Favorite arc welder ?

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ome

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Want to get my first arc welder soon, and wondering which one and 30 or 50 amp for a 220 machine.
finishing hardy board inside shed, thinking of hooking up a 220 line with appropriate wire size and breaker size, before I close the wall where the electric panel boxes, then at that point any other future electric work will be running conduit and surface mounted.
Will bring the wire into a surface mount box right by the electric panel box and just leave the breaker off or disconnected until needed.


Thanks in advance for any information,


Jon
 
I would get the biggest welder that is in the budget. You can always turn the power down. Miller is top of the line. I have both a Lincoln 120V MIG (the home model from the big box stores), and a Miller Syncrowave. Both work just fine. Sometimes I wish I had a 240V MIG, could use a bit more power.

Also, I would surface mount the breaker panel and run all of the wiring in conduit. Much easier to maintain and make changes when you want to.
 
Put in 50A 220V service. That will cover pretty much any welder you choose, as well as most other 220V equipment. I have a different "favorite" welder for different kinds of jobs, so it depends mostly what you plan to do. Get a machine that is considerably larger than what you think you will need. As soon as you learn to use it, you will be happy you did.

I would recommend a MIG or TIG first because of the versatility they offer. Stick welder if you plan to do lots of heavy welding.

GG
 
I had this welder then sold it if I only could have one welder this would be it you can tig and stick you can weld just about any type of metal with great control. It is not terribly fast but very nice. I got rid of the foot pedal and went with a voltage control right on the handle. If you look around they can be had for around $1200 new. Ray

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lincoln-Square-Wave-TIG-175-Welder-K1478-5-/360849160813
 
I'm no electrician.
I TIG and "stick/arc".
Never held a MIG torch.

I run a Lincoln PT225. I got her new and she was a much better machine than I was a welder.
Now I wish I had more control over the settings instead of letting the computer chips control what I do.
Historically TIG draws more amps than MIG.
New "chopper" technology presumably produces better welds, especially on aluminum, and draws less amps.

I maxed out my copper service with the 60amp PT225. Therefore, I need to think about what else I've got running when I crank up my amperage draw or I pop fuses.

If I had it to do over I'd have run bigger copper to the panel from the main. But, I was following the 50amp rule when I chose the install. It's difficult to think way ahead. But, its not uncommon for me to have local friend over working on various mill/lathe/weld projects (no-not drinking beer). While one of us can be welding, I need to watch the amp settings.


Daryl
MN
 
As mentioned above it really depends what you plan on using it for. As a beginner I would recommend starting out with a decent 220V MIG welder. It's easy to learn on and will cover 90% of what you may need to do. You can weld alum. with it (spool gun is best for this), and stainless with the right gas mix. TIG is nice, but most don't really need it and the learning curve is pretty steep. Mike
 
FOMOGO said:
As mentioned above it really depends what you plan on using it for. As a beginner I would recommend starting out with a decent 220V MIG welder. It's easy to learn on and will cover 90% of what you may need to do. You can weld alum. with it (spool gun is best for this), and stainless with the right gas mix. TIG is nice, but most don't really need it and the learning curve is pretty steep. Mike
Click to expand...

TIG is easy if you can weld or braze with a torch you can tig the only thing left is setting the machine and on some of them that is already done for you. You can also do much finer nicer work with a TIG. Ray
 
Its kind of a personal thing, but if your looking to get an arc to learn on, get one that is based around a DC inverter. I learned on an old CC transformer type AC/DC unit, and finally bought a small inverter one around Xmas. Make a huge difference on arc stability. I also depends a lot on what you want to weld. I have the big monster because I weld mostly heavy steel (1/8"-2") but grabbed the smaller unit for small stuff and portability. I have no time for MIG, as unless your going to spend $1500+ for a REAL unit with gas its just not worth it. While MIG is the easiest to learn, I have never found a use for it (had two MIGS I used as boat anchors) as I can do any weld needed with a stick or TIG.

As for running a 220 main for welding use, my advise is go as big as you can now. I ran a 50A run for my garage shop and I could kick myself now for not pulling a 100A. Not because I will ever use 100A, but because with that I would never have to worry about the load if I was running the big welder, TIG and plasma cutter at the same time.
 
stern said:
Its kind of a personal thing, but if your looking to get an arc to learn on, get one that is based around a DC inverter. I learned on an old CC transformer type AC/DC unit, and finally bought a small inverter one around Xmas. Make a huge difference on arc stability. I also depends a lot on what you want to weld. I have the big monster because I weld mostly heavy steel (1/8"-2") but grabbed the smaller unit for small stuff and portability. I have no time for MIG, as unless your going to spend $1500+ for a REAL unit with gas its just not worth it. While MIG is the easiest to learn, I have never found a use for it (had two MIGS I used as boat anchors) as I can do any weld needed with a stick or TIG.

As for running a 220 main for welding use, my advise is go as big as you can now. I ran a 50A run for my garage shop and I could kick myself now for not pulling a 100A. Not because I will ever use 100A, but because with that I would never have to worry about the load if I was running the big welder, TIG and plasma cutter at the same time.
Click to expand...
Thanks to everyone,
I listened to you guys when building my shed,up to what I could spend.
I ran 100 amp to sub panel in shed. My favorite is Tig because of how clean the welds look, and the precision it offers.
Mig and arc have too much splatter, and I guess the addition of the shielding gas might reduce or eliminate splatter.
The one thing I like about mig is if in a awkward position, can use one hand to weld or tak and come back to it.
I would like a 220 tig machine that can stick weld also, or is it the other way around.
Should I stick with a miller machine, and if so, which one.
Will plan on a 50 amp receptacle and a plug to fit the machines specs.
Thanks in advance for all the information that you have given me already,


Ome
 
Miller or lincoln are both nice machines I use to spray transfere with a mig it was fast quiet with no splatter I use a trigon gas but it has its limitations that is why I like a TIG better they do draw a lot of power but your not running an assembly line either. I just built a sppol gun for aluminum to work on a MIG but you cannot do anything real thin with it.. Ray

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/31056-Home-built-spool-gun-for-120V-wire-feed
 
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