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So I am sure that this dead horse has been beat enough but being new to the welding and fab world I wanted to get the advice of some of the seasoned vets on this forum. I am looking to buy a welder for general fab work... I am just learning the skill, and this will be my first welder to teach myself on. I don't want to buy a piece of junk that I will destroy in a week,or won't let me grow with the skill. I am looking at the Hobart welders, I believe they are made in the USA and I'm willing to spend a bit more for that. I don't have a 220 line in my shop, so a 110 is where I am. I don't want to spend 1000, I'm spending enough on my j truck, so I have a budget. Unfortunately I don't know a lot of people who weld, so I don't have anyone to really ask the opinion of. So once again I'm sorry for repeating what so many people have already asked, but with a Hobart 140-160 what can I reasonably expect to weld? And are they fairly beginner friendly? I appreciate your help!

I have only been welding a short time, 2-3yrs. I originally borrowed a friends Hobart 140 to learn with. It was very easy to use and will weld up to 1/4" pretty easily.
When I bought my own I went with the same one, Hobart 140 qnd have loved it. I've welded everything from the sheetmetal on my XJ's hood to the 1/4" plate for my Waggys motor mounts and it does great. The only thing is with heavy steel is the duty cycle is very short. You have to run shorter beads then let the machine catch its breath before you start again. Thats the only holdback to the smaller machines. But for someone just learning and using it for a hobby and projects its great, I have no complaints.

I use the el cheapo harbor freight 110 welder. Not the best welder by any means but it does the job from sheet metal to say 3/16th steel.i have even welded some 1/4 stuff but as stated above you have to take your time. I am probably on my 20th spool of wire....I use it much more than I thought I would. The key to the harbor freight welders is to pitch the wire it comes with and buy name brand wire. I am happy with this welder but will be upgrading to a 220 mig if I can find one for a decent amount.

I'm with Cassidy right now. I have the HF special too. With some decent wire, you can lay a pretty strong weld. I made up a tube bumper for my rig out of 1/4" tube that has been very reliable so far and went to as thin as 16 ga. sheet metal to repair my floor. It takes time and pacience to get it right though. My main suggestion is to get a bunch of scrap and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!! Also expect alot of spatter from the flux core wire. I have just recently picked up a new Snap on MM140 welder. I'm looking forward to trying it out as soon as I get m unimix bottle.

There are a few models other models out there that are 110/220 switchable, if funding allowed I'd look at one of them in your situation, then if you ever end up with 220 you are ready and the duty cycle will be better on 220. Flux core is ok when you are welding outside, but in my experience buy good quality solid core wire (from a welding shop not a farm and home, made that mistake once, took the wire back). As for shielding gas, co2 is ok but an argon/co2 or argon/co2/helium mix will yield better welds especially starting out.
I've welded a bit with the 140 a friend had, they are a good welder. I have miller and esab welders, and use a Lincoln occasionally in the AG shop at work, all of them 220 though. Don't discount the miller welders as being the same as the Hobart, they have a little bit more precise adjustment ranges. That will be come a lot more important the thinner materials you weld.

Just my .01


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Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it. Now I know what to look for. It's tough when you've never done this stuff before (in any real capacity) and you try to jump in head first. I appreciate all of your help.

I bought my welder here. http://www.eastwood.com/welders/mig-welders.html

I got the 175 which is 220v but they have 110v as well. I am not an experienced welder so I haven't used too many different units for comparison but I must say I am very impressed with the duty cycle. Their price is reasonable too.

I know one of the important things to look for in a welder is its duty cycle.The higher the number, the better of welder.

I am new to this welding thing too. I have been able to burn with a miller 110/220 unit and boy was it a freaking treat. I have a HB special as well as a Lincoln 225 stick. I am starting to love the stick, it takes more practice than any other welder I have ever used. I got it in a deal that I could not pass up, I thought I would be able to do aluminum but not this AC unit. Whne I get better and the funds become available I may get a Miller 110/220 switchable unit with a couple tanks as well as a spool. One tool for all jobs.

Yes stick is a bit more difficult and requires more practice and skill. Im still trying to learn it.

I personally don't feel you can do any real welding using a 110v welder. At least I don't believe you can weld suspension brackets and such. I'm sure others will/have disagree and have done it with sucess.

I'm also 'that guy' who is running a 30' lenght of wire coming out of the dryer outlet in my house into my Lincoln 220v MIG welder in the garage. Nothing fancy, just some wire and outlet that I bought from home depot. Your technically not supposed to run a welder on an extension cord, but mine seems to work fine in the past few years that I've had it. I've probalby ran close to 10 of the 'big' spools of .035 wire through it, building my junk and my buddies junk. No welds have failed.

Blake wrote:I personally don't feel you can do any real welding using a 110v welder. At least I don't believe you can weld suspension brackets and such. I'm sure others will/have disagree and have done it with success...

I'll be happy to agree with you that 90% of the folks that buy a welder for use at home have no business putting together anything but yard sculpture but your statement is totally flawed.

Inverter technology has come a long way in the past 15-20 years.
Welding is about output voltage and amperage, prep, cleaning, joint design, technique, positioning and skill level. All combined with a healthy dose of understanding how that all works together.

Modern DVI machines (I'll exclude anything sold by HF) can approach pulse spray transfer (look it up) levels and produce excellent results on a properly setup, dedicated 110V circuit.
This is a Gen 1 Miller DVI (11 years old) on a dedicated 30amp 110V circuit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9fQziw6MqM

Every bracket, tab, perch, spring hanger, body panel, bumper mount, etc. on my rig was done with that machine.
Except for the front frame horn mounts, those were done with a 110V Lincoln SP135 running .030 flux cored, I lift the entire front of my rig off the ground using those mounts.

When in doubt always blame the machine.

Darn Jeep keeps getting stuck.

Tad - yeah, I figured.

But my point is that if you are welding stuff on a rig that is 'structural' (like suspension brackets, etc) then you can get by with some common sense and a 220v mig without really knowing how to weld (me). Not so much with a 110v unless you really know what you are doing. Aren't you a welding instructor? lol, ya, I bet you could lay some better beads on with a decent 110v than I can with my 220v on a 30' extenstion cord.

I was not trying to critique, brag or put anything out there other than that a quality machine, combined with proper setup, prep and technique is the key to good welding.

I'm actually retired from that gig.
Welding simply pays the bills these days.

Tad wrote:I was not trying to critique, brag or put anything out there other than that a quality machine, combined with proper setup, prep and technique is the key to good welding.

X2

Wish I knew how to weld (good).

the 140 is a great unit and can be found at great prices. Not having 220 source does limit you to look at the 110 units. 90 % of my stuff is welded on with a Lincoln 110 unit I bought 18 plus years ago and it still welds good for less the 400 bucks. Finally upgraded to a Miller 211 in Dec. Look at what you want to do with it and is it going to be a useful tool to have and go for it and learn.

Well Tad, could I get your honest opinion about a welder? I havent even hooked it up yet, but I recently bought a new Snap on MM140 unit. It will both MIG and TIG weld and support a spool gun. I am hoping to go get a tank for it next Friday.

racerx12003r1 wrote:Well Tad, could I get your honest opinion about a welder? I havent even hooked it up yet, but I recently bought a new Snap on MM140 unit. It will both MIG and TIG weld and support a spool gun. I am hoping to go get a tank for it next Friday.

I have never used one.
Here's the owners manual: http://www.800abcweld.com/pdf/mm140sl_owners_manual.pdf

It's actually a pretty thorough manual although it does not really elaborate on their "flex tig", I'm sure flex tig is DC only so your not going to be doing AL with it, probably why their is a spool gun option for doing AL.

From just a few minutes reading I can tell you they are way overpriced and a 100% duty cycle seems pretty optimistic, not that anyone needs 100%.

It seems that they are using a Tweeco gun and consumables which is pretty common.
There is some pretty positive talk about them on welding web and naxja.
I'd be willing to give one a test run if I had a chance.

Thank you for the input Sir. I really do appreciate it. I was wondering about the TIG part of it. I really thought it was way overpriced. One of the guys at work bought the 220v unit and the TIG stinger. I saw where he paid $500 (no typo there) for the TIG lead. It said, in small letters, not for aluminum welding. I about flipped. Do you know of another TIG tip that might hook to the unit? I saw a Hobart unit for very cheap. I'm not cheap, just try to be frugal and $500 seems way excessive.