Welder review

[john in la]

Been looking for a new stick welder to replace my Lincoln tombstone ac welder that doesn’t work anymore.
Found this Hobart 160 dc welder on sale at tsc so I ordered it.
To me while it may be made in china Hobart is still a top brand with a good warranty.
It’s only for around the house use and I feel more comfortable with a stick welder than a wire feed.
It’s small enough I can run it off my generator for use out in the field.
And it was on sale 50 percent off.
$500 list for $250.

So give it to me straight.
Is this a decent low cost welder for 4 times a year around the house use or at least better than some amazon never heard of the brand before item.

 

[DoubleO7]

Just because it is made in China means nothing.
A company like Hobart that sells many models way more costly does not want entry level welders to be junk welders.
So I would think that Hobart is on top of their quality requirements for products made in China.
If the entry level stuff is junk, they lose customers buying a bigger more expensive model in the future.

 

[JOCCO]

Know nothing about that one, BUT at one time Hobart was hooked up with miller. I have one and have used others and they were good.

 

[wore out]

Just because it is made in China means nothing.
A company like Hobart that sells many models way more costly does not want entry level welders to be junk welders.
So I would think that Hobart is on top of their quality requirements for products made in China.
If the entry level stuff is junk, they lose customers buying a bigger more expensive model in the future.

Once a "top of the line" proud US made company Hobart welders are now "the residential/hobby brand of ITW (parent company for Miller). For a while Hobarts were just rebadged Millers, but now they aren’t flowing the fancy stuff down to Hobart". (From the 'net.)

 

[Ericp351]

For the $250 you could have replaced your Lincoln with a good used, or fixed your original. To say the little suitcase welders are for Hobbyist's is Very kind. Best if your time and projects are unimportant. "Lest we forget, the Bitterness of Poor Quality remains Long after the Sweetness of low Price is Forgotten."

 

[john in la]

Once a "top of the line" proud US made company Hobart welders are now "the residential/hobby brand of ITW (parent company for Miller). For a while Hobarts were just rebadged Millers, but now they aren’t flowing the fancy stuff down to Hobart". (From the 'net.)

The residential/hobby brand of a well known brand like miller sounds good for my use.
I’m not looking for top of the line for how seldom I use a welder but didn’t really want junk either. This welder sounds like it will be a good compromise.

 

[bc]

If you can get 130 dc amps through 1/8" rod, then it will weld anything you would ever want. You can weld inch thick steel but it just takes more passes. That's how the big stuff gets welded such as pipelines. First one may use 6011 and the rest are 7018LH. I imagine it will handle 3/16" as well but that is big for everyday welding of 1/4" steel.

 

[RobCons]

I think it will do fine for small jobs. Fence repair, utility trailer ramps, mower decks, various brackets and such.

 

[M-MAN]

I wouldn't be the least bit scared of it. While the Industrial line of Hobart is no more they are still a top of the line welder. I have one of their migs and have been happy with it.

I have an old Sears and Roebuck ac welder that served me well for 30 years and is still there for a backup. $79 on sale for Christmas. The only reason it's not still my primary is because I had the chance to acquire a Lincoln 250 Industrial with a 100% duty cycle cheap.

 

[DoubleO7]

Once a "top of the line" proud US made company Hobart welders are now "the residential/hobby brand of ITW (parent company for Miller). For a while Hobarts were just rebadged Millers, but now they aren’t flowing the fancy stuff down to Hobart". (From the 'net.)

So?
Do they think Miller is going to market junk to the residential/hobby market on purpose or what?

Buying a China made product from a brand never known before in North America are the ones to be leery of.

Like the used car lot that changes it's name every other year.

 

[JOCCO]

John couple more thoughts around me there are lots of welders on Facebook market, craigslist and others. You might find a bigger, better one used for a fair price. Some of this stuff seems used very little. I would be careful of those unheard-of brands as if you need parts could be an issue. Probably today if a cheap welder fails you would can it and buy a new one!

 

[farmersamm]

It's a shame you didn't have this conversation before you ordered the thing.

Hobart is not a very good machine. I own 2 Hobart wire welders. A 135, and a 190. Neither has had a control board last more than around 30-40 pounds of wire. I put a new board in the HH190 because it's cheaper than buying another crappy welder........and I do like the arc characteristics of the machine. Both are TRANSFORMER machines BTW. You could not give me an inverter based machine. You cannot repair an inverter machine for less than the cost of a new one. They're throwaway machines.

Did you "hear" me say INVERTER. Inverters are crap. They will not last as long as a transformer machine, and are not very forgiving in harsh use.

IMHO.............you would have been better off buying another Lincoln stick welder. Yeah........around $800ish(?), but it will last you for the rest of your life. Chances are your current "dead" Lincoln is repairable for a lot less than you might think. Pretty simple machines. AND BULLETPROOF

I've been running a 125/225 Llincoln transformer machine for over 20yrs....................without a hiccup. My Ranger GXT rolled off the line in 2007, and still works as well as the day I bought it. Gotta LN25 I bought back in 2007, and it was used THEN........still runs like a champ. And they're fairly high use machines. Might sit for extended periods, but when used, they're balz to the wall run time.

Modern welders...........including top line name brand welders(high price ones) are not as good as the old ones. They have too much electronics, and are not user repairable. You cannot get a service manual anymore. The companies refuse to make them available to the public.

IMHO, shoulda bought another Lincoln like you have now.

On the flip side.................you can think in terms of amortization. If you allocate X number of dollars to the ability to weld over a period of time, then you might justify the new machines. Your new Hobart stick welder, at the price you're paying, equates to $80/yr for the privilege of making sparks. Don't expect it to last beyond the 3yr warranty, or whatever the warranty is.

If you use the new welder every day, and put some high pounds of rods out..........it's justifiable. But.........if it sits for long periods unused, you eat up the warranty, and your cost per weld skyrockets.

A word about duty cycle. If you do a lot of fabricating, chances are you'll never exceed the duty cycle. Actual run time, compared to fitup, and other activites, is relatively low. If you're a finish welder(just run welds all day, after the fitup man is finished), then you might run up against duty cycle limits. It really depends on your work flow.

 

[Welding man]

Been looking for a new stick welder to replace my Lincoln tombstone ac welder that doesn’t work anymore.
Found this Hobart 160 dc welder on sale at tsc so I ordered it.
To me while it may be made in china Hobart is still a top brand with a good warranty.
It’s only for around the house use and I feel more comfortable with a stick welder than a wire feed.
It’s small enough I can run it off my generator for use out in the field.
And it was on sale 50 percent off.
$500 list for $250.

So give it to me straight.
Is this a decent low cost welder for 4 times a year around the house use or at least better than some amazon never heard of the brand before item.

First question I ask about a welder, What is the duty cycle. Most of those things that I have checked on have a very low duty cycle and when you get up to about 75% of the rated output the duty cycle goes to basically nothing. I would not buy anything that had less than a 60 % duty cycle at the maximum rated output. Anything less than 300 amps is about useless to me. It takes that much amperage on the top side to get The 60% at about 75% point. I burn lots of 1/8 and 5/32 & 7018. @ 150 to 175 amps. That little fellow probably wouldn't last me 1 day. I bought a new Lincoln 225 TIG and Stick machine a while back. I didn't do the research I should have on it. I had a good size TIG aluminum job to do, that required about 200 amps. I burned the machine up in 30 days. Lincoln repaired it under warranty. They claimed they put $1200.00 worth of parts in it. It is all about your needs and how you are going to be using it. It may be perfect. We have 2 little Hobart Handler MIGS we use for light sheet metal and they have been great. It takes a dang good welder to stand up to burning a 50 Lb box of rod in a day. and I have done it many times in my life.

 

[john in la]

If you can get 130 dc amps through 1/8" rod, then it will weld anything you would ever want. You can weld inch thick steel but it just takes more passes. That's how the big stuff gets welded such as pipelines. First one may use 6011 and the rest are 7018LH. I imagine it will handle 3/16" as well but that is big for everyday welding of 1/4" steel.

I took a welding class years ago. We had to use 6011 from the root pass to the cap. Using LH was not allowed.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

The residential/hobby brand of a well known brand like miller sounds good for my use.
I’m not looking for top of the line for how seldom I use a welder but didn’t really want junk either. This welder sounds like it will be a good compromise.

Looks like a 110/220V machine too, so you'll be able to use the full capability of the welder. Those 110V ones can overload a 15A circuit, and it's not often you have a 20A circuit around. They tend to be very sensitive to extension cords as well.

I think you did fine.

 

[JOCCO]

First question I ask about a welder, What is the duty cycle. Most of those things that I have checked on have a very low duty cycle and when you get up to about 75% of the rated output the duty cycle goes to basically nothing. I would not buy anything that had less than a 60 % duty cycle at the maximum rated output. Anything less than 300 amps is about useless to me. It takes that much amperage on the top side to get The 60% at about 75% point. I burn lots of 1/8 and 5/32 & 7018. @ 150 to 175 amps. That little fellow probably wouldn't last me 1 day. I bought a new Lincoln 225 TIG and Stick machine a while back. I didn't do the research I should have on it. I had a good size TIG aluminum job to do, that required about 200 amps. I burned the machine up in 30 days. Lincoln repaired it under warranty. They claimed they put $1200.00 worth of parts in it. It is all about your needs and how you are going to be using it. It may be perfect. We have 2 little Hobart Handler MIGS we use for light sheet metal and they have been great. It takes a dang good welder to stand up to burning a 50 Lb box of rod in a day. and I have done it many times in my life.

Yes sir the duty cycle is important. Doubt many homeowners do enough for it to be a factor.

 

[john in la]

Yes sir the duty cycle is important. Doubt many homeowners do enough for it to be a factor.

Input 220 v at 27 amps
Rated for 3/16 rod on 3/8 steel.
30 % duty cycle at 160 amps
100 % duty cycle at about 90 amps
Hobart 5/3/1 industrial warranty
For the price I will make it work.

 

[timcasbolt]

I took a welding class years ago. We had to use 6011 from the root pass to the cap. Using LH was not allowed.

I've never heard of that. Must have been tough getting the flux out between passes.

 

[bc]

Input 220 v at 27 amps
Rated for 3/16 rod on 3/8 steel.
30 % duty cycle at 160 amps
100 % duty cycle at about 90 amps
Hobart 5/3/1 industrial warranty
For the price I will make it work.

John. After you get it, here is the test for the naysayers. Crank up the amps to 160 or so and use whatever rod you have which is probably 1/8". Take a scrap piece of 1/4" or thicker plate or angle iron and starting an inch from the edge, start burning through the plate like the rod is a cutting torch and cut one inch or more slices off the steel. Start the timer on your phone and track the time and number of rods it uses before the duty cycle shuts it down. Post back with results and pics.

Repeat the test, or do this test first, just running beads until the duty cycle shuts you down.

While you are at it, practice making the cut without leaving slag on one side. Usually any molten slag comes off easily with a grinder.

I did the same stuff with my 100 dollar 120 volt Chinese inverter welder and it will handle anything I need to do around the farm. My apologies to the Chinese inverter haters here. I posted on this a few years ago when I bot it.

I'd challenge all the stick welder guys to try the tests with their welders and post back. Maybe we can get Larry to send a spoon to the winner.

 

[drsportster]

Well it is true you could find a lower price unit from China . but the Hobart name does mean something Price is pretty good too.