Looking to buy a wire feed welder

[General Zod]

Burnback is when stopping the wire burns back to the tip of the gun and sticks. Usually caused by wire stuttering or other feed problems. Sometimes too much current for wire dia. At least that’s what my research shows. Strickly amateur welder myself.

Many of the inverters have an adjustable delay on stopping the feed vs arc. I’ve replace my gun and line and still having problems across multiple wire spools. Changed feed rollers too. It has gotten worse relatively suddenly and is annoying to have to deal with repeatedly.

What is the cable length on your MIG gun? Clogged liners can cause wire feeding problems that can result in burnback but also MIG guns that are too long for the drive motor system will experience increased drag resistance that the system cannot compensate for. It could very well be the rollers and/or the shaft that they mount to are not rotating true. This happened to me with my Millermatic 211. Even bought a spare new drive motor assembly. Didn't fix it. Shaft spun out-of-round. Even just a little bit of wobble can wreak havoc when you consider that the wire itself is a tiny diameter.

This is previous Millermatic 211 inverter with a brand new drive motor assembly. You can visibly see the shaft spin untrue, so the drive roll, which is perfect, has no choice but to follow the lead.

 

[BGHansen]

Really late to the game here and I didn't read all of the posts up to the end. I'm not adding anything but my experience. I bought a Hobart 190 from TSC in 2016 for $630. I have a small CO2/Argon bottle, but have left it as flux-core. I've run 4 or 5 spools of wire through it with no issues (other than operator). It's probably been mentioned above, but Hobart is made by Miller: Chevy vs. Cadillac. My shop will become my son's at some point, what's mine becomes his. I didn't want him to say after the fact "gee, dad bought a lot of junk".

Bruce

Show Us your Welders!

My turn.... New here...i have welding machines but do not yet call myself a welder.... Just made this cart from crap about the yard. Holds my Old Miller AC Spot they call it...my Mastercraft 110v MIG was a gift...and my Weldking Coolcut 30 also a gift...actually even the Miller was a gift...

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[alloy]

After dealing with several flakes after I had set up a time and a date then baled on me I decided to just buy a new one. The one guy with the hobart just stopped responding to me.

After a lot of reading and comparing I bought the yeswelder pro 250.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CBCB4M5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has 250 amps and a 60% duty cycle at the 250amps. For the money it's the only one with 250 amps and I got a $100 off code so with tax cost me right at $430 and free prime shipping. It's a week away unfortunately.

The primeweld is a 180 amp machine but did come with a spool gun. The yeswelder is $159 less and no spool gun and no regulator. A spool gun is $169 and I really don't need it at the moment. And I have a spare regulator for it.

I'll let everyone know when it arrives.

 

[General Zod]

I really doubt it will out anywhere close to 250A. Probably around 170-180A if you're lucky.

 

[wachuko]

After dealing with several flakes after I had set up a time and a date then baled on me I decided to just buy a new one. The one guy with the hobart just stopped responding to me.

After a lot of reading and comparing I bought the yeswelder pro 250.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CBCB4M5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has 250 amps and a 60% duty cycle at the 250amps. For the money it's the only one with 250 amps and I got a $100 off code so with tax cost me right at $430 and free prime shipping. It's a week away unfortunately.

The primeweld is a 180 amp machine but did come with a spool gun. The yeswelder is $159 less and no spool gun and no regulator. A spool gun is $169 and I really don't need it at the moment. And I have a spare regulator for it.

I'll let everyone know when it arrives.

Congratulations! That is the one I was going to order until the last minute when I changed my mind for the one that I got...

Interesting, you definitely want to wait on the spool gun... I bought mine from Amazon back on Sep 25, 2022 and it was 139.00 delivered... so might want to wait for a better deal...

 

[alloy]

Thanks for the video. It was very informative.

The reason I went with the 250amp is if it is overrated the 250 will be 180, and a 180 will be a 130. I'd like to be able to weld on my car frame and brackets and stuff probably up to 3/8". The welder specs say it will go 1/2" but I'm skeptical of that, and I really can't imagine needing to weld 1/2".

I have a tig that will do aluminum so no really need for the spool gun for now. I'll keep an eye out for a sale on one though.

On the yeswelder welder itself I didn't think it would get it for any less than the $400 with the $100 off. And I've got some welding do do right now on my 55 and didn't want to wait to maybe catch a deal and save a few bucks.

 

[General Zod]

Unless it's an outside corner joint you need well over 200A and 20V+ to properly weld 3/8" in short-circuit mode. 180A is more for 3/16" to ¼" IMO.

 

[alloy]

Well my yeswelder turned out to be a no I don't workwelder. DOA.

I got the welder in last week and it doesn't come with a regulator. No biggie, I have 3. But it was a problem. The gas line has some kind of weird fitting on it. So I ordered a yeswelder regulator and waited another week.

Got the regulator today and hooked everything up and the welder is dead. Won't make any kind of spark. In desperation I even tried to strike an arc on the ground clamp.

So I called yeswelder and left a message and in a short time they called me back. Went through the settings and nothing. So I'm supposed to get an email or call from amazon tonight or tomorrow.

Bottom line is it will probably be another week before i get another one, maybe even longer with the upcoming holiday.

 

[Charles scozzari]

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

Change the liner, maybe a touch more wire speed, clean the wire feed spool, usually stops the problem.

 

[FOMOGO]

Probably a good idea. That liner has been in there at least twenty years. I used to always run a lubricated wiper on the feed, but it gave up the ghost a few years back. Time to give it a little love, it's treated me well for many years, with no major issues. Mike

Change the liner, maybe a touch more wire speed, clean the wire feed spool, usually stops the problem.