Newby looking for a shop welder

[Dave P]

I'm in the process of building a shop and I sure could use a welder to build metalworking machine stands, material racks, etc. I want a welder that will be easy to use, provide good welds up to ~ 1/4" thick steel (consistent w/ my skill level - novice but improving), reliable, and be able to run off of 230V single phase w/ a 50 amp breaker. I'm starting out my shop with cob webs and concrete and I'd actually prefer to get a good used machine.

What's the best way to get maximum value in a welder? Do you have any suggestions on what recent welders I should try to find that would suit my needs? I have a friend that has a used Lincoln SP100 (about 3 years old, $300 including CO2 bottle/regulator) and a used Miller Mig Mate (1980 model, $500 including CO2 bottle). I think that the Mig Mate is close to what I want, but I think the price is a little steep. What do you think?

Please let me know your thoughts and thanks.

Dave

[widetrackman]

All is relative to condition , does it weld ? is gun in good shape ? You can factor the price; if the tank is a 80 cu ft and the regulator is working & the tank is in date ( 10 yrs i think) its worth about $175. ask him to hook & run it.

[Dave P]

Do you mean that the tank and regulator is worth $175? I guess that you're right, I should have him show me what it can do. It has a Tweco gun. The Mig Mate is a common 5 tap box - 150A (I believe) with an external wire feed. Miller says that they don't support the wire feed portion of the welder, I'm not too sure about the welder itself.

Any other thoughts?

Dave

[widetrackman]

HI Dave P -- Do you know what a 80 looks like? about 33 x7 1/2 " they go for $125 around here, new reg $70 used $40-50. I think i'd stay from a 20yr + machine esp. if wire feed is unsupported. happy welding--- oh forgot-- tweco makes good guns consumables available just about every

[Dan]

Dave,

You can get a brand new HH 175 for $550 to $580 depending were you buy the machine. when you buy the HH 175 you get a warranty that is going to cover certain parts of the machine for 5 years, other parts three years, and a few other items for a year. If a used machine fails on you a day after you purchase it the repair is coming out of your pocket.

$500 for a 20+ year old 150 amp wire feed is way to steep. As you can see from my above statement you can get a new 175 amp machine for less then $600. I would definately steer clear of the machine since there is probably no way to obtain parts for the feed assembly.

The Lincoln SP 100 is way to small of a machine for the material thickness that you are wanting to weld.


I can get a 80 cf bottle of C-25 for around $125 too.

You can find used stick machines for a very cheap price. Most of these are pretty bullet proof. I have a 20+ year old 250 AC/DC buzzbox that welds as good as it did 20 years ago. Heck for that matter my Dad has a 40 year old Lincoln Tombstone 225 amp AC buzz box that is still running strong.

In my opinion, a good used wire feed machine to look for is a Millermatic 185. Miller discontinued manufacturing the machine just recently (2+ years ago). We just bought a new driveroll for the MM 185 at work , so parts are still available for this machine.

[Dave P]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies. I agree that $500 is too much for an unsupported 23 year old machine, even if it does include the CO2 bottle and regulator. I will have to look for a Hobart 175. I know that this is playing with fire on this web site, but how does the Hobart 175 stack up next to the Lincoln SP175? I'll be keeping my eyes open for a Miller 185.

Please let me know and thanks,

Dave