Welders

[candphall]

Does anyone have any experience with Eastwood welders. They seem to be a great value and have gotten great reviews.

 

[horse sence]

i used the small Lincoln, set up for 220 and a gass bottle on the job for a couple of years and it worked great .it was easily portable and welded 1/4 inch all day long. i think home depot carries them.

 

[palerider94]

I was looking at them too. Seems to be a good value. Only drawback I heard and not completey sure if true - but if needed fixed out of warranty period could be a problem

 

[iskwezm]

I have had the Eastood 175 mig for a few years now and havent had any problems. I hvent used the aluuminum spool gun yet.

 

[mtaqua]

when I was looking for welders, it seemed to be a ford versus chevy battle. people would bash the cheaper ones, yet had never used them. I got a clarke and it has served me well (and still does). I wish I would have spent more money, but at the time couldn't afford one and keep moving on the car like I wanted to. not sure on eastwood, at least one guy chimed in so far.

 

[Fstbk]

Could you buy things like replacement feed motor, pinch rollers or internal parts for it in 5 years or after a model change? It may just be a Harbor Freight unit with different sheet metal, so look into that closely.

I would buy a used miller or Lincoln first because you can get parts for a 20 year old welder fairly easy.

 

[mtaqua]

Could you buy things like replacement feed motor, pinch rollers or internal parts for it in 5 years or after a model change? It may just be a Harbor Freight unit with different sheet metal, so look into that closely.

I would buy a used miller or Lincoln first because you can get parts for a 20 year old welder fairly easy.

good point, make sure there are parts available in case it breaks. Clarke went bankrupt, sears still has some parts so not sure if they bought them. Either way find out who makes the welder and if parts are available.

 

[horse sence]

my miller 252 finaly started working good ,don't know if it was that i threatened to drag it behind my truckbut it is making the best spot welds it ever made.

 

[candphall]

This from Eastwood

After the three year warranty, you will still be able to purchase parts directly from us in order to make the repairs. Any repair you might need to do will be easy enough to do on your own, and should the machine need any kind of serious work it will be able to be serviced by any reputable repair shop as it is of standard design for a MIG welder and uses very few proprietary parts.

 

[68 Fstbck]

I have a Hobart 125 a friend gave me...he couldn't get it to work right. 110vac. I too had to threaten to drag it behind my truck then figured out the polarity was reversed. I REALLY like the unit for welding sheet metal. Parts are readily available...I would recommend if your interest is mainly sheet metal. I would not recommend it if you are planning on lots of heavy duty welding.

 

[candphall]

Not building a battleship. Just your standard mustang sheet metal repair. I was leaning towards the Miller/Hobart 175 which is a 220 volt MIG unit. Then I saw the Eastwood unit which was compairable, considerably less money, and had great reviews. In addition to that I am a non welder.
Thanks for your input.

 

[horse sence]

this miller i have is computerized ,what ever happened to just turning a dial it likes to burn the wire back into the tip .then i have to take it apart ,try to pull the wire out of the tip and that ususally breaks off in the tip.
when it does weld it mkes a very nice weld but i spend more time working on it than welding .i miss my old Snapon/lincoln

 

[1970_347]

you need to increase your wire speed Horse Sence.

 

[horse sence]

no ,not the wire speed .the wire burns back instantly when i hit the triger.
doesn't do it all the time just enough to p*ss me off.

 

[candphall]

About to by a Miller 140 Auto ser welder specs below.
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS Input Power
Requires 1-Phase power

115 V, 20 Amps, 60 Hz
Rated Output
90 Amps at 18 VDC, 20% duty cycle
Welding Amperage Range
30 - 140 Amps
Wire Speed
15 - 390 IPM (1.0 - 12.7 m/min)
Net Weight 60lb (27.3kg)
WireDiameter Capacity
.024 - .030 in (0.6 - 0.8 mm) Solid Steel
.024 - .030 in (0.6 - 0.8 mm) Stainless
.030 - .035 in (0.8 - 1.2 mm) Flux Cored
MaxSpoolSize Capacity
8 in (203 mm)
Does anyone have experience with one of these, comments suggestions?

 

[BuckeyeDemon]

my first welder was a cheap 110V unit i had picked up from TP Tools. The rollers/bearings got really sloppy and the liner was shot. I couldn't find parts. I thought it welded sheet metal better than my Miller MM210. I would speculate a Miller MM252 would be even worse with light gauge metal.

I have no personal experience with the Miller 140, but I believe it would work well for the frame, sheet metal work on a mustang when working on it as a hobby.

 

[horse sence]

ok i figured mine out ,where the gun cable attaches to the unit on the back side of the big nut, is a two wire plug in .it was about to fall out .it fits loose, when i pushed it back in it started making beautiful welds. it is the trigger wires. must have been that way since i bought it

 

[1970_347]

Glad you got it all figured out.

 

[68 Fstbck]

Welders...the only people on the planet that think it is funny when a co-worker catches on fire...

 

[horse sence]

hey , better him than me.
i set an elevator shaft on fire ,not once but twice while welding at the 5th floor.
some dummy at the bottom left his water jug in the elevator shaft with cigarets and matches on top of it .welding sparks lit the matches and melted his jug
a few days later some one else did the same thing with a plastic lunch box and matches ,even with a sign that said CAUTION WELDING ABOVE