The Northern Tool 135 Welder.

[RangerDaleXp]

I received the Northern 135 amp welder the other day and it actually came almost in perfect condition regardless on how UPS treats there shipments. The only issue was that the screw that holds the gun in the machine came loose and ended up in the electronics side of the welder. The experience with dealing with northern was a little bit of an issue again due to they still are have problems with there shipping department on getting there orders out to me.

Now for the welder, I have personally owned all Lincoln welders in the past and I will compare the northern unit with the closest thing I have to the northern unit and that is an 18 year old Lincoln Weld Pac 155. The northern unit is from what I see is an almost complete clone to the older Lincoln Weld pacs and SP series built in the past. I did around 2 hours of testing with it and even though there is a difference between the input voltages the northern welder worked perfectly on all four Tap settings. The fit and feel of the Northern welder is very close to the Lincoln and I was very surprised because of the price of the welder.

I did compare some of parts and the welder uses tweeco tips and will run .035 wire. As for the gun I did not try to plug the Lincoln one into the northern welder but I did examine the two and the plug in looks the same, the only difference was the trigger electrical plug in that interfaces with the welder was a little different and that cold be changed easily. The wire roller looked the same but the hole that goes onto the drive motor is a little bit bigger on the northern welder but you could drill a Lincoln roller out one bit size and it would fit if needed. The only other thing is they could have made the polarity wire that hooks to the gun a little longer to make it easier to switch polarities. The northern welder is made by the Chinese and it is all metric. Below are some pictures of the inside of both welders and remember the northern unit is an 110v model and the Lincoln is a 220v model because I did not have a weld Pac 100 to compare it too.

[joedirt1966]

Nice post. Thanks for taking the time to post pics.

[RangerDaleXp]

Here are a few more pictures of the front and back of the welders. The northern welder has a little more modern look and one thing I wanted to add is the hinges as well as all the screw location are almost identical on both the Lincoln 155 and the Northern 135.

[oak1971]

Interesting....

[dugndeep]

I have been looking at the northern 135 mig welder also.I contacted northern to request a catalog and received it about 2 weeks ago.If you order the 135 mig welder from northern they will throw in the mig welding cart as well for free.They also have the Hobart handler 140 with free cart and free shipping for 479.00.The northern 135 is 249.00 with all accessories including gauges.I might end up getting the northern 135.
Nice post rangerdalexp

[SundownIII]

Yep,

Looks like the Chinese did a pretty good job of "reverse engineering" a Lincoln welder.

Nice to know you're getting a machine where the internal components are "almost as good" as the original.

[dugndeep]

My bad,the 130 mig is $249 and the 135 is $297

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by dugndeep

My bad,the 130 mig is $249 and the 135 is $297

You had me scared I thought you were getting a better deal then I did...

[dugndeep]

Sorry about that,I got the catalog back out and looked(wished) again,I would like to have the lincoln 140C but just can't come up with the $700 to get one but I maybe I could come up with $300 to get the northern 135.I was wondering what the wirefeed looked like,I base my opinion's about welders on their wirefeed,I know there is more to them but a good wirefeed is the start of a good welder.That is why I like the lincoln 140C with the all aluminum and brass wirefeed,seems really sturdy and durable.I know the northern 135 is made in china but it will not be used for production issues so I could probably live with that and get by with it.It has an amp range of 22-135 which is really what I am looking for,the lower the amps the better for me.I can usually fabricate my own parts so I could probably keep it running for a long time.Like rangerdalexp said you could just drill out a lincoln drive roller and make it work so as other things also to keep this welder going.Thanks for the post and picture's about the 135,I just might try one myself.....doug

[oak1971]

Get the Hobart 140 it's under 500. And made here.

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by dugndeep

Sorry about that,I got the catalog back out and looked(wished) again,I would like to have the lincoln 140C but just can't come up with the $700 to get one but I maybe I could come up with $300 to get the northern 135.I was wondering what the wirefeed looked like,I base my opinion's about welders on their wirefeed,I know there is more to them but a good wirefeed is the start of a good welder.That is why I like the lincoln 140C with the all aluminum and brass wirefeed,seems really sturdy and durable.I know the northern 135 is made in china but it will not be used for production issues so I could probably live with that and get by with it.It has an amp range of 22-135 which is really what I am looking for,the lower the amps the better for me.I can usually fabricate my own parts so I could probably keep it running for a long time.Like rangerdalexp said you could just drill out a lincoln drive roller and make it work so as other things also to keep this welder going.Thanks for the post and picture's about the 135,I just might try one myself.....doug

The Roller system is about the same as the older Lincolns as the picture shows and it has lasted 18 years with no issues.The new Lincolns have a different system now and i am sure it works as well or better too. For the price it is a great machine but for $200 more you could get a Hobart 140 that will do the same thing. Hobart is a good machine but I would take a Lincoln or a miller before a Hobart if I was willing to pay $500+ for a back up welder. It is really what your budget will allow and mine did not for a 110v welder.

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by oak1971

Get the Hobart 140 it's under 500. And made here.

Yes the hobart is a little better machine as well as the lincoln but as fare as i am concerned for the $200 extra dollars for a back up machine to do part time in the field that needs to run on 110v and with the same warranty it was just not in the budget for me as it is with lots of other people. I do prefer to buy all USA made stuff and that includes my vehicals as well but in this case the price of the northern made all the difference. If i do need to replace my small 220v lincoln it woud be another lincoln because of the 18+ years of no issues in reliabilty

[RangerDaleXp]

Sorry if the pictures are a little blurry but it was taken with a new camera. These are shots of the drive system and ignore the extra washers on the northern drive because it was a mistake due to the wrong tip in the gun and i had listened to another post to add washers to make more tension. It really was not needed. I had grabbed the wrong tip from the wrong compartment that i store my tips in and did not catch it till latter that night

[oak1971]

Originally Posted by RangerDaleXp

Yes the hobart is a little better machine as well as the lincoln but as fare as i am concerned for the $200 extra dollars for a back up machine to do part time in the field that needs to run on 110v and with the same warranty it was just not in the budget for me as it is with lots of other people. I do prefer to buy all USA made stuff and that includes my vehicals as well but in this case the price of the northern made all the difference. If i do need to replace my small 220v lincoln it woud be another lincoln because of the 18+ years of no issues in reliabilty

Not knocking your Northern. Buy what you can afford. I did the same thing by getting a Hobart vs Miller.

I had a Miller 140 and sold it 3 years ago like a dummy. My Hobart is essentially the same machine as the Miller I paid 700 for back then. even has the Miller gun. They are both owned by the same company.

My 110 is all I have. No need for a big un.

[dugndeep]

They are almost identical drive systems.I have seen other welders like Realgear,their 140 looks identical to the lincoln and the northern and they sell for $329 with all the accessories.What ever happened to lay-away?Wally world has even done away with lay-away.
I think the big 3 are cutting back and trying to save cost and are not as good as they used to be,that one comparison between lincoln and miller where the miller has wood shims stuff into the windings on the transformer,I would never have told anyone about that if I was miller,plus lincoln has done away with their smaller welders,I think the 140 is as small as they go in the new 2010 lincoln catalog,wonder why.BAD ECONOMY!

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by oak1971

Not knocking your Northern. Buy what you can afford. I did the same thing by getting a Hobart vs Miller.

I had a Miller 140 and sold it 3 years ago like a dummy. My Hobart is essentially the same machine as the Miller I paid 700 for back then. even has the Miller gun. They are both owned by the same company.

My 110 is all I have. No need for a big un.

I completely understand where you are coming from, I was very suspicious on what was being shipped to me from northern and i did hours of digging for information on this machine with not a lot of good information out there. If it was a POS when I unpacked it I was going to ship it back to them. It turned out that was not the case on this welder and i was very surprised on what i received. There was a lot of conflicting information out there on this welder and most people thought it was a Hobart clone but as i have pointed out it is not. I just thought I would try to clear the air on this welder and start this thread so other people can learn more on what this welder is and maybe try to answer a few questions as well.

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by dugndeep

They are almost identical drive systems.I have seen other welders like Realgear,their 140 looks identical to the lincoln and the northern and they sell for $329 with all the accessories.What ever happened to lay-away?Wally world has even done away with lay-away.
I think the big 3 are cutting back and trying to save cost and are not as good as they used to be,that one comparison between lincoln and miller where the miller has wood shims stuff into the windings on the transformer,I would never have told anyone about that if I was miller,plus lincoln has done away with their smaller welders,I think the 140 is as small as they go in the new 2010 lincoln catalog,wonder why.BAD ECONOMY!

The 140 is as small as they go now. I would have to say i used a friends Miller 140 some months back and i was having issues with it not working correctly but it may have been just that machine and the power source I had at the time as well as the wire the guy had in the machine. I was looking at my Lincoln 155 the other day and noticed it had a 30% duty cycle at 130 amps and the ones built a bit latter were 20% duty cycle. I think mine was built before the SP series came out and was there small 220v flagship at the time till the SP version came out....

[dugndeep]

Originally Posted by RangerDaleXp

I completely understand where you are coming from, I was very suspicious on what was being shipped to me from northern and i did hours of digging for information on this machine with not a lot of good information out there. If it was a POS when I unpacked it I was going to ship it back to them. It turned out that was not the case on this welder and i was very surprised on what i received. There was a lot of conflicting information out there on this welder and most people thought it was a Hobart clone but as i have pointed out it is not. I just thought I would try to clear the air on this welder and start this thread so other people can learn more on what this welder is and maybe try to answer a few questions as well.

Thanks for the info rangerdalexp,I would like to see more post like yours,really helps out some of us on here needing more information about certain products.I would definitely consider buying a northern now.Keep us posted on how it welds if you don't mind...thanks...doug

[RangerDaleXp]

The one thing I will be adding to this welder In the future is an extra fan at the front of the case to help pull the hot air out and improve on its duty cycle. I have the Fan picked out and need to order it and will post Pics in a few months on the install. I think all the small welding machines need a little extra cooling anyways.

[oak1971]

Extra fan is a good idea. Cheap insurance.

[RangerDaleXp]

Well I looked into what I would order for a fan but I looked at the welder and to install it where i would like would be a problem due to they glued the faceplate over the mounting screws on the front panel. They did not do it the same way on the Lincoln and to pull off the faceplate would cause warranty issues and at this point the fan option is out.....

[dugndeep]

Originally Posted by RangerDaleXp

The one thing I will be adding to this welder In the future is an extra fan at the front of the case to help pull the hot air out and improve on its duty cycle. I have the Fan picked out and need to order it and will post Pics in a few months on the install. I think all the small welding machines need a little extra cooling anyways.

Yes I added another fan to my HF 90 amper,I drilled some 5/8" holes in the bottom and added a 3" muffin fan.It blows out while the original blows in.I have never had any over heating issues so far and I run the little welder for extended priods of time.

[dugndeep]

here is where I put the other fan

[MadMax31]

That Northern looks alot like my Lincoln WeldPac100. Nice right-up. For the money, Im sure its a nice 120v setup. I spend my wad on tools that I use everyday, or damn near it. My Lincoln hasnt been fired up in over 8 months...

[transit]

Replacing the paddle fan with the same size ducted fan will make a grate improvement and only one fan needed.