Looking to buy a wire feed welder

[alloy]

My tig welder is an everlast tig. It works ok for what it is. I say ok because at class I'm using a miller syncrowave 250 and then I come home and use the everlast and there is a world of difference. It's something I can get used to, but to say there is a night and day difference is an understatement to say the least. I bought the everlast used so am not opposed to that at all. I have 220v all over my shop so that's not a problem. And I can reasily add a new 220v circuit if needed. I believe I paid $600 for the everlast about 5-6 years ago. At the time it was still there newer model they had for sale. The guy that had it made stainless tanks for breweries. He and his buds started a band and after one gig they decided to all quit their jobs and go on the road. I've always wondered what happened to him.

There is a lincoln weld pac 155 and he has some other stuff for sale. The 155 is $300. They guy says I can test before I buy. I was kind of waiting to talk with my instructor before looking at it to get her opinion. I think the 155 is total amps. I was kinda looking for about 180 or higher, but $300 for a brand name welder is pretty tempting. But it must not be too great a deal, it's been listed for 19 days. I really trust my instructor. She works 6 ours a day at her regualr job and teached 4 night a week for 4 hours and she is in charge of the welding shop where she works even though she is only part time. I feel like I'm her special project because of how much she helps me. She knows I've got the nova and the 55 and her and her bf are into old cars. She can't afford one now, but is hoping one day she can.

The everlast migs seem to be more expensive than the primeweld, And the primeweld has a spool gun.

Welders and plasma cutter - tools - by owner - sale

I have a list of welders and a plasma cutter..... Eastwood tig 200 ac/dc with bottle 110 or 220.. like new $800 Eastwood mig 135 110 welder wire feedwith aluminum spool gun $450 Lincoln weld- pak...

portland.craigslist.org

 

[snoopdog]

My cautionary on the imports or off brands is consumables, but I see that one uses standard Tweco stuff. I'd snag it.

 

[alloy]

Yes the tweco compatibility was the deciding factor on which one to ask about here.

About a half hour ago this came up on CL. It's about 50 miles from me.

It is a big name brand and says it comes with a tank. It's $250 more than the prime weld with no spool gun. If all the consumerables in the pic come with it then that makes the deal more appealing. But is it worth giving up the capabilities of the prime weld for "big name" welder?

LINCOLN ELECTRIC Weld Pak 180 hd Welder - tools - by owner - sale

Comes with 50 foot cord And the air/gas tank 360-335-474six

portland.craigslist.org

 

[Aaron_W]

Yes the tweco compatibility was the deciding factor on which one to ask about here.

About a half hour ago this came up on CL. It's about 50 miles from me.

It is a big name brand and says it comes with a tank. It's $250 more than the prime weld with no spool gun. If all the consumerables in the pic come with it then that makes the deal more appealing. But is it worth giving up the capabilities of the prime weld for "big name" welder?
View attachment 425571View attachment 425573View attachment 425574

LINCOLN ELECTRIC Weld Pak 180 hd Welder - tools - by owner - sale

Comes with 50 foot cord And the air/gas tank 360-335-474six

portland.craigslist.org

The tank alone will eat up most of the difference, I paid about $200 for my tank and it is a smaller size, about 3 foot tall. I would check that the tank can be filled at your local welding supply. I bought mine from my local shop, so it is easy, but I've heard some shops are very particular and will reject tanks of unknown origin wanting you to buy from them. The 50 foot extension cord is not cheap either if properly rated for the welder. I made up a 25 foot 10 ga cord for mine and just the wire ran $2-3 / foot, another $20-30 for the ends.

One of the things I like that I see on the Prime Weld is actual voltage, and inches per minute settings vs the less specific numbers / letters settings on the Lincoln.

Spool gun is a nice addition, but unless you plan on some large aluminum projects I wouldn't put much weight on its inclusion. TIG will generally be more desirable for aluminum welding on most home shop projects.

 

[wachuko]

I got this one last month… US$718.00

YesWelder YWM-211P Double Pulse Aluminum MIG Welder

The powerful YesWelder YWM-211P multi-process MIG welder has a convenient pulse and double pulse function and works with up to 200 amps. The extensive double pulse function in MIG welding prevents materials from burning through and reduces deformation due to heat. Therefore, the welder is...

yeswelder.com

 

[alloy]

wachuko​

How do you like the yeswelder?

The person said everything in the pic comes with the weld pac 180, and sent a pic of the tank, says it's full.

I have a tank, but a second tank would be nice.

I'm still leaning towards the primeweld mostly because its brand new and from what I read their customer service is top notch and a 3 year warranty.

Someone convince me to go with the weld pac 180 for $250 more.

(actually its $208 more when you figure in sales tax amazon will charge me)

 

[rabler]

I've experienced that same issue. Often wonder if a slightly longer nozzle might not help, but haven't tried it yet. Mike

I would think so. But everything I've read/watched on youtube says longer stickout is bad. The weldingtricksandtips channel recommends trimming the nozzle back to the tip. So it seems that it may be trading one problem for another?

 

[wachuko]

wachuko​

How do you like the yeswelder?

The person said everything in the pic comes with the weld pac 180, and sent a pic of the tank, says it's full.

I have a tank, but a second tank would be nice.

I'm still leaning towards the primeweld mostly because its brand new and from what I read their customer service is top notch and a 3 year warranty.

Someone convince me to go with the weld pac 180 for $250 more.

(actually its $208 more when you figure in sales tax amazon will charge me)


View attachment 425593

Still waiting to buy a 80/20 tank to give it a test... I wanted something that I could easily work thin sheet metal (for repairing one of my car projects) and I wanted something with the spot welding functionality... Not having experience working on fixing sheet metal on cars, I wanted something that could help me...

I also got a spool gun to be able to weld aluminum as well... When I bought my TIG welder I got the one that would not do aluminum... stupid decision on my part... so this time around, because I do not want to spend the money on another TIG welder, decided to get the spool gun in case I ever needed to weld aluminum...

On the tanks... I will be buying them from the local gas company... I have been reading a lot of issues from folks buying tanks elsewhere and the local companies not wanting to charge them if they were not bought from them... I need to buy two tanks, a 75/25 (or 80/20) for the MIG and a 100% Argon for TIG...

 

[G-ManBart]

For the love of God, anything but Everlast! First off, don't take my word on it, do a search on pretty much any welding forum and you will find an incredible number of unhappy owners. Hint, if you look on Weldingweb in the sponsored Everlast forum everything looks peachy, because they delete posts that are critical of the company....in the other sections things are different.

I bought an Everlast welder and within two weeks it developed issues. I called Everlast and they sent a part....the wrong part. I called them back and they sent the right part, but it didn't fix the issue. I called them back and then sent a different part....a different wrong part. I called them back and they sent the correct part, but it also didn't fix the issue. I actually have three Everlast boards in a pile that didn't help. After many phone calls, and literally over 50 e-mails they finally put me in touch with Oleg, the owner. He finally determined that I got a lemon and they offered me a replacement unit, or full purchase price towards a more expensive machine. I went with the more expensive machine, a PowerTIG 210EXT, and it's been mostly fine, except sometimes one of the number displays doesn't have all the number sections light up from time to time. When it dies it's going in the scrap pile and I will never look back.

It was so ridiculous I actually saved all of the e-mails. I was out a functioning welder for well over a month with all the back and forth with the wrong parts and then shipping the broken unit back and waiting on the new machine. That's a $1,600 machine before adding options, so not exactly inexpensive for most people.

Along the way I went through a series of Miller TIGs and wound up with a Syncrowave 250DX TIGRunner that's only a few years old and looks like new. I got a deal on a nice Syncrowave, then found a newer one and sold the first one, and did that a number of times as I essentially traded up. Twice I sold the older units to guys who were replacing Everlast TIGs. The second guy saw my 210EXT and said "that's what I'm replacing, I'm on my third one!".

Primeweld is a different story, and I have a number of friends who own them and have had nothing but success. I've read of one person having a defective unit and it was replaced with one phone call and just a few days. The Primeweld folks are here in the U.S. and you can get one on the phone easily. I've read some pretty good things about their MIG machines, but I only personally know folks with the TIG 225X.

I still would suggest a Hobart Handler 210MVP over a Primeweld MIG. It's essentially a Millermatic 211 with a few less features, and that's going to give you a better chance at long-term parts support.

 

[Aaron_W]

Still waiting to buy a 80/20 tank to give it a test... I wanted something that I could easily work thin sheet metal (for repairing one of my car projects) and I wanted something with the spot welding functionality... Not having experience working on fixing sheet metal on cars, I wanted something that could help me...

I also got a spool gun to be able to weld aluminum as well... When I bought my TIG welder I got the one that would not do aluminum... stupid decision on my part... so this time around, because I do not want to spend the money on another TIG welder, decided to get the spool gun in case I ever needed to weld aluminum...

On the tanks... I will be buying them from the local gas company... I have been reading a lot of issues from folks buying tanks elsewhere and the local companies not wanting to charge them if they were not bought from them... I need to buy two tanks, a 75/25 (or 80/20) for the MIG and a 100% Argon for TIG...

Straight CO2 works and is much cheaper than the CO2 / Argon blends, about 1/4 the price, maybe less. Supposedly you get less spatter with the blends, but my welds are not pretty to start with.