what welder should i get?

[85Yota]

I'm been rocking same Lincoln PowerMig 200 since 2002ish when my parents bought it new to modify their business dump truck bed. I have also owned 2 others and no problem with them ever either. I sold one to @the_fablab_ I believe he has a couple Miller welders too but I don't know what model's they are. They're not new by any means either. My "new" machines have always been used and new to me.

 

[88WhiteTurd]

ok so life got away from me and haven't done much to the project but i sold a motorcycle i had and have some cash for a welder, i've been looking at everlast and its between 2 different ones for me. the one thing i'm confused on is one of the welders runs .030 / .035 and the other runs .035/.045 i would assume that running a larger wire would be better for doing a SAS and other off road activities any advice would be sick

the 2 machines are the Thunder 225 MTS / Thunder 255 MTS

 

[Fenix Motorsports]

ok so life got away from me and haven't done much to the project but i sold a motorcycle i had and have some cash for a welder, i've been looking at everlast and its between 2 different ones for me. the one thing i'm confused on is one of the welders runs .030 / .035 and the other runs .035/.045 i would assume that running a larger wire would be better for doing a SAS and other off road activities any advice would be sick

the 2 machines are the Thunder 225 MTS / Thunder 255 MTS

The roller size (and wire size) should be interchangeable so it isn't of the utmost importance, .035 is what I run typically but you should be able to run down to .030 and weld 1/4in material just fine; which tends to be the thickest most people in this industry use. The real difference between the two welders you are looking at is actually the duty cycle and amperage rating, the 255 is rated for 255 amps @ 60%, the 225 is rated at 225 amps @ 35%, it also has 110v capability whereas the 255 is 220v only.

I might not be 100% correct, but the duty cycle for welders is typically laid out like this, that 60% is 60% of a 10 minute interval that the machine can run (weld) continuously before needing to rest, so you get 6 minutes of continuous welding at peak output (255 amps in this example) before it needs a break. So that's something to take into account if you think you will be doing a lot of continuous runs with no breaks.

But either machine should do what you need it to do just fine.

 

[88WhiteTurd]

The roller size (and wire size) should be interchangeable so it isn't of the utmost importance, .035 is what I run typically but you should be able to run down to .030 and weld 1/4in material just fine; which tends to be the thickest most people in this industry use. The real difference between the two welders you are looking at is actually the duty cycle and amperage rating, the 255 is rated for 255 amps @ 60%, the 225 is rated at 225 amps @ 35%, it also has 110v capability whereas the 255 is 220v only.

I might not be 100% correct, but the duty cycle for welders is typically laid out like this, that 60% is 60% of a 10 minute interval that the machine can run (weld) continuously before needing to rest, so you get 6 minutes of continuous welding at peak output (255 amps in this example) before it needs a break. So that's something to take into account if you think you will be doing a lot of continuous runs with no breaks.

But either machine should do what you need it to do just fine.

Awesome! I saw that in regards to the duty cycle, I’m no production welder so I think I’ll save the 500 bucks lol, thanks for the help

 

[84Prerunner]

For vehicle fab no reason to run anything over .035 wire. Out shop we prefer .030 for everything vehicle related. Only use .035 when building industrial stuff, burning through scale on hot rolled plate and welding 3/8” thick stuff.

 

[Donttellmywiferacing]

i have to say the vulcan multiprocess is great for the money