Looking to buy a wire feed welder

[MikeInOr]

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?
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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

I have had a Lincoln 180 Mig for 25 years now. I bought it used. I have always wanted to try one of the new fancy Mig welders but I don't think my Lincoln 180 will ever die, at least not in my lifetime. My Lincoln predates the public internet by several years so there is no web address printed on the front of my Lincoln MIG.

I would advise going for it if you haven't already.

The couple times my 180 has let me down were when the rubber feed rollers were too hard and dry to push the wire any more. That put my project on hold for a couple of days while waiting for the new ones. I could have probably picked up replacements from the welding store but it was a weekend and they were closed. Then there was the time that it just refused to weld worth a darn no matter how I dialed in the settings... refilling the CO2 / Argon tank fixed that. Like I said, I don't think it will ever die!

P.S. I picked up a Yeswelder Cut 60DS plasma cutter about a year ago. It is a very minimalistic build but works perfectly:
https://www.amazon.com/YESWELDER-CU...fos.c3015c4a-46bb-44b9-81a4-dc28e6d374b3&th=1
The blow back start works very well and won't mess with CNC controls like high frequency start in case I ever try to make a CNC plasma cutter. Blow back start is different than scratch start. At $375 it is currently going for is a heck of a good deal in my opinion.

I also picked up one of their auto darkening helmets which is a million times better than my old HF helmet:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VKNBJHM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did a lot of research on both and found a vast majority of positive reviews for each. So far both have really impressed me! I kind of doubt if either will outlast my Lincoln 180 MIG though... my great grandson will be using it someday and my daughter is only 17 and very far from having kids. I would have no qualms with gambling on a Yeswelder MIG.

 

[G-ManBart]

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.

Straight Co2 is definitely something to consider. It's cheaper and you actually get a bit better penetration on the positive side, but leaves more spatter and is a little harder to dial in perfectly on the negative side.

I went with big bottles (330CuFt) and a refill was only $75 last time (probably higher now) and they last so long I don't really care that another gas might be cheaper. I figure the slightly higher cost is saved in time when I don't have to remove spatter. I also have some 90/10 so I can run spray transfer and that's even cleaner than 75/25 due to the spray process...can't spray with Co2. For a machine on the lower powered side Co2 would be a good option if only to get the better penetration.

 

[GeneT45]

I run straight CO2 on my MIG and don't think it's even as bad as others make it sound.

I'm pretty surprised by the hate for Everlast. Like I said, I've been super-pleased with mine. Here it is next to the very-much inferior Synchrowave TigRunner (now my dedicated stick-welding machine).

 

[alloy]

I really appreciate all that have posted here. A lot of great information and a lot to think about.

I've been looking at a lot new and used welders people have mentioned here and I've found a Hobart handler 210 with a hobart spool gun for $600. Unfortunately it's 200 miles away and I'm not just not able to drive that far anymore. I've talked with the guy and he says sometimes he's up in Portland. Hopefully soon and I can meet him there and get it. This is by far the best price and best used welder I've found so far.

If I find something else in the mean time ok, never know what will come up.

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[G-ManBart]

I'm pretty surprised by the hate for Everlast. Like I said, I've been super-pleased with mine.

A Google search on "Everlast Welder Problems" turns up nearly countless hits on every forum that has a welding section...that can't be a coincidence.

It's not about how the machines weld, it's about how awful the company is to deal with when something goes wrong and that clearly happens a lot going off all of those forum posts. Having personal experience with a faulty Everlast and then dealing with their customer service before selling machines to two other people who had problems with Everlast welders only confirms what I've read about time and again.

I have a coworker who bought an Everlast right around the same time I did and he has never had an issue with it, so it's just luck of the draw. My current PowerTIG 210EXT has largely been fine, but I get clearly better results on aluminum with my Syncrowave 250DX TIGRunner and no amount of side-by-side comparison and changing settings has been able to remedy that.

 

[GeneT45]

A Google search on "Everlast Welder Problems" turns up nearly countless hits on every forum that has a welding section...that can't be a coincidence.

It can totally be a coincidence. Google "Miller Welder Problems" to see what I mean. Just about everyone who has a problem and/or bad experience will take to the boards to make themselves heard. Folks that are satisfied seldom do. I did a fair amount of research before dropping $3k on my Everlast, (PowerTIG 325EXT) and the general consensus was good. Perhaps Everlast is better now than they were before, or perhaps it is luck of the draw, but I read quite a few reviews from happy owners, so they're out there too. I can't believe they're truly terrible or word would have gotten out and no one would buy them. That's not to say that no one has had a bad experience with them - just that it appears that those are very much the minority of purchasers.

GsT

 

[matthewsx]

If I were in the market today I'd probably be looking at this one.

MIGMax™ 215 Industrial Welder with 120/240V Input

Amazing deals on this Migmax 215 Industrial Mig Welder at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Price has gone up a bunch but if you have a local harbor freight it might be worth looking at.

Of course if you have the money go with the red or blue one from your LWS, but they call this one a "Miller Killer" for a reason.

I'm super happy my dad taught me to weld with gas when I was a kid, not that I'm any good but I did learn what a puddle is and why it matters. MIG is the bomb for working on cars, my last big job was replacing the floor in my 2005 Tahoe with my Millermatic 250. recently bought a HF Easy Flux 125 for my California shop because I figure if I need to weld here and don't want to use the Oxy-Acetelyne setup I really won't care about anything other than getting it done, strong, and quick.

You're smart to be looking at used but if you can it's worth taking a trip to your LWS and seeing what they offer. Lots of times you can rent machines to get a feel for what really works in your shop. Since we're doing this as a hobby it's always a trade off between what we want and what we can justify but welders are one of those tools like a lathe where it makes sense to spend a little more to get something good....

John

 

[matthewsx]

It can totally be a coincidence. Google "Miller Welder Problems" to see what I mean. Just about everyone who has a problem and/or bad experience will take to the boards to make themselves heard. Folks that are satisfied seldom do. I did a fair amount of research before dropping $3k on my Everlast, (PowerTIG 325EXT) and the general consensus was good. Perhaps Everlast is better now than they were before, or perhaps it is luck of the draw, but I read quite a few reviews from happy owners, so they're out there too. I can't believe they're truly terrible or word would have gotten out and no one would buy them. That's not to say that no one has had a bad experience with them - just that it appears that those are very much the minority of purchasers.

GsT

"It's a poor workman who blames his tools"....

 

[G-ManBart]

It can totally be a coincidence. Google "Miller Welder Problems" to see what I mean. Just about everyone who has a problem and/or bad experience will take to the boards to make themselves heard. Folks that are satisfied seldom do. I did a fair amount of research before dropping $3k on my Everlast, (PowerTIG 325EXT) and the general consensus was good. Perhaps Everlast is better now than they were before, or perhaps it is luck of the draw, but I read quite a few reviews from happy owners, so they're out there too. I can't believe they're truly terrible or word would have gotten out and no one would buy them. That's not to say that no one has had a bad experience with them - just that it appears that those are very much the minority of purchasers.

GsT

If you look at the results of those two different Google searches and read how people are treated by Miller customer service when they have a problem and compare that with how people are treated by Everlast customer service when they have a problem, it's a night and day difference. Yes, there is the occasional person who says they were treated poorly by Miller, but it's not common. The same is true of Lincoln, Hobart, HTP and Primeweld...almost no complaints about how they handle problems (cost is a different issue). There are a lot of people reporting being treated poorly by Everlast...it's the norm, not the exception.

Change the Google search to "Everlast/Miller Welding Customer Service Problems" and the results are obvious. Almost nobody complaining about Miller and a lot of people complaining about Everlast. Considering how much smaller Everlast is that shouldn't be the case. The same is true if you research AHP welders and customer service problems...it's just like Everlast...but that makes sense because they're owned by the same people and located in the same building (suite A and B sort of deal).

I bought my first Everlast in 2016 and ran into issues, then started reading about all the other people with similar customer service nightmares. Fast forward 6 years and the same awful customer service issues get reported. Then I sell two welders to guys replacing broken Everlast welders who were sick of dealing with the company...if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

People writing happy reviews are talking about how the machines weld...which when they work is just fine. I've never said Everlast welders don't weld nicely.

 

[Aaron_W]

I run straight CO2 on my MIG and don't think it's even as bad as others make it sound.

I'm pretty surprised by the hate for Everlast. Like I said, I've been super-pleased with mine. Here it is next to the very-much inferior Synchrowave TigRunner (now my dedicated stick-welding machine).

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Something I have run across online with Everlast is those who have not run into issues seem to be very happy with the machines, those who have had to Warranty anything, not happy campers.