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Wire or stick welder, help me decide.

JEONLYEP

NAXJA Forum User
Got a little Christmas cash to spend. I want a welder. I learned and am comfortable using a stick welder. Never used a wire welder, but think I could learn. What really are the advantages/disadvantages to both? I have about $300 to $400 dollar budget.

A club member has a used welder for sell, here's the info he sent me about it. "It is a miller - millermatic 762 , 130 amps , wire feed , it has pre-sets for heat , and adjustable wire speed , also has the provision for gas hook-up . I just put a brand new 11 lb. spool on it , and it also has a patch cord that I built for a different plug in . I've been asking 500.00 , but am open to offers."

Any info and opinions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Daryl
 
It´s sometimes hard to get enough juice at 110 V for thicker materials. Have to find a 220 outlet somewhere, with most wire welders.
Personally I think a 175-220 AMP is more flexible. But again with the 220 V.
Wire is easier to weld with than stick, wire and gas is easier and healthier than cored wire.
If you use gas, straight CO2 works for most none structural applications (some cheaper). The Argon mixes, are some cleaner and make a more flexible weld. For sheet metal work, I usually use CO2, with a tip spray. Have to clean the tips more often anyway with sheet metal or dirty iron.
I learned on Oxy-Acytelin, relearned with stick, graduated to arch, now have a wire welder, that I wouldn´t trade for any of the above (except maybe for arch, for fine work). Only use the acytelin for black pipe, exhaust and heating things up. Use the arch occasionally, haven´t touched the stick welder in years. Yes I´m old as dirt :wow:
Something to look for, when buying a welder, the wire feed wheel reversable (exchangeble) if you want to go to a finer wire (helps with thinner materials). Is the wire wheel plastic (to cheap) or metal. Is the feed hose and tip, bayonet type or attached to the welder. How hard is it to change the wire sleeve to a nylon type, for welding none ferrous metals? How hard is it to change the gas sleeve and tip to a smaller/larger size if needed. Fkexibility of the welder and spare parts are important.
 
That used Miller sounds a little expensive for a 130 amp...I have a miller 135 and paid about that brand new with a bottle ready to weld. For your price range I believe a stick welder would better serve your purposes.
 
What are you planning to weld? I would recomend a good wire feed welder with an argon mix gas rather than the core wire, they are very easy to use and if you have a decent one such as 220v you can weld up some of the thicker metals as well as do sheet metal, which is pretty tough to do with a stick.
 
I personally recommend the wire over the stick.But one thing to remember,whether it is stick or wire,moistire is your worst enemy.
Moisture will be absorbed by the flux (outer coating) on the stick,moisture can cause rust on the wire.
Air movement around a stick will not create too many problems,but on the other hand it will play hell with a weld if your using mig.
Another thing,if your just starting out,talk to some one who you know has experience in welding and if possible take some classes if there are any offered in your area.To me SAFETY is really the important thing here,you can really mess up your eyes if you are not aware of what can happen if you do not heed warnings etc.WELDING FLASH IS NOT SOMETHING YOU REALLY WANT TO EXPERIENCE...
Contact lenses,talk to an optomitrist befor welding w/contacts,if possible,use an old pair of eye glasses.
As far as buying a welder,I would go w/220v,you have more heat ranges and felixability.Buy a used one that works good and learn and practice with it.By doing this,you can get the feel of the machine and find out if you want to learn more and possibly upgrade to a newer machine.
 
Sounds a little pricey for a used 130 amp unit...dollar for dollar a buzzbox has more amperage power than a MIG...mainly because most buzzboxes are nothing more than a transformer and switches...and they have less flexability for thin materials than a MIG...plus the nasty spatter from the flux..

See if you can find a MIG with at least 175 amp output...and go ahead and buy a tank... the lease will cost you more than purchase in a fairly short time.

Churky has offered some very good advice...right on the money...if you weld in tight quarters, drape the back of your helmet to keep the reflected flash out....I use a Hobart auto helmet for most stuff...but a regular helmet comes in handy for a backup..the hand helds are for stuff so tight that you cant get your head in there with a regular helmet.
 
One thing nobody else who has replied here has adressed is the price range you are looking at. For that kinda money (300-400) if you can find a 220 MIg buy them all and make a lot of cash. For the money you want to spend a buzzbox is about your only option. Stay away from the harbor freight $200.00 special wire feed, you will regret it in the end. I would find a good name 220 stick welder that has ac and dc capabitlities. If you can find a couple extra hunskies laying around go out and find 220 mig. I have always approached my purchases of welding equipment as a one time purchase (I own all Miller), and it has always paid off in the long run. One other benefit to using the stick is you will have far superior welding skills to someone has used only wirefeed. If you can weld good with stick you are good to go.


Happy welding :D
 
Gotta agree with JJ13. Nice comments so far, but they are forgetting your price range. If you can find a real good deal on a new or used 110 mig, you might get it in your price range, but the gas and tank will cost you more. While everyone agrees that a 220v machine is better, many around here have done major projects with their 110v MIG machines.

Purely for the money, a simple 220v stick machine will be in your price range, plus a good auto darkening helmet which is nice to have, and will be easier while you're learning. It is better to learn with the stick, using a MIG after you've become proficient with a stick is easy. Also, if you can weld all around on your Jeep with the stick you can always do trail repairs with a few batteries and jumper cables. If you throw in some 6011 rod and a helmet, you can weld most things on the trail. The stick can do very good welds, and sometimes it's easier to get into tight places than a MIG gun, it's just very hard to get a stick weld to look as pretty as a MIG weld.

Until last week when I bought a Millermatic 175, my only welder was a Lincoln 220v stick welder that I bought used for $100. I occasionally borrowed a friends 110v MIG, like for my rollcage.
 
I've used my Lincoln 110 welder for 7 years now, built my Junk, earned money while in school, the thing has paid for itself probably 20 times over.

BUT, if I'm giving out advice I'd say save what you've got & either find a nice used Miller 210 or equiv. Lincoln (I've seen Millers for $400). You'll want to be able to weld 1/4" or thicker with gas (slag sucks) so instead of buying 2 welders, get what you want now. I'm buying a Millermatic 210 this tax season.
 
There are some deals out there, takes time, gotta look. Been awhile (prices rarley go down), but Home Depot had a welder, off brand, had the same insides as there top 175 machine (the internals were 95% the same pieces), with a few minor differences. At the top of your price range.
I agree, buy the right one the first time, know a lot of guys with a cheapy sitting in the corner. They are using the good one now.
 
I've done a lot of stick welding and then went to a Millermatic 210 wire with gas. I couldn't believe the difference. I would NEVER go back to a stick if at all possible. If you don't have a lot of welding experience then by all means go to a wire feed with gas. Even if all it is is 135 amps. On the heavier metal you might have to preheat with a gas torch but then you can easily weld 1/2" in multiple passes with it. The higher amp wire welders have enough "heat" so that they don't need the preheat. The 135 amp will do most anything on an XJ except you might have to occasionally use preheat. No big thing in my book. You can also dial back the MIG and do really thin metal very easily.
My girls picked up the wire welding with virtually no training except a few verbal pointers. Wire feed MIG is the way to go. Anybody who says otherwise is deluded or never tried it. I'm a convert as you can tell. :worship:
 
I own a Tig, Mig, and stick....was just trying to give the advice that was asked ($300-$400). My mig is a miller 135, and it gets 75% of the welding action around my place. If I had to choose between a 135 wire feed and a 220 ac/dc stick for all around, the stick wins hands down. Now a 220 miller 175 against the stick is another story.
 
Found this available today, opinions about it?
Clarke welder kit.
180 amp, 220 volt, six voltage setting, dual gage regulator, (no bottles) .023 mig wire, .035 fluxcore wire, wire brush/hammer, cart and auto darkening helmet.
Price $499.00

Thanks Daryl
 
JEONLYEP said:
Found this available today, opinions about it?
Clarke welder kit.
180 amp, 220 volt, six voltage setting, dual gage regulator, (no bottles) .023 mig wire, .035 fluxcore wire, wire brush/hammer, cart and auto darkening helmet.
Price $499.00

Thanks Daryl

Looks like a good price for a 220 Mig welder. I would go for the package with just the welder and the regulator. The cart could be your first welding project, and the hoods and such that come in those kits are usually junk. The only thing that I would question is the wire size. You probably would want a little larger wire than .023 if welding with gas on some thicker stuff. Keep in mind if that welder takes a crap you will prob. spend as much as you spent on the welder to have it repaired. It has been my experience that the local welding supply stores will usually repair the equipment they sold for little or no cost. So it is usually better to spend a couple extra bucks to buy it local.
 
Man I got a ac/dc 220 Lincoln stick for 200 bucks and have been very happy with it. Can't really do sheet metal very well & it's a little messy but no big deal.

Wish I had somethign easier/cleaner but for $200 I'm happy....
 
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