Comments on: Getting Started Welding: A Comparison of 14 Flux-Core/MIG Welders

By: Rachet

Rachet — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:39:08 +0000

Oh and P.S. That Welder is a Lincoln.

By: Rachet

Rachet — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:38:17 +0000

I`m a newb to welding and i`m soon to get my hands on a Pro-Core 125Mig Flux-Core wire welder. At $419, it isnt the cheapest to buy but I figure the best bang for the best welder company out there buck. I`ve looked around at a few places and a few sites and found it to be the best. The reason i`m going for it is simple, most other models have no or very odd types of heat switchs or no good switchs at all, and this model has a plain easy to read heat dial. The arcticle is awesome and Hope to get some more tips and info for MIG welding! Keep it up guys!

By: Alec

Alec — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:27:00 +0000

Chuck thanks for an informative article, Though I’m a total newbie to welding, your article helped explain the differences between mig, flux and stick welding and how it would relate to my welding projects. In fact your article helped me with my decision to purchase the Lincoln Electric Weld Pak 125HD.

THANK YOU CHUCK!!

Alec
San Diego, California

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:56:46 +0000

I have sure enjoyed the informative links on your website. Great information and will visit regularly.

By: Charlie H.

Charlie H. — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:50:33 +0000

I’m coming in a bit down the road, here, but I’ve been researching for a bigger 110v welder. I just read (somehwere) the ‘C’ stands for rheostat. Brand wise I’m leaning toward a lincoln either the Weldpac 3200hd, Power mig 140, or Pro mig 140. Cept I can’t quite see the significance between these verses the money difference. If in doubt go for the middle one, I guess. Enjoyed the comment’s.

By: Scott Spurlin

Scott Spurlin — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:55:39 +0000

Thank you for posting this entry level welder comparison article. After reading this article and the Lincoln electric manuals/literature I still cannot figure out the difference between the Lincoln 140C and 140T models. I understand that the C is for “continuous start” and the T is for “Tap start”. Please explain what this means and how it applies to welding.

Thanks;

Scott

By: Moo

Moo — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:37:28 +0000

Oh…and PS…. let’s see you know-it-alls do all of the above for what Chuck got paid for this.. probably $0.

By: Moo

Moo — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:36:06 +0000

Great article - helped me a lot. Yeah, there’s a couple of factual errors that should be fixed… but they don’t affect the target audience (welding newbies) - so lighten up people. I get tired of the know-it-alls who just HAVE to make believe they’re smarter than they guy who did the research. Let’s see YOU crank out some articles that help others, instead of just blowing smoke up everyone’s arses. Bottom line, this was an informative, info-dense piece that is going to help a lot of people who want to get in to welding. Good job!

By: jake k

jake k — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:08:50 +0000

Thanks, even with the small error’s re stored energy and flux vs mig for penatration and weld material thickness your explanation is very helpful. It should make a newbiees decision easier!!!

By: tim

tim — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 16:28:16 +0000

actually you are wrong in stating that a mig welder will weld thicker material than fluxcore. fluxcore will weld thicker metal better with better penetration than mig all other things being equal

By: MARK SLONKA

MARK SLONKA — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:41:40 +0000

Excellent article !

Now I don’t have to spend hours explaining welding to my brother !!!

By: Roy Ortiz

Roy Ortiz — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:59:35 +0000

You should do an additional story on welding aluminum with a MIG welder. Do the same chair but with aluminum.

By: Toolmonger » Blog Archive » Toolmonger’s Top 5: The Week in Tools - all tools, all the time.

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:14:29 +0000

[...] Getting Started Welding: A Comparison of 14 Flux-Core/MIG Welders (June 14, 2006) If you’ve been wanting to jump in and start welding, now’s the time. Wire welding’s a whole lot easier than stick welding, and prices have dropped to the point where we found a number of great wire welders for under $500. [...]

By: Colby

Colby — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:30:52 +0000

The Hobart Handler 125 EZ can be had for $354.89 at Sears. Thanks for the article, I’ve been looking for some advise like this as I really want to buy a welder.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@0143703178.1150464535@@@@&BV_EngineID=cckcaddidekhhemcegecegjdghldfom.0&vertical=SEARS&sid=I0093600100004900085&pid=00946848000 ” target=”_blank”>Here’s the Sears link.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 20:18:08 +0000

You may want to dig a little deeper into the theory of operation for welder power supplies. Duty cycle is dependant on the ability of the welder to cool it self, not the amount of electricity it is “storing”. MIG welders work by taking wall voltage and stepping it down (usually with a transformer) to the voltage you are going to be welding at, then rectifying it to DC. Other than the energy stored in the magnetic field of the transformer and perhaps a few capacitors here and there, no energy is stored for later use.

By: Cybergibbons

Cybergibbons — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 20:17:52 +0000

The water tower analogy with the duty cycle in this article isn’t correct - the welder doesn’t have any significant amount of energy storage inside it. The reason the current is higher is because the voltage has been stepped down. The duty cycle is because the wires and components aren’t rated at full current and would overheat if used all of the time.

By: Toolmonger » Blog Archive » How-To: Build a Game Chair with a $380 Wire Welder - all tools, all the time.

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:07:46 +0000

[...] In yesterday’s comparison post we gave you the information you need to select an entry-level flux-core/MIG welder for your shop. In today’s follow-up, we’ll walk you through using one of the welders from the comparison to build an inexpensive game chair to make playing GT4 or Forenza a lot more fun. [...]