The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Mig welder any good?

Hello, ihave a chance to buy a mig welder by
chicago electric dual welder. Has anyone used them are they any good ,compared to a lincoln,or
hobart? any info helpful.

53, I can't answer your questions about Chicago Electric welders because I have never been around them before. I am suspect of their wimpy duty cycle, however. I used a Century welder recently that had a duty cycle of something like 20% or 30% at full output. I was using the machine at nearly full output and is sounded like it was going to fly apart-lots of rumbling and 'groaning' going on inside the welder. My uncle who has been in the welder business for years says that a lot of cheap welders use a transformer designed for say 150 amps ouput and will push output to 200 amps with a very short duty cycle. Welders like this typically do not last long.

I have been researching MIG welders for some time now and I would like an opinion of HTP welders and plasma cutters. Their web site is www.usaweld.com. Of course I want the biggest one, the MIG 240. I have received their catalog but I really would like opinions from someone who has been around one of these welders.

Chicago electric is a Harbor Freight brand. It might be an OK buy, depending on what you do with it. The quality is generally only good enough to get the job done. If you are planning on doing any sheetmetal welding, I'd look elsewhere.

MY first one was a Clarke, company in OHIO, but made in Taiwan. Gun not so good and rollers were trouble in machine, otherwise OK, but wire did hang-up alot and P*** me off! I sold it and got a Lincoln 100. Much better gun and tubing, better rollers, easier to set wire feed speeds and more. I sold it oneday needing some $ quick. MISTAKE! Paid about $100 more for it, but was much better unit. I plan on getting either the Hobart Handler or another Lincoln soon. Prices sure have gone up now! By the time you buy the Gas kit for one w/out, it is about same price as one with the kit. Gas makes cleaner welding than the flux wire too.

I have a Sears professional series I got on a catalog sale. It has Miller stamped all over it and appears to be the same as a Millermatic 251. Right now it has a 40 pound spool on it and the rollers have no problem starting / stopping the wire / spool. It does great on up to 1/2 inch steel so far with .035 wire. Makes a nice clean weld with very little spatter on axle housing / spring perches. Next project is to try it on some body sheet metal, but I have been told I should downsize on the wire. I am very happy with it - like a compressor, a little more money spent here is worth every penny when you are trying to do a good job and make good use of your time down the road.