welder comparison?

[boodlefoof]

Hi everyone,

Well, I've been promised a welder for Christmas and I have decided to get a 208/230 volt welder.

I had my eye on the Lincoln SP-175T, but just today was at Lowe's and saw the Lincoln Pro-Mig 175. I went on Lincoln's website and the SP-175T is listed under "products-mig welders" and the Pro-Mig 175 is listed under "products-retail products."

Anyway, looking at the descriptions of both items, they appear to be identical except that the one comes with a eye shield.



I've emailed Lincoln to see if there is any difference, but wondered if any of you might know what (if any) difference there is between these two items.

Thanks for any and all help. I've looked at the Miller and Hobart products too, but my grandpa was a Lincoln user and my fiancee's dad and grandfather are Lincoln users... so I'm going with what we know.

Thanks again.

[68protouring454]

hey, i would not buy one from home depot or lowes, they generally have special models made just for them, i would much rather go to my ocal welding supply house or look online at welding supply shops. i would look at the sp175 or the miller175, the miller has finite controls for wire speed and heat, so it has the most adjustability, goodluck
jake

[KendallF]

I had my eye on the Lincoln SP-175T, but just today was at Lowe's and saw the Lincoln Pro-Mig 175. I went on Lincoln's website and the SP-175T is listed under "products-mig welders" and the Pro-Mig 175 is listed under "products-retail products."

Anyway, looking at the descriptions of both items, they appear to be identical except that the one comes with a eye shield.

I've emailed Lincoln to see if there is any difference, but wondered if any of you might know what (if any) difference there is between these two items.

Thanks again.

I bought one of the Pro-Migs on Ebay; you can read about my experiences with it initially in the other welding thread in this forum. The difference between the SP and the Pro-Mig is that the SP has infinitely adjustable voltage, while the Pro-Mig has 5 discrete settings. I like my Pro-Mig so far; in fact I just used it today to repair a dolly and was bragging about how nicely it welds to my wife, who was thorougly unimpressed.

[boodlefoof]

Thanks for the responses guys.

The SP-175 comes in two flavors... the "T" and "plus." The T model has 5 voltage settings whereas the plus has infinite adjustability. I like the sound of having more adjustability, but I'm not sure how necessary it is for me.

I'm mainly concerned with this... why is the Lowe's version $50 cheaper than I can find the SP-175T online? And I wouldn't have to deal with shipping?

I'm planning on going out to test-drive a few welders and see what I like. That will ultimately make the decision... but it would be nice to be able to save $50 if it is the same welder.

[boodlefoof]

Well, after test driving a few welders... I've decided that I really want the infinite voltage adjustability feature. Man that is great...

So, looks like the SP-175 plus, or alternatively the Millermatic 175 if I decide to go blue and break with family tradition.

[boodlefoof]

So, found a good deal and sure enough... now I'm a blue man. Millermatic 175!

[Cdog]

I got the lowels 175 lincoln for christmas. So far I have'nt been able to use it because i've been running down extension cords and plannin out the 220V. I plan on getting a tig in the future so this mig is good enough for the stuff i'd use it for. I bought a really nice cart at Eastwood for $50 Bucks that will hold a full size bottle.

[Todds69]

I've spoke to Lincoln directly on welders before... They told me there is no difference between the one at Lowes and the one at the local welding shop, just a paint job. Of course that isn't what the local shop will and has said because they want to sell one to you.

[Cdog]

Hey i'm just stoked that my wife actually got me something cool for christmas. Mail order welders are to much of a pain in the ass for the wife to deal with. She'd probably screw it up and get the wrong one.

[qwik1320]

My wife suprised me with a Millermatic 175 w/cart for Christmas. I dropped a hint months ago and we really never talked much about about it since.

Man, I REALLY got to do something good for Valentines Day this year!

[Cdog]

My wife suprised me with a Millermatic 175 w/cart for Christmas. I dropped a hint months ago and we really never talked much about about it since.

Man, I REALLY got to do something good for Valentines Day this year!

One of those little blue box's.

It really was'nt a bad trade this year for me. A little silver tiffany's ring for $200 and I got a $650 toy for the garage. Good wife's are hard to come by. Sounds like yours is a keeper too.

[boodlefoof]

I really like the Millermatic 175 too. Came with the cart as well. When I went out to test drive the welders it was a real eye-opener going from a 110v to 230v. 230v is much more fun. Beautifully functioning machine.

[David Pozzi]

Allways compare duty cycle, - the amount of minutes out of ten, that the welder can be run. Nothing like having the welder shut off due to the thermal switch, - in the middle of a weld. If you get on a big job at high heat, it is important to keep welding and welding to put enough heat into the steel to get penetration. With a small welder on near-capacity thickness steel, you don't want to stop and let the metal cool.

Miller makes some good equipment, I've got a 250 amp miller mig.

[Restomod]

I to have been converted to a "Miller" man,my last cheapo just quit so I bought a 135.So far it is a super machine...cant wait to try it out on some heavy stuff.

[David Pozzi]

We bought an old body shop Miller mig -35 for use on our farm. It was our first mig and I started out welding small thin stuff, I liked it right away compared to stick arc welding that filled the shop with smoke! I could also SEE what I was welding! I had some problems with lack of penetration, the mig needs more V'ing out of welds and takes more time to put heat into the metal enough to get good penetration. It also has more trouble when welding thick metal to thin, like welding 1/4" wall steel tube to 5/8" thick bar stock. I made some cultivator bars out of 2" square tube and connected the ends with bar stock.

The Mig-35 was only 135 or 145 amps, I got to where I could weld 1" thick X 3" wide chisel standards together with it but I had to V them out at high angle, pre-heat them with a torch, and then keep welding and flipping it over to keep the heat up.

The new Miller 250 handles it much easier, I don't have to pre-heat to start welding the standards anymore.
David

Here's a pick of something close to what I'm fixing, the black shanks break when we hit rocks. I weld them back together if we find the "lost" piece with a metal detector.
I realize this is much heavier work than you guys will do, but thought you might be interested in hearing about it.

[Restomod]

David,yeah thats just "slightly" heavier than I weld! Thanks for the info,I think you found the high limit of the 135.

[BRIAN]

Do yourself a favor and get a 200 machine otherwise if you do a lot of chassis work you will be upgrading quickly. They aren't that much more and offer a lot of convenience. Do not beleive these guys welding with the lower end machines they just do not compare. Do a comparison at your local weld outlet and you will buy the bigger deal.

[kmcanally]

Cdog: Where did your wife get the Miller 175 w/cart for $650?

[JohnUlaszek]

I picked up my 175 from cyberweld.com. The optional cart was really not worth the money, it's just not well designed.
Do yourself a favor and build your own or pay a few extra bucks for a Miller cart.

[Cdog]

Cdog: Where did your wife get the Miller 175 w/cart for $650?

Actually she got me the 175 Lincoln at lowels home improvement store. I think it was priced at $615 + tax. I bought my cart at the easwood co. for $50. I like that one because it will hold a full size bottle. I'll probably buy a miller tig machine down the line. Everytime I go into a welding supply shop, it seems the bone heads that run those places are trying to get rich off of me. That's why I wanted the full size bottle on my cart, the less I have to vist them the better. Look on line for the best prices. Good luck.