Looking For Advice on MIG welder

woodworker_nathan · Jan 13, 2025

N2 Welding said:
I was under the impression some body cut outs that use new panels in place would have a backer sheet of thin sheet to aid in alignment issues and reduce burn through.

It should, but in many cases, the bar can be used to pull heat out and prevent burn through even with a backing plate.

duramax-rob · Jan 13, 2025

SDouglas said:
120v welder with infinitely variable speed and voltage, 0.023 ER70s6 wire and C25 steel mix gas to keep it simple.

Personally I'd leave a root gap and use silicon bronze wire. Silicon bronze brazing wire is the newish standard in the body industry. Leaves good support on the back side, flexes more than steel mig without cracking, inputs less heat and doesn't rust.

MIG or braze,every few welds (short stiches), stop and blow air on the sheet metal to cool it off to prevent warping. After that, the each weld will be cold for a second if you start on a tac or the end of a weld. To prevent a bunch of cold starts, start just off the last weld and weld into it and then immediately jump back to where you just started and go the other direction a short distance. The thicker the sheet metal, the more welds you can do between cooling the sheet metal.

if the rockers are on a unibody they should diffinately be WELDED in. those rockers are an integral part of the "frame". almost any rockers are a big part of the structure so I again would weld them in.

B&E Fabrication · Jan 14, 2025

I have found an all around great machine is the everlast mts225. I own one. You can do everything with that machine. I like the options with aluminum and mig. Stick works well also. They have two models. One is a multi process welder which does tig, ac dc tig, stick, stick. The other has all of those with a built in plasma cutter. Their tech service is awesome. Price is unbeatable for the options it gives. Itll run off 120 or 240v. I run mine off my gas drive all the time when doing mobile work. I started out with eastwood brand years ago. But they do not have all the fine tuning features the everlast has. Hope this helps

cornchip · Jan 16, 2025

Brand X said:
The Razorweld (Jasic) are generally solid.. I had one of their Plasma cutters (Ironton from NT)

gun dont look half bad actually. decent size ball joint. machine end of the whip looks sturdy. not sure about the push on nozzle though. electrode holder looks good. work clamp is sorta cheesy but that can be swapped easy enough. they should of used geared drive rollers imo and went to a 15' whip but all in all its decent. other than the work clamp everything seems solid. quick connect powercord in the back would help portability immensly but oh well. not bad for what it is

Brand X · Jan 16, 2025

It would feed with a 12 gun.. Both rollers driven would probably only be needed with a 15 ft gun, spray-arc,and a stronger drive motor to push everything..Lot of times, just a knurled drive roller is a way to get these setup to feed well without cranking down on the feed roll pressure .Binzel euro style gun with a Tweco #14 is a good combo The slip on Nozzle can be changed out easy enough for the screw on type... Lincoln pro guns come the same way.. and get changed right away by me..

Ground wire on the feed door is a nice touch..

cornchip · Feb 23, 2025

been messing around with this thing mostly on stick. got 10lb .030 fluxcore for the days and weeks ahead.(more on that later).
the beads turn out nice but theres some things i dont like. work clamp and stinger are crap. stinger litterly fell apart right away. handle set screw unscrewed itself. put setscrew back in but handles still loose as a goose. jaws are sloppy and misaligned.
restarts on 7018 arent that great and stick rod a good percentage of the time. low 60s ocv is probly why.
anti stick doesnt work that well as the current never fully shuts off but just drops down to 20a (according to the manual).
10' gun and leads suck if your used to 15' or 20' stuff like me.
i would of liked to seen geared rollers.
panel screen is advertised to be next generation high visibility. in a garage or overcast cloudy you can see it ok but its not high vis in bright sun.
i went full throttle at 110 output on 120 20a socket to see the duty cycle shutoff but it never shut itself off. just kept popping the breaker after a while.
powercord on back of the machine is stiff as a board in cold weather.
this machine would certainly fill a spot for alot of people. its not terribly expensive. welds decent enough. however, for everyday proffesional use i think something like the transteel is the only way to go without a doubt. so in the end it just depends on what your particular situation calls for.

cornchip · Feb 25, 2025

used up a 10lb can of 7018 with this thing and it does pretty good. for the type of stuff alot of people do it would be a good fit.

cornchip · Mar 3, 2025

put a couple hours on this thing with 7018 and it does ok once it gets going but kinda struggles a bit liting up on restrikes and to a lesser extent even new rods. a high percentage are sticking. turning hot start up super high helps alittle but it shouldnt need to be up high. i suspect most all of these less costly machines struggle liting up as they appear to have ocv down in the 60s. im use to my transpocket that nearly lites itself as the ocv is just over 100

robert-r · Mar 3, 2025

B&E Fabrication said:
I have found an all around great machine is the everlast mts225. I own one. You can do everything with that machine. I like the options with aluminum and mig. Stick works well also. They have two models. One is a multi process welder which does tig, ac dc tig, stick, stick. The other has all of those with a built in plasma cutter. Their tech service is awesome. Price is unbeatable for the options it gives. Itll run off 120 or 240v. I run mine off my gas drive all the time when doing mobile work. I started out with eastwood brand years ago. But they do not have all the fine tuning features the everlast has. Hope this helps

Better put your flame suit on!

chinchillawikinson · Mar 3, 2025

Regulators are gas-specific, but an Argon/CO₂ regulator can be used with both pure Argon and Argon/CO₂ mixes. A CO₂-only regulator is different and won’t work for Argon or mixes. If you’re just starting, a 40cf or 80cf bottle is a good size—portable but lasts a while.

cornchip · Mar 19, 2025

took this machine to a buddies and plugged into his 120v 15a garage socket. on mma mode at 90a 3/32 7018 we only made it a couple inches and pops the breaker. book says it suppose to do mma 90a on 15a breaker but doesnt appear it can. do all the china machines behave this way ?

whtbaron · Mar 26, 2025

I've tried 2 MIGs and 2 plasma on 120, which isn't a lot, but my conclusion is that 15 amp breakers for welders are a waste of time. I wouldn't even use 120 unless I was forced to...

smithdoor · Mar 26, 2025

Avoid the 120 volt welders I try two over the years and regretted the purchase.
A 240 volt is a lot better to use. Most small mig/fluxcore will work off the dryer outlet . A dual voltage is ok but have watch what buy.

Dave

pfabhobby said:
Hello,
I am looking for some advice on MIG welding. Most of the steel I use is 1/8 thick or less, thin stuff. I only weld as a hobbyist, but want to do more.
I have a stick welder and also a mig setup for only flux-core at the moment. I want to replace the rocker panels on my truck as they are rotting away. I was told to use the mig with a shielding gas.

- what gas is best argon or argon\co2?
- are the regulators specific? so can a argon\co2 reg be used on a bottle that is just argon?
- any recommendations on the gas bottle?

Thank You!

Looking For Advice on MIG welder

woodworker_nathan

duramax-rob

B&E Fabrication

cornchip

Brand X

cornchip

cornchip

cornchip

robert-r

chinchillawikinson

cornchip

whtbaron

smithdoor

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