Ok Im still looking for a welder, right now I think the best bang for buck is this miller matic 135 for 275... I know it can weld up to 3/16. I know a 220 would be better, but I just have no where to put it, and run power to it. I need it to be portable. Just curious, how think are our frames ? would this be good enough with or without gas to put a notch in ? and possibly bag my truck ? if not are there any 110 welders out there that can ? and on a budget too ? http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/tls/2681344870.html
these are also a few im looking at that are in budget. which would be the best, or would you wait ? that first one I posted, theres another just like it for 400, i think the retail around 6 or 700 WIRE FEED WELDER DAYTON 220V @160AMP PLUS 5LB SPOOL ALUMINIUM WIRE Lincoln Electric Welder ****Lincoln MIG welder****FINAL PRICE REDUCED
i'd go with that miller javi i've used them 135's before and they're good machines. the lincolns you listed are pretty light duty and i'm not sure if that 130 lincoln can take gas. i'd recommend running gas on any mig welder unless you are decent at stick welding then flux wire is cake.
for what it's worth i'm not familiar with the dayton welder. i've used some of their stuff (chargers and winches) and it was decent. one thing i always recommend is getting a machine that is common that way you can easily get the consumables at your local weld supply. unless it takes a generic tweco style gun, which most places carry parts that fit the tweco style leads.
so you think that first ones a good deal ? it will work with anything I want to do to my frame ( as long as i know what im doing ? ) how much does gas run, and I have another thing I wanted to ask you... where do you buy your sheet metal and tubing and all.. obviously not exactly where but what do i type in google to find somewhere local ? I have no idea on steel prices and no idea where to get it.
yeah it can do stuff on your frame, it will just have a shorter duty cycle when working with 1/4" steel. gas varies widely. usually you'll have to buy a bottle which can be up to $300 out here for a big one, then refilling it will depend on local prices. i paid $90 to fill a big bottle, and if i had drove 60 miles i could have got it filled for under $30. for steel just google "steel supply tampa, fl." this came up on a quick search Tampa Steel & Supply - Serving the steel & ornamental iron needs of Tampa and West Central Florida. it doesn't hurt to shop around for the best price though. if i'm buying entire sticks of steel you'll want to go to a local metal supplier since ups will only ship like 8' max. if you're after small pieces i usually go to steel suppliers on ebay since they'll sell it and ship it by the foot.
when you say shorter duty cycle I know It means I can only run it like that for so long, but how bad will it hold me up ?? also do you mind telling me who you order through ebay? I figure if Im buying square tube I will just buy it local. the big tube project I have right now is a roof rack for the titan, that goes through the bed, and make a custom tailgate to hold a spare.
The first welder I bought was the Miller 135. I ended up taking it right back and getting the 175. I bought it to weld my notch and after about a minute or so it would shut down and I'd have to wait 10 minutes or so for it to cool off. The 175 hasn't ever overheated on me. With the 135, I got half of the notch done in about 4 hours, and the penetration on the weld wasn't that impressive, I ended up redoing most of it. I know it'll cost a bit more, but the larger unit is worth every penny.
this is what i use and have had no duty cycle problems and get very strong welds out of it, very easy to use and set-up. MIG Welder 110VAC/ 135A Output
Use gas what ever welder you go with!! I have a Hobart 145 & works fine,though all the frame work on my truck was done with a 220 welder!!
Don't run a 110, it's really not worth it in the end. A used 220 is pretty cheap still. You "can" burn 3/16 but that isn't to say it's necessarily as strong as what a 220 would do. Why risk that over a couple hundred bucks? The 220 machines say they can do half, and they are very much not fully pentrated on 1/2 inch. That's like the absolute max you can weld together with the perfect prep for the joint. Go 220 and don't look back.
FYI, you shouldn't have a problem finding cheap gas. Your at a "port" city after all. There are all kinds of welding happening in Tampa. Good luck, and buy as big as you can afford.
220 machine is well worth the money imho. even if you use fluxcore wire you will find that if you use gas with it you will get better results in the end......wiring for a 220 outlet isnt really that difficult to do as its really just 2 110 circuits run off of a double pole breaker and for what its worth its cheaper on your electric bill to use 220 because you dont pull but half as many amps as you would with a 110 machine. talk to a competant electrician and he will tell you the same if hes worth listening to.
As a self described "good" Electrician of 14 years, I have to say that while you are correct that the load would be split between two phases, a kWh is a kWh whether split over two phases or combined on one. The cost doesn't change. There are motors that will operate more efficiently on multiple phases, but a transformer isn't one of them... That being said, maybe I'm not all that great of an electrician after all. Javi, I'm sending you a PM.
lol thanks guys. I am taking it all into consideration. is there such a thing that you can plug to cords into 2 seperate wall outlets and have 220 come out of the other side ?
