New welder for home garage?

[kamaroman68]

Hello folks looking for a new mig welder for the home shop. I currently have a lincoln sp 135 plus. The local welding shops around me recommend not buying a new welder- they say mine will be fine for what I am doing(
sheetmetal some heavier gauge materials such as subframe connectors). I thought I read somewhere in this forum that the bigger machines like the lincoln power mig or miller 251 weld better. Please set me straight. Thanks guys. Chris

[68BNUT]

IVe borrowed my buddies miller 130 for the week to play around and see if its what i want, I cant see any reason to go bigger unless you are gonna do some serious rollcage fabbing and stuff like that, plus I thought anything bigger was a 220 or so and unless you want to spend so dough on getting a new 220 outlet ran??? why bother?

I bought the welders hand book from home depot that guy will tell you exactly what you need and dont need, heck after I read it I was thinking about just getting a gas welder!!

[BRIAN]

If you use a 220 vs 110 style you will never use the 110 again especially on thicker gauge like subframe connectors or antything .083 and above. Well worth the extra money unless you are doing strictly sheetmetal work.

[Camaro Zach]

If you use a 220 vs 110 style you will never use the 110 again especially on thicker gauge like subframe connectors or antything .083 and above. Well worth the extra money unless you are doing strictly sheetmetal work.

Exactly, and my 220v welder (millermatic 251) welds a whole lot better then my 110v machine (Lincoln pro core 100) on sheetmetal and on thicker stuff

[boodlefoof]

I didn't really believe the 220v would be better either... until I tried one. Now I've got a Millermatic 175.

[Flight396]

I'm kinda in the same boat with regards to getting a more powerfull welder. After taking up welding class at the local boces here, I didn't even want to use my 110v - 90amp craftsman welder I bought a few years ago . Don't get me wrong, its a nice welder, but not even close to ease of use and power the units in class have. I plan to do some serious welding in terms of a back-half kit, front subframe, and other fabrication. No matter where I look, I need to do alot of welding and I'd like a really nice welder. I know a 230v welder does a heck of a better job than the 110v does, just from experience. I guess at this point I'm not sure how powerfull I wanna go in terms of amps. I've heard the millermatic 175 is a nice unit, but I'm not sure if it will give me the results I want. The majority of the stuff I'll be welding is 3x3, or 2x4 tubing in .25 wall thickness, and 1-2inch pipe as well. I'm looking at millers 210 and 251. I see a few people with the millermatic 251, any projects done with that one or comparible machines that worked out well?

[Matt@RFR]

I've welded 1" plate and 18ga sheetmetal in the same day, with the same wire, with my 251. You don't need it to do 1/4". The 175 will do it, but the 210 is alittle nicer, and you won't be running at full throttle.

I'm glad you guys are learning!! Too many people think that the bigger machines aren't any good for sheetmetal. Wrong! The bigger machines are better at everything.

[Camaro Zach]

I'm kinda in the same boat with regards to getting a more powerfull welder. After taking up welding class at the local boces here, I didn't even want to use my 110v - 90amp craftsman welder I bought a few years ago . Don't get me wrong, its a nice welder, but not even close to ease of use and power the units in class have. I plan to do some serious welding in terms of a back-half kit, front subframe, and other fabrication. No matter where I look, I need to do alot of welding and I'd like a really nice welder. I know a 230v welder does a heck of a better job than the 110v does, just from experience. I guess at this point I'm not sure how powerfull I wanna go in terms of amps. I've heard the millermatic 175 is a nice unit, but I'm not sure if it will give me the results I want. The majority of the stuff I'll be welding is 3x3, or 2x4 tubing in .25 wall thickness, and 1-2inch pipe as well. I'm looking at millers 210 and 251. I see a few people with the millermatic 251, any projects done with that one or comparible machines that worked out well?

If your looking into getting a miller i'd check ebay. There are a few people on there selling them new in the box with full warrenty and free shipping for easy $500 off retail... If i had bought a welder at a welding store i would have had to get the 210 (because that was in my budget) but since ebay was soo much cheaper i got the 251 for the same price the 210 would have been retail. Just something to keep in mind

[kamaroman68]

Hey guys thanks for the answers so quick. What I have is a 68 camaro that is waiting for DSE's front subframe package and 4 link rear package. I will also be adding there subframe connectors. Quarters will need to be replaced and also minitubbing it. Based on everything I've just wrote is it worth the justification of a new welder? Like previously stated I own a 110 lincoln sp135. I just want to make sure that the bigger welder will be able to do thin sheetmetal work like the quarters and the notching/ plating of the rear framerails. Thanks guys Chris

[Flight396]

Chris- I would say upgrade to a 230v welder. Thats my opinion. I know I'll be upgrading to one. I guess it might just be me though. After using a 230v I guess I just don't feel safe with using the 110v. I know it would be ok, but not in my mind for some reason. I'm going to be doing some of the same stuff you'll be doing, so I'm in the same boat.

Zach, thanks for the advice about looking at what ebay had. Thats where I've been looking. And you brought up a good point about the pricing on there, and thats why I've been thinking about getting a bigger machine. For the retail price of the 175, you can get a 210, for the retail price of a 210, you can get a 251 on ebay. Thanks!.

[Nine Ball]

Hmmm, I did ALL the fab work on my '69 with my lil Lincoln 175 110V setup. Sure works fine for me. Yes, I've used 220V setups and yes they work well, but its not like the 110V setups are incapable or difficult to use. They work just fine for 99% of welding required on restoring a car or fabbing up simple items.

[rattus]

I recently purchased a Miller Maxstar 150 STH tig/stick setup. It's about 2x the price of the 175 mig line, but it is very portable and has more than enough amps and duty cycle (in tig mode) from 110v input. It will run on 230v or 110v but duty cycle for tig (150 amps at 30% duty cycle) is the same (stick duty cycle decreases w/ 110v). It comes with everything: tig torch/line, set of tig electrodes, variable amp controller, stick leads/holder, regulator, hose, nice carrying case...literally everything but filler rod and argon tank. The STH model has high-freq. startup and pulsed tig (0.5 1 2.5 and 60 Hz).

It's a very smooth and powerful little welder, the varible amp controller and pulsed tig allows complete control over weld puddle and it is super convenient due to its portability and 110v capability (220v is out of the question for me right now).