Recommendations on a mig welder that won't break the bank

[keegs]

Hi all,

Starting my first ever VW restore project and I've got a fair amount of welding to do. The pans are in rough shape and the body needs a fair amount of rust remediation. I haven't done any welding in about forty years and back then I used an arc welder. In most of these online restoration videos I'm watching, a lot of guys are using mig welders. Presumably they're the preferred tool for sheet metal. So I'm looking for a 115 volt machine that will do the job and not break the bank. Your thoughts please and thanks in advance.

[DerrickfromNC1]

As always check Harbor Freight!

[67rustavenger]

HF has three levels of quality mig welders.
Simple Flux core welder. Kinda tricky for the novice welder to master.
Next up is a better quality mig welder that uses gas. It's a better quality welder. And is slightly more user friendly.
Then there is the top o the line unit mig welder that will use flux core, gas, tig, ect. The nice thing with this unit. It has an auto setting that will adjust to the thickness of the metal that you are welding. I used one in a Garden Art class a few years ago. It was super nice.

The unit own is a Clarke E weld 110v model. It is a gas welder. I found it on CL. It came with a cart too. $100. Then I had to outfit it with a regulator, welding gloves, auto darkening hood. And a gas bottle. This all came to about $400 more over the cost of the welder and cart.

One thing on bottle fed home welders. It is best to buy the largest bottle you can afford. I burned through a 20cf bottle in about two hours of welding practice. Then moved up to a 40cf bottle. It lasted longer. But I still went through it rather quickly.
Next upsize was an 80cf bottle. Two years and I still haven't had to exchange it. But I don't weld that much, these days.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!
2003 Astrovan? GFYS again, Xevin!

[modok]

co2 gas is cheaper.
Seems like I have to say it over and over again,
Must be the only guy here that knows it works.

If you read the data sheet on L-56 wire,
co2 is the recommended shielding gas and the argon mix is an option.

[infiniteLoop]

You can get a decent MIG for about $400 by it's self new. Some welders in that range are Multi Process. I would only recommend Infinite Variable Voltage Control because welding can be aggravation by it's self. I saw a video on a BlueDemon welder recently and it looked like something to consider.

[keegs]

I took a ride yesterday to HF (what a candy store) ....for some items I needed right away and while there, I looked at their welder line up. I also looked at Amazon for their consumer recommendations and saw the Lincoln Electric K2185 was up there.

https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Electric-K2185-1-Ha...AndDetails

As advertised it's for home and project tasks. .... it comes with all the kit except the gas and runs on a 20 AMP circuit. If anyone's had any first hand exp with this unit I'd like to know what you think of it.

I'm going to keep an eye out on FB mkt pl and CL too for used.

Thank you all for the tips. CK

[infiniteLoop]

Lincolns tend to be pricey for what you get. If you want a welder that will make it through a electromagnetic pulse blast, that's the one you want. For 10 bucks more ,you can get this. The gun type , duty cycle and if it is serviced in the U.S or not are all going to be different from maker to maker. The Eastwood is the house favorite but is not serviceable.

https://www.amazon.com/Forney-Easy-Weld-271-Welder...3&th=1

[bomberbob]

Did you scroll through the sticky on welding equipment? I run flux core myself, got it from Home Depot. Its a Lincoln with a different wrapper on it, Century. Took some getting used to but after setting it up it does fairly well. What I save on the welder and gas I can spend on paint and other parts.
_________________
1968 Beetle torn apart again
1990 Jetta GLI megasquirted, burning E85 (currently in storage)
2004 Jetta turbo GLI
Marion, Iowa

[Q-Dog]

Harbor freight welders are crap. Sorry. Even their top quality line is crap.

The museum where I voluteer got tired of borrowing my Hobart and bought a vulcan from HF. The gun failed on the first project and stripped threads trying to get it apart. Didn't matter, had to be replaced because they did not carry replacement parts for the handle. The actual welding wasjust OK. Never could get it to lay smooth beads. Sputter, sputter, sputter. Frustrating. I went home and laid down a couple of nice beads with my hobart just to make sure it wasn't me.

Hobart Handler 140 will do everything you need to do on a VW and you can probably find it on sale. Northern Tool and Tractor Supply and a few other places probably have them in stock so you can have it under the tree for christmas.
_________________
Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[keegs]

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions.

I purchased the Lincoln Electric 2185-1 Handy MIG welder at HD for $335 including tax. It comes with all the kit ...just need to buy a tank of gas. It gets very good ratings (hundreds of satisfied customers) on both Amazon and the HD website. Funny thing .. ithe prices on this machine are all over the map.... I think it was $100 + more if I bought it off the shelf in HD. I think Walmart's price was $120 more...Go figure. Estimated delivery is Sunday 12/27. Free shipping.

[adventurebob]

The maxim: You get what you pay for definitely applies to welders. Hobart, Lincoln, Miller, aren't the most expensive because they take crap and put their label on it. They truly make good products.

Break the bank is a relative term. Without knowing what your looking to spend recommendations are useless and uninformed.

A miller 141 can be had for about $750 with holiday deals going on.
I have a miller 252 that goes for about $2500
You can pick a HF for Ti for $500

What are you gonna do with it and whats your expectation of performance? 1/2 plate continuous in single bead? Way different than sheet metal bug bodies.

[pnw1302]

All great advice...

personally, i've had a weldmark 140 for about 10 years. uses standard consumables. duty cycle is OK for me as a home/hobby user. i think i paid $500 or so at the time. i do agree that you should avoid "bargain" equipment but also buying a better quality used unit is a viable option. unless someone was building bridges for a living, a 10 or even 15 year old lincoln/esab/hobart welder will do the job.

practice
practice
practice

[infiniteLoop]

[adventurebob]

You're history is a little off there... ESAB has not now or ever (since 1904) been owned by anybody but ESAB. Tweco is a subsidiary of ESAB. The ESAB website and their SEC filings will show you this.

[infiniteLoop]

Thanks for posting the correction.

It looks like ESAB is owned by Colfax. The main point is correct. A bunch of the smaller makers got bought up. I may have got confused because all I see for sale made by ESAB in a MIG is a Rebel which makes it look like they downsized.

I Think I read an article from ThermoArc about it but I can't find it. As I recall ,Lincoln bought the Battery Charger / Welder companies. Century was one.

[esde]

Thermal Arc was aquired by by ESAB, if you look several of the items that used to be TA are now under Esab names like the TA186. Esab makes really sweet machines but parts support in the US is sparse.
All of the bigger names have their ups and downs, but the most important part is that they are all serviceable. I started with almost the same little Lincoln the OP just bought. An almost indestructible little buzz box; over the course of 10 years I replaced several parts myself. Everything was easy to get. Over the course of these 10 or so years, friends would call because their [harbor freight/ Vulcan/ everlast/ Eastwood] stopped working and they were almost always not repairable because parts aren't available.
I like the Hobart Handler 140, even though I don't own one. It's cheap and welds like a big machine. It's a miller machine in a cheap suit, so parts are cheap.
I live about an hour from the PA Eastwood, and took a peek in the dumpsters out back last year. One was literally full of dead welders that couldn't be more than a few years old.
_________________
modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[infiniteLoop]

Northern Tool has Klutch welders that look good on paper but they have refurbished models for sale as well. I think Northern will keep the same model for a bunch of years so parts should be available.

I'm thinking with the inverters if they make it past the "just out of the box stage" that's most of the battle. Welders with set voltage controls have a board for wire speed so they are not bullet proof either.

Edit: I still have my first 110v MIG I started with but I just keep it as backup because the new inverters have around a 130 amp capacity on a 110 volt circuit. Unless I'm welding something that is not part of a car body/frame, I can easily do it with the one welder with no preheating.

[onehappykombi]

[bomberbob]

I don't understand why flux core welders are so maligned. The Century I bought at Home Depot has adjustable wire speed and voltage. There is a limit to how small wire you can run through it, but thats no biggy. I have welded all kinds of stuff with mine, heater channels, rust patches, a firewall, the entire front quarter on the drivers side, repositioned engine compartment seal track, the list goes on. Then I started welding on my Jetta, new rocker panels, a rear wheel well replacement, floor boards and other stuff that I can't remember. Yes it spatters some, and there is some soot that you need to clean up, but I don't have to worry about starting a job and then finding out halfway that the bottle is empty.

Not saying that MIG and TIG are no good, because they probably will yield a superior weld. My point is people who have a welding project, and are working with a tight budget can save some money and get a flux core. Especially if after the project is complete, the welder goes in the corner and collects dust till it gets sold on craigslist.
Having said that, do not get a dirt cheap flux core like the Harbor Freight piece with only a hi and low setting for voltage. Bare minimum features needs to include adjustable voltage (heat). Otherwise you are going to either get cold welds, or you are going to blow holes in your car.
We can now return to the MIG welder channel...
_________________
1968 Beetle torn apart again
1990 Jetta GLI megasquirted, burning E85 (currently in storage)
2004 Jetta turbo GLI
Marion, Iowa

[halfassleatherworks]

I started welding on a old Red Lincoln electric ac tombstone. about 20 years ago I Stepped up to a Clarke 180EN. ran the piss out of it and still have it, only used it as a flux core but it will do gas. I just ordered a new 210 app Tig with pulse to expand my skills.