Opinion on welder

[Endangered Species]

I have a line on a Lincoln Mig Weld Pak 175HD. I'm going to use it for body work on the car. I talked to the owner and he said that the heat control is the click style instead of the infinite heat control.
I'll be doing a lot of sheet metal work and I would rather be able to have more control of the heat.

Does anyone have any experience with this welder?

 

[Bens69PlymouthSatellite]

I picked up an eastwood for 299.00 no shipping from the ebay eastwood 110/135 my friend who has been a boilermaker 4 8yrs tried it out and said its just as nice as any Miller/hobart/lincoln he has used,has infinite wire/heat as well which I would look 4 not that I am a pro buy any means.

 

[Donny]

Get good name-brand stuff! Lincoln is great stuff. I've had my Power Mig 200 for nearly 10 yrs now! Today, I took my nibbler from Harbor Freight and threw it as hard as I could into the floor as it's a total piece of ****; never buy any more air tools from cheap Chinese vendors ever again!

 

[moparpoor]

My personal favorite is HTP welders I have used there mig 160 for the last 12 years in the production world of collision repair with no problems.I can actually dial it down and weld razor blades together.It is an inverter style welder only requires 30amp service.The price is right at 899.00.

 

[Endangered Species]

I forgot to mention that I can get this thing for about $400.00 with bottle. Thats what has my interest.

 

[66_B_Body4ever]

The Lincoln is a great, solid welder. As you mentioned the drawback is the stepped voltage settings. Infinite is the way to go, but at that price I would learn to adapt I think. Tough call, can you try it out on some 22 ga. with a little weld thru primer to see how she performs?

 

[Cranky]

If it's set up for gas and not flux core, you're a step ahead of the game but the little welders are just that...little welders. The duty cycle is low and you can't do much with them except for what you are wanting to do but if you're go spend the money, why not put more with it and buy a better machine....one that will go down low and go up higher. I had a smaller weld pac and it was pretty worthless to me. In 86, I traded a motorcycle for a MillerMatic 200 MIG and I can weld sheet metal with it or something that's 1/4" if I need to. I since bought a Miller 250 TIG Runner and so far, I really like it but I think that's a bit more than you want to spend. Btw, how large is the bottle and is it a homeowner's bottle and does it have a good cert on it? If it's a large bottle and belongs to a company, then it's pretty much worthless to you unless you can get that company to take it and have it filled. Study up on this stuff before you lay down the green....btw, good machines only pay dividends back to you.

 

[66_B_Body4ever]

The old Miller 200's are a good machine, but the gun size (200 amp) makes it a little cumbersome at times...the Lincoln 175 is capable of welding any steel on our unibodies and will weld up to 1/4 inch not exceeding the duty cycle. The Miller 200 I have has stepped voltage settings, and a hi/lo range. The problem with it is fine tuning for light gauge metals and weld through primer. I use a Lincoln 135 A 110V for the light stuff and are near indestructible and has an infinite voltage adjustment. I have heard alot of good about the 175 Lincoln and use the Lincoln 255XT / 220V w/ spool gun attachment at work...all good machines.

 

[Cranky]

Yup, the stock gun is kinda big on the 200 but with a smaller gun and wire, it's not hard to tune it in. I'm not saying not to get the 175 and can't say anything against it since I've never used one but it seems to me the more modern larger machines are more than capable of doing well with thin metals and still have the capability to weld the thicker stuff to....and for the money, the 175 sounds like a deal.

 

[Endangered Species]

Thanks for your input guys I appreciate it. I know bigger is better but for the money I can't justify $1000.00 - $1500.00, because most of what I do is sheet metal. (not to mention bigger welders take up more space....wich I am lacking right now) I was leaning towards the Lincoln 140 with the infinite heat control, but when I found this used 175 I figuard hey bigger is better, but I'm hung up on the NON infinite heat. I'm working on a rusted out 65 Plymouth, so a lot of the metal I'll be working on will be pretty thin.
I like the idea of taking a piece of 22ga and trying to weld it. I think I'll do that.
I have a tig welder Lincoln 175, but man... it's slow going not to mention trying to lie under the car and tig weld is a real treat.

Thanks again

Kevin