Difference between Lincoln Welders

Hello all.

I am looking at purchasing a welder and need some help here.

I went to Lowes, they have a Lincoln Pro-Mig 140 for $438. I then went to Home Depot and they have a Lincoln Weld-Pak 3200HD for $459.

So I came home so I can look them up and compare the two welders. I can't find anything on the Pro-Mig 140. The lincoln site doesn't list it.

Does anyone know the difference? Which one is a better one? The 3200 is 90/1/60. What is the 140?

Thanks Bob

Reply to
txasylum
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Bob,

At the risk of sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, have you considered spending the $438 or $459 on a used, higher end stick welder? A Lincoln "round top" Idealarc 250 comes to mind.

It may take some looking around on ebay or elsewhere, but you'd be getting a real industrial quality machine rather than a hobbyist entry level machine.

I must confess I loathe and detest low end machines and tools.

Vernon

Reply to
Vernon

No, I haven't looked around. I would like a higher end machine, but for the occasional garage/home use I can't justify spending more. The minimum I want is one with the gas option. I weighed the difference between 220 and 110, and decided to go for 110. Again for the occasional use.

Bob

Reply to
txasylum

Bob,

Again, forgive me if I foist my opinion on you. But my conscience is clear because I've already stated my prejudice against low end machines.

And to be perfectly honest, I'm also prejudiced against MIG machines. Permit me to tell you about my own welding saga.

About 7 - 8 years ago, while working on a VW baja project, I needed to weld up an engine cage. Nobody would do it because it was not a big job. Finally, one of my town's biggest shops agreed to do it. They charged me $50 for about 3 inches of bead.

I resolved to buy some gear and learn how to weld. Luckily, because I make a comfortable living, within reason, price was no object. So I bought a Victor Journeyman torch outfit and bottles.

Next I bought a Millermatic 250X MIG welder. It was the biggest MIG welder that would operate on single phase. If there had been a bigger badder single phase 220V machine offered, I'd have bought IT.

Later, I bought a bunch of equipment from a guy, which included a "round top" Lincoln like I recommended you look at. Then I bought a Miller Maxstar 140 combination TIG/stick inverter welder.

If I could only pick one machine it would be the "round top" Lincoln. If two, it and the Maxstar. I actually use the Maxstar more, but inverter machines are not likely to last a lifetime or two.

I almost NEVER use the Millermatic 250X even though I have redundant gas bottles, and even a high end spool gun.

If you start learning to weld, the only reason you're likely to stop is if it's because you're disgusted with poor results. When I started, I did not envision ever needing to weld 1/2" steel. Now I do it with fair frequency.

What I'm suggesting is, you'll be wasting your money on a machine you'll soon outgrow. Welding with 110 volts is an exercise in futility. At least duly consider:

a) finding a deal on a "round top" or some other vintage machine with some guts and grunt. This will require a heavy duty "dryer" type plug. But you can build a heavy extension cord and plug it into your electric range outlet or perhaps, the water heater plug. Get some ear plugs so you can tune our your wife chewing on your ass...

b) keep saving and buy a Miller Maxstar. A model 140 (if they still make 'em) will cost about $700 new.

I've got two Syncrowave 500 machines, that, when new, retailed for well over $8,000. I never use them either. I almost always use the round top Lincoln if my project is close to it, or the Maxstar if the welding work is farther away.

The Maxstar pretty well tops out at a 1/8" electrode. The round top Lincoln will melt 5/32" electrodes all day long.

I'm sure lots of MIG lovers will come outta the woodwork. But I insist stridently, that for the hobbyist welder, a stick machine (or stick/TIG combination such as the Maxstar) and a torch are, if not all you need, they will get you miles and miles down the road to a fascinating, versatile, and valuable do-it-yourself adventure world. And you won't be kicking yourself for having bought a toy.

No offense intended to those who have and use the machines you're considering.

Regards, Vernon

Reply to
Vernon

To answer your question, they are the same. Either one is a fine machine. Capable of MIG or fluxcore. You can weld up to 1/4 inch with multi pass with these machines. They will handle just about anything a hobbiest wants to do. Buy now and enjoy now, lifes too short to be dragging your feet.

Regards

Reply to
cutter

I found a mid 70's Idealarc 250 locally on ebay for under $200. It was complete and ready to go. As I get some spare time I'm getting used to stick welding.

Reply to
ATP*

Good for you! I did not mean to imply to the original poster that he'd have to spend all of his $439 or $489 to buy an Idealarc. Nevertheless, I think you got quite a good deal on yours.

VT

Reply to
Vernon

And by the way, there was an Idealarc 250 AC only machine and an Idealarc 250 AC /DC machine, both round tops.

I would have no interest whatsoever in owning an AC only machine. In fact, in my entire stick welding career, I've never bothered to weld AC.

VT

Reply to
Vernon

If you can be patient, and check the right places (classified ads, farm sales, estate sales) It's quite common to get a non-shiny tombstone Lincoln in that ballpark, often with leads and helmet thrown in. Not so great if you want it this week and there isn't one listed this week, of course.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

I bhght the Lincoln Pro-Core 100 flux-core machine and now have switched it over to MIG gas with the $97 upgrade kt..total so far for it is $310

  • . I'm trying to learn the mig for ss but have a Lincoln AC/DC Big Red Buzzbox and like doing the stick welding for items I want to be sturdy. Since i use the 7018 rod mostly I use DC+ all the time. The high amp stick machines can make some super sturdy welds if you need it. I don't have that much experience with the MIG and none with TIG but I wld have gotten a TIG machine instead of the MIG if I had known the MIG I bght isnt the best for very light metals, ss and def wont do Al.

Its a real good machine tho for mild steel. You just cant dial in a amperage or vlotage setting. It's a tap type system with setting for voltage of A-B-C-D and 1-10 for wire speed.

Guess you better try and think ahead if you can.

Good Luck..

Reply to
Blueraven

Ecnerwal,

The machine I'm talking about is the round top red machine, not the red tombstone machine.

The tombstone welders are rated at 20% duty cycle and, as I recall, will go only to 150 amps.

While the old round top "Idealarcs" are not just everywhere, there are a lot of 'em around. They seemed to be the standard machine for welding classes in junior colleges. But it's the AC / DC machine you want. Not the AC only machines. They're single phase, 60 Hz, 250 amp machines. This means that at 150 amps or so you don't even have to think about "duty cycle".

As another poster has indicated, they're out there to be had. And they're in a class quite beyond any of the hobbyist machines, whether Miller's or Lincoln's.

And you can stick weld outside in a breeze. That alone is enough to float my boat.

V
Reply to
Vernon

The only advise I can offer you is that I owned a Lincoln pro mig 135 and it was a great little machine. Lincoln Pro MIG, HD3200 and lincoln SP 135 is the same exact machine , and comes with the same warranty. just a name/ sticker change so different stores can call it differently.

Even the local weld supplier admited.... he could not sell the lincoln SP135 after the big box store started carrying their own relabeled pro migs because it is the same unit.

Any of those 2 will do just fine for hobby weld.

it seems that the other guys are trying to steer you toward a stick welder. They may be right in some respect , but if you want to make custom shaped tool racks, shelfs , or what not the small 110V welders will weld smaller angle irons, EMT tubes/pipes , black pipes/water pipes, square fence posts and such just fine.

get your self some .023, .030 .035 fluxcore wire and practice , if you like it get some shielding gas and some solid wire and practic some more.

once you out grow it you can allways sell it.

Reply to
acrobat ants

Don't forget craigslist.com. Find your city, or the one nearest you, and go from there.

Reply to
carl mciver

I have had very little luck with craigslist. Most sellers are completely unreasonable people, wanting almost new prices for old beat up crap. The only successful use of it that I recall was me selling an old, but very tall wooden ladder.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus16375

They're probably the same welder. Lincoln rebadges their lower-end models for different companies to sell. Plus the different companies up their ratings occasionally to make their welders look better even though nothing has changed.

For example, I have an older Lincoln SP-170T which is a great welder BTW. The current version of this is the SP-175T and I've actually checked the parts listing and found all of the important components and IIRC everything except for the stickers and labels to be the same for both models. They just upped it to 175 to make it look better. Hobart did the same thing with theirs. They recently upped their Hobart Handler 135 to the Handler 140 so Lincoln was bound to follow eventually.

They also have sold my welder as the MIG-Pak 15, the Weld-Pak 155 (the same welder minus the gas solenoid and regulator), the Weld-Pak 5000HD from Home Depot and the Pro-MIG 175 from Lowes.

The ones you're looking at have been sold as the SP-125T, SP-135T, Pro-MIG

135, 3200HD and probably a couple of others I'm not aware of.

I'm not sure what the 90/1/60 numbers are you referred to but a link to the owner's manual and parts listing for the new 140 is available here for comparison:

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One of the reasons, probably the biggest reason Lowes and Home Depot have different models is so they don't have to match prices. They both have price matching policies but it has to be the exact same model, etc. This way they bypass it.

BTW, you didn't say anything about how you plan to use it. You may be an experienced welder that knows exactly what you want so feel free to ignore me. But if you're not please ask for advice here because the welders you're looking at are good but they're limited so you might want to check into what you can and can't do with them a bit more before buying.

For example, if you're assuming you'll be able to weld aluminum you can pretty much forget it. They say it can be done but not realistically.

If you can swing it and the portability of a 110V welder isn't too much of an issue you'll probably be much happier in the long run if you go with a version of the 175 amp machine instead. I've had both so I speak from experience. :-)

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Reply to
Keith Marshall

Reply to
RoyJ

Good for you. I do not think that I ever saw any good value (read non-junk and much below ebay prices) on my craigslist.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus361

Thanks for the great reply and information. I took a stick welding class about 2 years ago, but never did a mig class. I like the stick, but from what I remember, it will melt through thin metal, whereas the mig might be better (?).

Anyway, I am going to write some of these models down and take a look around on Ebay.

Thanks again. bob

Reply to
txasylum

Bob,

While stick is not the weapon of choice for thin sheet metal it will do the job. There is some 1/16" electrode out there. Using 1/16" 6013 it is entirely feasible to weld thin material.

But the versatility of stick welders far outshines this limitation in my view.

V
Reply to
Vernon

Does anyone know anything about a Clark? I came across a Clarke 180EN. Price is right.

Reply to
txasylum

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