to my larger 220-volt MIG for work on 1/16" (16 gage) and under. It is also capable of doing up to 3/16" with fluxcore, handy when it's easier to bring the welder to a job where there's no 220 handy.

I was talking to a customer today and he was wondering what the machine would do since he had a similar one. I told him he could use it up to 1/4 but if I had to weld anything that heavy it would be tig or stick. I know that the rusty wire would cause problems. But I figured if I could get it to make a good weld even with the rusty wire then the machine would work. And I not only got a good looking bead, it passed the big hammer test. Thanks, Eric

it goes into the feeder with something like a clothespin or binder clip... --Glenn Lyford

It can do 3/8" or thicker in the hands of a skilled weldor. I know a guy who stuck 1/2" hinges on a truck with one, though it took him quite a while, doing multi-pass welds with good fusion each pass. I'd ride anything he welded and pronounced good.

I think for the average Joe 3/16" should be regarded as tops. Even there it's slow and duty cycle is a significant issue.

I am a good TIG and Stick weldor. I went to night school for a few years learning how from an excellent teacher. I have done some aluminum MIG and steel MIG. With steel I've also run Innershield and Dual shield. But I don't have a lot of experience running wire feed welders. I'm confident that I could weld 1/2" plate with this little welder, especially if the plate is pre heated. But that would be with the proper gas and proper filler. The rusty wire that came with this machine is only rusty in places. After unwinding quite a bit to remove most of the rusty wire there is still rusty wire on one side. When welding the beads will be good and then there will be a few inches of porosity and uneven wire speed. I can actually see rust dust coming out of the gun when the trigger is pulled. Since the wire is still rusty in places I'm gonna use it up making a bunch of practice beads. When it's all gone I'll clean out the wire guide and put in a roll of good wire. ERS

Wrong wire. Never run anything but 0.023" wire in 110 volt MIG machines.