On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 08:21:19 -0500, "RogerN" wrote:

I've been trying to do some body work and rust repair on my truck before I
sell it and I'm getting close to the point of needing to weld in some metal
to replace the rusted metal. This isn't so much to increase the value of
the truck as it is to learn to do some body work and rust repair. My welder
is a Century 145A (IIRC) 230V Sam's Club special that came with the MIG Gas
regulator kit.

For my current location and to weld thin auto body sheet metal it would be
nice to have a 120V welder so I was looking at what is available. Seems the
economical MIG welders (Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, etc.) are set up for
flux core and the thinnest they advertise to weld is 18 Ga. and the addition
of the MIG kit puts their price near the price of the little bit better MIG
welders.

Looking around, I found a welder that looks interesting, a Millermatic 211.
It will run up to 140A on from 120V or up to 210A from a 230V supply.
Sounds like just what I need, light duty running out to my auto body and
heavier duty shop welding. Plus it is ready for a spool gun (on sale
locally for $179). Everything sounded great until I looked at the price,
$949 on sale locally, sounds like a good price for this welder but still
pretty expensive. It would fill all my MIG needs in one machine plus I
could add aluminum spool gun capability. And it looks like a bottle of
Argon for TIG + MIG aluminum and a bottle of 75/25 Argon/CO2 would set me up
with all the gas I need for about anything I'm likely to weld.

Any recommendations on a favorite MIG welder for auto body sheet metal?

RogerN


Im not...not a body guy. Id rather take a beating than do body work.

But Ive got a little Lincoln Weldpac 100 and a Hobart 150 (220vot) that
do rather nicely for this sort of work. The Weldpak is 110volts and one
can easily install a gas kit into it for less than $100.

Ive had the Lincoln for at least 10 yrs, its banged around the inside of
my service trucks most of that time, and it still works just hunky dory.

Ive loaned the Lincoln out a number of times to buddies who do body work
and they all have had no issues with it. The Hobart gets less such work
as it is 220volt..but it will go down there just fine, with .020 wire,
just like the Lincoln.

I think the Lincoln runs $340ish or thereabouts and the Hobarts
replacement is about $450

Ebay may be one place to check as some..some..some of the pricing has
gone down as buyers have run out of money due to the economy and one can
find some really good deals occasionally.

I have found that with mig welders...getting one locally and actually
running a bead or 3 tends to be best..as you know exactly what you are
getting. And any issues have ether been correcte by the present
owner..or they will tell you about them if you ask properly.


Gunner, who buys and sells welding equipment


One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that,
in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers
and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are
not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.
Gunner Asch