New Welder Coming, Now What?

Talk to whoever you are going to buy the tank from and see if they will give you credit for the amount you paid for a small tank when and if you decide to upgrade to a larger tank. I think most places will do that.

Second see how much a CO2 tank will cost. There is more splatter with CO2, but sometimes you just don't care. So having two tanks might make sense. Does for me, but then I got the CO2 tank at a scrap yard for scrap steel price.

I have a little Lincoln MIG welder that will not take wire spools bigger than 10/11 lbs. But I kludged up a gearhead motor to wind wire from a big spool onto a 10 lb spool. Generally a 33 lb spool is not a lot more than a 10 lb spool. That and Boeing Surplus had some 33 lb spools of wire.

Dan

Recommend for steel: ER70S-6 wire, .035", 10 lb roll or bigger - excellent general purpose steel welding wire. Also C25 gas in as large a cylinder as you can buy - and make SURE you're buying a size that is only an owner tank, and DO save your receipt from the welding supply that proves it's a purchased tank.

I buy generic wire, haven't had any trouble at all. FWIW, it's Airgas house brand. I buy bigger spools, though. Wire price is a market commodity, steel is up right now, so wire will be too.

The Millermatics are good welders. I have a 250 and ran it hard all week on a job, worked perfectly although I had to change a tip.

Be sure to buy some name brand Welpers MIG welding pliers, now made in Japan. I can't imagine welding without them. I also use some anti-spatter stuff, recommend you get some anti-spatter dip and get in the habit of using it. Beats the heck out of picking spatter out of the bore of your nozzle.

GWE

I don't do MIG (yet), just TIG, but personally for hobby use I wouldn't bother with tanks larger than about 80cf. 80cf tanks for TIG last a long time for hobby use and more importantly they are very easy to handle vs. the big tanks.

MIG welders tend to be somewhat portable (vs. 500# Syncrowave) so having the smaller tank makes it that much easier to take the welder to the work.

I'd rather have two 80cf than one ~160cf since the tank swap only takes a minute and I can swap the empty tank at my leisure.

Pete C.

Often you can rent tanks. This may not pay for a hobby setup, though. Regardless, the bigger tanks are almost always cheaper in the long run, as the gas fills are generally a lot less per amount of gas in a big tank.

Check the price of ALL available unit costs for gas refills. Compare gas unit costs.

Check the price of ALL available bottle purchase and rental rates. There are often a large variation in prices and seasonal or introductory 'specials'.

It is often much cheaper to own than to rent. You can start out by renting but keep looking for a bottle to own. It is often easier to try different gases when you have a rental contract since most contracts are for 'one bottle' and you can exchange for a different type of gas. As a previous poster mentioned they do show up in scrap (and have been known to fall off trucks). CAUTION, refill 'procedures' for 'owned' bottles differ widely and I suggest you get experienced guidance before attempting.

Check the price of transportation and depot fees. It is often worth while to pick up your bottles from the main branch and avoid depot and transportation fees.

ITYWF that the big bottles are not much more expensive than the small bottles and the unit cost of the gas will be about 1/2 price.

You may want to consider mounting the gas bottle on a separate cart from the welder and using a longer hose instead of moving the bottle to every job location. This can make your welding cart a lot smaller and much easier to move, especially on rough ground. YMMV

Most major gas suppliers in the US do cylinder exchange for owner tanks unless you specifically insist on keeping "your" bottle. If you do then you'll have to wait several days or more for a refill is it's shipped to their fill plant and back and you'll also have to pay for the 10yr hydro testing on your bottle.

With exchange you own a bottle of the given size and it just keeps changing. You get to walk in with an empty and walk out with a full (paying for the gas of course) and you don't have to pay for hydro testing. You also have the flexibility to change gasses / mixes as well.

I still recommend the smaller tanks like 80cf for hobby work and best yet two tanks so you never run out mid project. The gas may be cheaper per CF in the bigger bottles, but they are awkward to handle and with the consumption rates of most hobby use the cost difference is a few dollars a year.

Pete C.

That machine works well at about 20 CFH unless you plan on working in a stiff breeze. So how many hours of actual welding do you plan to do in the average week? I can run all day long and only use 1.5-2 80 CF bottles in a week. Unless you are in a serious production environment, most of your 'welding' time is actually spent getting ready to weld, very little is actually running bead.

.030 or .035 are good wire sizes, the wire lasts forever, so you might as well get the 33# spools if the price is not too high.

Stuart

Use Hobart HB-28/ .030/ ER70S-6 wire in the 210 because it runs way nicer then .035 of any brand. C-25 gas and you will have one fine welding unit. A 80 will work but I would get a 150 cf or bigger down the road.

You are going to really like that unit, just likew everybody else that has used one. :)

Scott

Hawke wrote: