MIG welder questions

"Ron Thompson" wrote: (clip) On the plus side, this seller will ship this machine for $7.50! I called to verify this, because it sounded too good to be true.(clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I bought a Lincoln 135 from Indiana Oxygen, and they shipped it free. Dealing with them was a pleasure. I don't know how their price would compare, but they usually have listings on e-bay with "buy it now" pricing. so it should be easy to check.

No.

That's worth it.

A different "hose package" (as we call it). Or just the core? Swapping just the core is a PITA, you should ask what includes the extra 45$. I doubt that you get a complete package for that prize. Also, the wire-driving rolls are different for Al. Are they included?

No, not that difficult. After you have found out the propper setup (volatge and feed) you are done. 1 hour of experimenting and you know it. Be aware, that the welds don't look very nice and that you will have troubles welding below 2 mm of thickness. Preheat the part where you start to weld.

That's always an argument :-)

HTH, Nick

Thanks, I saw their listing. They are higher than the place I linked to, even with the shipping.

Ron Thompson On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA

hobby pages are here: Severe stupidity is self correcting, but mild stupidity is rampant in the land.

-Ron Thompson

I actually saw the Lincoln Electric 175 at Home Depot the other day for $599. Not sure what version it was, probably not the plus, but that still seemed like a great price. I have not seen that at all the Home Depots, but the one by my house has it. Also, I noticed that Sears carries Hobart on their website, not sure if you can get it from them in the store, but they seemed to have very competative prices to, to my surprise.

Thanks, There is a cheaper Lincoln series made for the retail market. I think it is called "Pro MIG" and the dealer can't even get it. It is quite a bit cheaper for the same ratings. I was warned to stay clear of them for serious work.

Ron Thompson On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA

hobby pages are here: Severe stupidity is self correcting, but mild stupidity is rampant in the land.

-Ron Thompson

Hi Ron,

IMO, I don't think this is a big enough machine to do what you what.

Rated: 130 amps, 20 volts, 30% duty cycle

It also looks like it has a 10 foot whip, which is a long ways to try pushing aluminum wire. Most people that do serious work use spool guns for aluminum.

Per the spec sheet from Lincoln, (see:

for this info direct)it is only rated for 22 gauge to 3/16 inch for aluminum. If you preheat, you can get 3/16 to 1/4 inch, which I think is stretching it a bit. The 30% duty cycle will kill you trying to weld for any period of time other than short bursts.

If you are going to be welding on a large aluminum dump trailer, you better get something with some oomph! I would watch for a Millermatic 200 (or 210) with a spoolgun used. These are 200 amp machines with _60%_duty_cycle_at_the_full

200_amp_machine_output. Lincoln has similar machines, but I'm not familiar with their comparable model. I'm sure somebody else will know that :)

I bought mine new ~15 years ago. Figure about $1500 for the welder (this included the argon/CO2 mix, bottle and flow regulator) and another $1000 for the spool gun, new prices.

Just my 2 cents worth (shrug).