110 welders

[tri10]

I'm looking at picking up a 110 mig welder, an 88 amp Lincoln, anybody have any experience with them good or bad ? Or with any type of 110 welder ? currently i have a Lincoln 225 stick welder for heavier stuff.

 

[tractorguy2]

My cousin had a 110 mig. No idea what brand it was it worked decent on 1/4 or thinner metal. Had trouble with it tripping the breaker. Needs to be on it's own circut.

 

[MJMJ]

That size will probably max out at 1/8" steel. I have a 140 amp, it ll do 1/4" and do it well. Honestly I ve welded some really heavy material that gets seriously strained, and nothing has failed yet. I had to weld the top link hitch on my rear blade four or five years ago. Its still there and I beat the crap out of that thing.

 

[Bob]

(quoted from post at 21:34:52 11/22/19) I'm looking at picking up a 110 mig welder, an 88 amp Lincoln, anybody have any experience with them good or bad ? Or with any type of 110 welder ? currently i have a Lincoln 225 stick welder for heavier stuff.

Save your $$$ until you can get a REAL MIG unit equipped for shielding gas.

 

[Steve@Advance]

I pulled up the owners manual, it said 20% duty cycle (2 minutes on, 8 minutes off), limited to 1/8" steel, needs a 20a breaker. Even with a 20a breaker, it will push it to the limit, probably do some nuisance tripping. If you need an extension cord, it will need to be a heavy duty 12ga cord, not cheap!

That's typical of 120v welders, they will do for light work.

Being it is a DC welder, it will do a satisfactory weld. Flux core takes some practice. It splatters and smokes and needs to be brushed off afterward.

Here's a video of what to expect.
Flux Core

 

[T.R.K.]

I have a Miller 140 and I love it. I run it with .030 flux-core wire all the time. Nothing I have welded has broken that I know of, even though I am sure I have exceeded the thickness capacity at times.

It runs good set at '4' or '5' but 6 and above starts tripping 20 amp. breakers.

I do mostly sheet metal and repair lawnmower decks with it.

 

[MarkB_MI]

The local community college uses 120 volt Lincoln 140s in their auto body repair program, so I assume they're just fine for sheet metal repair. And a salesman for a local welding supply store told me they sell a lot of 120V rigs to snowplow operators, who appreciate the ability to plug into the nearest outlet and start welding when something breaks. (Apparently that happens regularly with plow trucks.) But if you don't need the portability, you're probably better off with a 240 volt rig.

It looks like Lincoln makes three different 88 amp welders, but only the "Handy MIG" has gas capability. The "Handy Core" and "Weld-Pack" welders are flux-core only and cannot be converted to MIG.

 

[RM-MN]

Welding indoors or out? Gas shield needs protection from the wind (indoors) while flux core can be used either location. How much welding are you planning on doing? How heavy material? Is it important to you to be able to weld where the work is or can you bring the work to the welder? Are you married to Lincoln or will any brand do?

Most mig welders that have gas connections can be run with flux core if you need to weld outside and are willing to have both kinds of wire on hand.

While the welder will need a 20 amp circuit for full amperage output, I often need much less amps as I use the flux mig for welding thin material. If I need to weld thick material I usually use my stick welder.

 

[Dick L]

I agree with your easement of using flux core wire. Most of my flux core welding has been 3/16" or thinner. I have had good luck with 1/4" steel using what I was taught in pipe welding by leaving a 1/8" gap to fill with weld rather than butting the two pieced tight using two passes. I have also used 100' #12 extension cord on 3/16 angle iron for repair where I can not get close to the shed without a problem. I still would rather stick weld where I can on angle iron though.

 

[RobCons]

110v machines have thier place. I have a Lincoln 140 that I use with flux core wire in for field repairs to handrails, fences, gates and such. Its very nice to just plug into a house circuit or run it with my 8000 watt generator. Just keep in mind it is not designed to weld thick material and you will be happy.

 

[Married2Allis]

I have a 90amp 110v flux core welder. It does ok for what it cost. Steve is right, 20amp circuit and a heavy extension cord. You'll need to weld outdoors or in a well-ventilated area because of the poisonous fumes from the wire.

 

[Duner Wi]

I have a Lincoln SP125Plus for over 20 years. I would not want to be with out it for welding on thin stuff. Fenders, etc.
I use gas shielding about all the time but use flux wire too. For me gas shielding is better for what I want to do.

 

[dr sportster]

That would be a hobby welder. Look at duty cycle as one of the more important specs.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Flux core is very similar to stick in technique and results in my experience. If you can stick you can flux core with very little adjustment.

A real pain in the behind welding sheet metal though, because you can't run a bead without warping the metal or burning through. You have to stitch weld even with a wire feed (MIG or flux core), but if you're using flux core you have to stop and clean the slag off just like a stick weld. With MIG you can just keep stitching.