Mig welder perchase questions

[Hott Racing]

I am looking to get a new welder. I was looking at a 251 or 350. I currently have a lincoln 100, and syncro wave 200. I was wondering if a shopmate or a 350xmt are good for mig, dc tig, stick. The problem I have is I want to do aluminum mig, I have never used gas with my 100 successfully, i am not shure how good the inverters are, and need more power than my syncrowave has. Most welding will be done on car sheet metal up to 1/2 aluminum, s/s and some 1/2 steel. I have a 60 amp 1 phaze 200 main. The shop mate is as big as the 200 syncrowave (grunt). And the answer for the million dolar question is if I get the xmt or shop mate do you need the spoolmate for aluminum... or are the other wire feeders adaquate for say 030?

[RIVERRAT]

There are are fellas here that know more on this than me. I will be up soon asking some questions on this. But I would recommend the the 30A. It has a 200 amp duty cycle & & a long line.

[David R]

you pretty much need a spool gun to mig aluminum.

David

[RIVERRAT]

If you are going to do a lot of aluminum & money isn't a problem a push pull gun is the way to go. With this & a pulsed machine you can really get some great looking welds. I am hoping to get some more time on such a set up soon.

[Brand X]

The best value overall will be the MM-350P. It probably will weld aluminum as well or better then the others. Unless you need more power dc tig of the Shopmate or the portability of a XMT350, then you really gain nothing. I like the Shopmate but you will still need a optima control to pulse. Yes, it works on that machine too. The spoolgun /shopmate would not be a bad way to go for
standard mig aluminum welding.

[Doolittle]

If your gonna go the big invertor route, dont forget to look at the lincoln V350 adv process. That thing looks sweet as well. I just dont know anyone that owns one though. It might be the way to go for aluminum mig, and can be bought set up for it (you can regular mig with a push pull).

[lorenzo]

I own a shopmate 300 (2 actually) hf251-d couple of S22P-12 ( I'm horrible wih numbers) Miller suitcase feeders..... and the spool gun. excellent machine.

Problem with aluminum is without a push/ pull it can be a nightmare.... Spoolgun is the only other way.

[Brand X]

I own a shopmate 300 (2 actually) hf251-d couple of S22P-12 ( I'm horrible wih numbers) Miller suitcase feeders..... and the spool gun. excellent machine.

Problem with aluminum is without a push/ pull it can be a nightmare.... Spoolgun is the only other way.


Shopmate or Shopmaster???

The shopmate came out about Oct. of last year. Here is a picture of a DC only shopmate. The shopmaster is AC/DC.

[Doolittle]

Those miller invertors weve been using have been awsome (was on a xmt 304 today). They each have a little personality, but they have a beautiful arc. Ive also been on an invision 354, it was hard to tell any difference.