The Northern Tool 135 Welder.

[T-Bird]

I just picked up one of these welders used for $225 including cart and standard helmet. So far, I love it.

[HankC1]

good deal for a welder with the capacitor. What size is it?

[SpEd]

I'll admit it...I'm a big time rookie at this. I was looking at the Hobart Handler 140 when I first decided to learn to weld. I had been to Northern as well as Tractor Supply and they were the same price. I was ready to pull the trigger when I stumbled across the NT135. Upon reviewing the specs, I figured it would do pretty much all that the HH140 would do and priced at $349 would do it at $130 cheaper. OK, cheaper isn't always better I know. Once I'd decided to get the NT135, I went to the website and lo and behold they had dropped the price to $299. I travelled to the North side of Houston that evening and picked one up. I used the savings to buy a Northern chop saw and have had the time of my life buring steel. I should have done this years ago, but being on the budget I am I would have never been able to do this buying a Miller or Lincoln. A couple weeks before this, I had used a buddy's Lincold Weld Pak 100 and I thought the two were identical inside too.

It may not be American (I ride a Harley and drive a Jeep) but there is definitely a place for welders like this. I've often thought as to whether I'll trade "up" to another welder, but I think I'm satisfied with my results so far. Maybe ignorance is bliss. LOL

I've spent many many years with the same old New Year's Resolution to lose weight. Trust me when I tell you that it hasn't worked. This year I decided to learn how to weld and it's paying off like nobody's business. Here's my first project. You should have seen some of the welds....they were terrible. But I'm getting better and having a blast!

[dugndeep]

Here is that Realgear 140 welder I was talking about earlier.It is distributed by Gts-Welco.It sells for 329.99 and is similiar to the northern and the lincoln.It come with regulator and wire and tips,spare knurled roller,etc plus it is continuous voltage control,not tapped,still made in china though........

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by transit

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

I plan on installing 120mm fan in the front to push out the hot air and give the welder a good cross flow when i can feel comfortable about removing the face plate without damaging it, As for dugndeeps H.F. welder I would go with the 176mm or bigger fan below if it will fit pictured below...

[RangerDaleXp]

Well here is an update, I have run the welder on four rather extensive field projects and so fare no issues. Two of the trips out I had to weld a lot of 1/4 inch and some 3/8 steel and had to run the welder at the max settings beyond the 20% and more like 30% to 40% duty cycle and it handled it fine. The only complaint I have is the reference sheet that comes on the cover is not at all accurate for a starting point and had to run test welds before welding on the projects.

[farmersamm]

When pigs fly

It's a clone, and I wouldn't touch it.

Well gee Sam, ya must be made of money to buy the "expensive" stuff.

It's precisely because I'm not made of money that I stay away from this kind of stuff. Spending money again to buy a good machine just doesn't make sense. And you will have to replace this machine well before it's time.

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by farmersamm

When pigs fly

It's a clone, and I wouldn't touch it.

Well gee Sam, ya must be made of money to buy the "expensive" stuff.

It's precisely because I'm not made of money that I stay away from this kind of stuff. Spending money again to buy a good machine just doesn't make sense. And you will have to replace this machine well before it's time.

You are absolutely one to stir up the crap and that is what you do!!!. This was a post to share what this welder is and you are very rude!!!. Speak English when you post so you so you don't sound stupid. If you have an opinion that is no issue, but base it on facts and not fiction! Always put facts down and not B.S. like you do. There is always someone like you in the crowd that that can't talk about things but heats things up. Get a grip and let it go......

Personnaly you come off like a fracken ***????. you fill in the blanks mister master welder 6.238......

Sorry for the outburst everyone but I thought that his rude reply was UN-called for for someone that has no experience with this product and is just throwing an uneducated opinion on a product.....

[farmersamm]

English?????

"I have run(?) the welder on four rather extensive field projects (no comma?) and so fare(?) no issues"

Doood, you're the one who brought it to the "personal" level. I haven't gone there in a long time. Anyone on here will attest to that. I gave that up quite a ways back.

I've stated an opinion, based on some experience with low priced equipment, albeit not welding equipment, I've never taken that chance with hard earned money.

I do, however, see many woeful complaints about defective units on this board, and most are units originating "offshore".

I'm sorry (sorta) if I crapped in your mess kit. I'll stay off this thread from now on out.

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by farmersamm

English?????

"I have run(?) the welder on four rather extensive field projects (no comma?) and so fare(?) no issues"

Doood, you're the one who brought it to the "personal" level. I haven't gone there in a long time. Anyone on here will attest to that. I gave that up quite a ways back.

I've stated an opinion, based on some experience with low priced equipment, albeit not welding equipment, I've never taken that chance with hard earned money.

I do, however, see many woeful complaints about defective units on this board, and most are units originating "offshore".

I'm sorry (sorta) if I crapped in your mess kit. I'll stay off this thread from now on out.

You state no issues with the welder but you complain about it. I do not understand?. As of bringing things up it was not me but you that heated the issue and no one else till you put in the words when pigs fly and so on with no explanations on why there is an issue?. All input is good and it is what make these site great for information, but with no explanation on why and a few words in the air do not work with no background. all I say is do not post an opinion unless you no the subject. As for staying off this post or any other post you do not need to, But base it off of good information and truth and not because you have had trouble with one product you need to blame another with no experience with that product,,,,,

[joedirt1966]

The purchase of a welder is a personal thing. Some, because of economic constraints, choose to purchase “non-brand name” welders based on price. Others will lean towards name brand for their own reasons.

Posts relating the functioning of name and non-name brand welders are informative to all of us. Real time personal experience with all of these welders helps future purchasers make decisions.

If the purchaser of a non-brand welder is satisfied with his purchase……more power to him. If they have a bad experience (DOA unit), both they and I have learned something. In the second case, I have learned something at no expense to myself other than my time spent to read their post.

Regardless of the manufacturer, I say, “Bring on the reviews!”

Information is power.

[RangerDaleXp]

As fare as I am concerned with Farmersamms posting to my update of the welder I considered it a rude and unprofessional reply but that is water under the bridge now as fare as I am concerned. Dugndeep had ask for an update on how it tested and then I see a post to mine saying when Pigs Fly......

I have around four welders, some I bought new and some that were used mostly Lincolns. All the Lincolns are 220v but I had bought a Miller 140 used and had a lot of trouble with it and It became a black hole throwing money at it on parts going bad, It looked like a good welder on the outside but inside it had a questionable life but I don't rag on miller for the bad experience. I sold it to a guy that needed parts for his own Miller 140. This happened a few years ago.

I then needed a 110v welder and I did not want to spend $700 to $800 for a welder that is used part time when 220v is not available. I did a lot of research on the Northern Welder and It received very good reviews. It looked a lot like my Lincolns and It was being sold by a big outfit like northern tool so I would think parts and service would be good as well. Also since it is a clone of a Lincoln I should be able to use some of the Lincoln parts to fix it if needed in the future.

I started the thread because there was questions that were not answered out there and since I did take a chance with this product I would answer questions and keep everyone updated. But on the other hand I do not need someone telling me that I am full of Poo because he does not like overseas stuff and had problems with a different product entirely.

It is water under the Bridge now.

[Don Pablo]

RangerDaleXp, Many thanks for this review with excellent pics. The lay up and quality of fabrication look very nice.

The RealGear 140 is similar but has the advantage of being spool ready for the Lincoln small spool gun. A for the picky guys the voltage potentio is a pleasure.

One year ago I contacted the RealGear seller at Ebay about shipping one to Mexico. He answered me that he didn't see any problem about shipping but that he was worried because Real Gear would not able to offer me a good guarantee service, the machine being in Mexico...-smile-

A friend of mine, who runs a small shop, bought a miller 140 with spool gun, sold in Mexico at the unfriendly price of 1,300.00 US$ beginning of 2009. This machine was a misery and never worked properly, specially the spool gun being unable to weld aluminum. I'm sure that the mother board is defective. A Mexican small individual customer has to forget about the guarantees by Lincoln or Miller, which care only of the big accounts in Mexico. No possibilty to sue, so you are a piece of s... for them. We are not in the States...

So he was in despair with a bad machine, no way to fix it unless putting more money, a 1300 US dollars loss (enormous for a small artisan here, that would represent 6000USD in the States) out of money and in bad need of a small mig for earning his life. An american friend bought for him one RealGear 140, and Real Gear spool gun ( at 75 USD yes!!!) with his good American credit card in exchange of work.

So I tried this RealGear which is also a clone of the Lincoln, works very nicely, very smooth and precise. Uses Tweco consumables so no worry. The spool gun looks cheapo but runs very well also, and welds aluminum like a breeze with a 045 tip, 75/25 gas shield and 4043 or 5356 wire. Until 1/8 thick 6063 plate, and with preheating 3/16. The machine runs all day in the shop for small jobs, and until now without any problem.

Myself, being very old school, I weld aluminum with oxy-acetilene torch until 1/2" with my French torches and German fluxes. I'm a dinosaur.

I guess that the Northern Tool is of the same vein, the number of good reviews is impressive. And at 330 some dollars, it's a good buy. Chinese are improving and will do like the Japanese did 50 years ago. We'll see.

[RangerDaleXp]

I found out about the realgear after I had bought the northern welder, I had started to think that I would have done better buying the realgear but after looking at the pictures of the wire drive system posted on this thread and doing an Internet search for support on that unit I thought I still made the better choice. This is why.

1. I thought that the northern welder had a much closer drive system to the Lincoln compared to what the realgear had. In the picture the realgear looked a lot cheaper looking then the northern one.

2. There was not much out there on the Internet on the realgear and there website had almost nothing on the welder, that really concerned me. Also I only found one small dealership that sold it and it was back east somewhere. Northern tool is a very big tool outlet in the states and Canada. they are even in England so that gave me a better feeling on support and a line for parts.

What I do like is the continues voltage control of the realgear but that was really was not important enough to me on this type of unit. I would have really loved to have the spool gun option with the northern unit though if it was offered. It would be nice to see if someone would do an inside and out review of the realgear so people can see what makes it tic.

Again thank you for your posting.

[Don Pablo]

You're 95% right Dale.
The NT drive system looks better, that's sure, and Northern Tools is a very serious and reliable house. The adaptation of a spool gun which must have its own speed feeding control is not a difficult task.

About Real Gear, yes that looks like a small business importation, but the dealer GTS Welco is not a small one...OK, far East.

But for us Mexicans we are used to find our material very far if we want to work, as what we get here is expensive and/or crap. An example the small Lincoln spool gun costs about 190 US$ in the States, in Mexico 386 US$ plus 16% sales taxes. The less expensive DC TIG welder, a 160 amps no brand crap, is 950 US$ sold by a guy who believes that a potentiometer is a sex toy, and the first correct one the GYS DC 160 Amps costs 1177 US$ plus the 16% sales tax...

Have a nice day.

[RangerDaleXp]

Well I thought I would do a little update. It has been a year and three months and the machine has been running great, Due to the fact it is a 110v welder and I do a lot of 3/16 to 1/4 inch and some 5/16 welding, the machine gets ran pretty hard. Other then forgetting to strap the spool when it gets transported in the truck and ending up with a bit of a rats nest in the machine it has tackled and done everything I have expected from it. Almost all of the time it is ran off a generator. Two months ago even my buddy bought one after watching how well mine has held up.

I have absolutely no regrets in buying it.....

[jtcnj]

Old thread I know, but it is relevant in that Northern is offering refurb 135s for $254.99, but only a 3mo warranty vs. new for $339.99 3yr limited warranty.

How's that thing running Dale?

[RangerDaleXp]

Originally Posted by jtcnj

Old thread I know, but it is relevant in that Northern is offering refurb 135s for $254.99, but only a 3mo warranty vs. new for $339.99 3yr limited warranty.

How's that thing running Dale?

Other then the roller getting dirty a few times causing the wire to slip on the roller. Both welders have been doing just fine. Still planing to get a knurled roller from Lincoln and drilling it slightly bigger and installing it instead....

[legotech7]

Hello all. Well I purchased my 135 from Northern Tool. I searched the thread but couldn't find an answer. I set it up for flux core and noticed in the booklet that for flux core you need to use another tip that come with the package. But the tip looks like it made of some sort of plastic or composite material. Has anyone noticed or used this particular tip?It doesn't seem right to me. Can anyone tell me if this is correct? I might have to call their tech. support.

Thought Id try this forum first.
Thanks.............

[Jimbob]

I've used it before. It fits the small Lincoln welders, as well as my Campbell Hausfeld. It fits in place of the metal nozzle you would use for solid wire and gas. The only advantage to using it, is it allows you to see a bit better.

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by legotech7

Hello all. Well I purchased my 135 from Northern Tool. I searched the thread but couldn't find an answer. I set it up for flux core and noticed in the booklet that for flux core you need to use another tip that come with the package. But the tip looks like it made of some sort of plastic or composite material. Has anyone noticed or used this particular tip?It doesn't seem right to me. Can anyone tell me if this is correct? I might have to call their tech. support.

Thought Id try this forum first.
Thanks.............

I'm thinking you probably mean nozzle. The tip is what the wire feeds out of, the nozzle goes over the diffuser and/or tip depending on the application. Anyway, the flux core nozzles don't do much other than protect the holes in the gas diffuser from clogging up with spatter and act as a bump guard to help prevent from arcing from the work piece to your gun should you bump against the work piece in a tight spot.

Most flux nozzles are some sort of magic plastic or material with maybe a bronze insert. They'll slowly burn away but are cheap enough in the scheme of things.

[legotech7]

Thanks for the reply's. Yes I meant the nozzle tip. So I guess after some use it might melt away, but there ok to use on flux core wire? I'm all new at this and can't wait to lay down some beads. I'm working on a project car and this will help me a lot. Hopefully!

Thanks everyone, hope to contribute to this forum in the near future.........

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by legotech7

Thanks for the reply's. Yes I meant the nozzle tip. So I guess after some use it might melt away, but there ok to use on flux core wire? I'm all new at this and can't wait to lay down some beads. I'm working on a project car and this will help me a lot. Hopefully!

Thanks everyone, hope to contribute to this forum in the near future.........

Yeh, use it. It'll just slowly char (burn) away. Not something you see happening, you'll just notice that it's shorter or lop sided one day after a whole bunch of wire. You won't burn it up using the 2lb rolls. Have fun.

[legotech7]

Thanks Sandy, I'll try it. Also, can I use the other brass nozzle with the flux core wire or do I have to specifically need to use that plastic nozzle in order to use the flux core wire?

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by legotech7

Thanks Sandy, I'll try it. Also, can I use the other brass nozzle with the flux core wire or do I have to specifically need to use that plastic nozzle in order to use the flux core wire?

You can use the brass nozzle but it's big and blocks the view and will be dropping big slag goobers back into the weld puddle all the time. One of the side benefits of flux core is no gas nozzle needed and therefor a better view of what's going on and you can get into tighter spots without the gas nozzle. Tons of folks run flux core self shielded with no nozzle at all. Just a lot of cleanup of the end of the gun required when you go back to gas plus you run the risk of bumping the gas diffuser area or nozzle retaining area against something while you're welding. If you always run flux core no biggy. If you want to switch back to gas shielded and you've put big melted spots and your diffuser it'll cost a few bucks for a new one. Not a budget buster but if kind of a pain having to shut down and go get a new tip adapter.

Just put the flux nozzle on and run it.