Depends on what you are trying to weld. Thin metal, thick metal, aluminum, Stainless Steel....... Stick, MIG, TIG, Gas..... I have two welders. Stick and the smallest wattage Lincoln MIG I could buy so I can weld Sheet Metal on cars without immediately blowing through the metal.

Ya I've pondered this question. Won't be welding any alum. Most of the welding will be on this truck. Sheet metal and anything on the frame I'm sure.

I was in the same boat as you last year.  I did a ton of research and wound up buying a Miller 211.  You can run it on 120v or 240v.  I got it on sale for about $800 and it came with a free spool gun.  I still need to learn to weld though. LOL!

https://www.millerwelds.com/equipment/welders/mig-gmaw/millermatic-211-mig-welder-m30024

Go to Tractor Supply and look at the Hobart MIG welders. Miller owns Hobart, so the Hobart welders tend to be a bit cheaper than the Millers. Hobarts are good welders as are Lincolns. Millers tend to be about a half step up.

The new inverter based Miller 211 is so small and light it is hard to believe it is a high quality welding machine, but the 211 is the benchmark all the DIY welders are measured against.

Bought my first MIG, an entry level 110 volt Miller years ago, and after two weeks of screwing with it and it's lousy duty cycle, I took it back and traded it for a Lincoln 125.  That was 25 years ago, and that little puppy is still working trouble free.  For the past ten years I have been using a Lincoln 135 with the same results.  I am a self taught amateur but have used the 135 almost daily.  Just installed my sixth twelve pound spool of wire.  My experience has been mostly with light sheet metal and square tubing.  I prefer the .025 Lincoln wire, as it seems to "bite"well.  In my untrained hands the .030 and larger diameters weld faster but with less penetration.  Most welding supplies in my area do not carry Lincoln wire and will want to sell you their brand of .023 wire.  If you choose to use the .023, get a proper .023 tip for your gun.  They tell me that the .023 wire can be used in my .025 tip, but that leads to wasting the tip due to burnback.  Using Lincoln wire (order on line), I have been using the same tip for ten years now.  I bought my Lincoln 135 as a display model from Lowes for $230.00.  Other brands have their followers for sure, but IMHO, there will be no buyer remorse with a Lincoln.  The little Weldpac 100 might be too small for your needs.
Best,
Al

Last edited by Al Newman (12/13/2016 1:23 AM)

Al Newman wrote:

I have been using the same tip for ten years now.  .
Best,
Al

 
Outstanding! That's gotta be some kind of record.

Good lighting and most importantly good vision are my requirements for laying down a nice bead. I have a 14 year old Miller 175 and use strictly gas with it, my son has a yet older Hobart and gets excellent welds with flux core. He must have the right combination of wire type, size and settings down pat.
 I love my HF auto shield with adjustable shade settings.

If you want to buy a really good machine you cannot go wrong with a Miller, Lincoln, or a Hobart. Or maybe even a Esab.  If you are wanting a good entry level welder, off brand wise, I highly recommend the Klutch 140si from Northern Tool.  It welds very nicely.  If you were in the StL area, I would let you come over and try it out.  In fact if anyone in the Stl area wants to try it out, feel free to come over and weld in my floorpan.  (I have been limited by eye issues, but that is another story for another day.)   Back to the subject at hand.   I just went and looked, ant this welder is on sale rignt now, and in the holiday season, they are also offering double gift cards, Which would make this welder a tad over 300.  I tried this welder out for someone, I liked it so much, I bought one.  I also have a tired old Lincoln weld pac which is 80 amps, which it basically replaced, as it just didnt weld right.  My other welder is a Clarke EN 180 which is a 220 volt welder.  Not sure they make those anymore, but it is also a darn good welder for an offbrand.  It was made in Italy.  Biggest drawback was the short Mig lead.   If it were me.   Id probably go with in this order if price is less of an issue.  The Miller, as stated above, The Lincoln 140C,  The Lincoln 140 model available at the big box stores. *yes there is a difference*  and next on my list would be this Klutch.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200631880_200631880

You will be hard pressed to find a bad review of this welder on the internet.  I like that it has a spot weld timer, that shuts it down, and can make your spots more consistent.  Overall a GREAT welder for the price.  

220 welds smoother than 110, but on thin material you wouldn't notice a difference.  Where it makes a difference is when the material gets beyond 1/8"-3/16".  The 220V machines also tend to be higher quality meant for a shop willing to run power wire for them, etc.  This translates into increased life, longer duty cycle, etc.  But, it also translates into increased cost.  If you're mostly welding thin stuff 1/8" and below a good 110V MIG will serve you very well. 

As for tip life, I spray the MIG tip with anti-spatter and the tips last pretty long, even welding at all kinds of goofy angles, with blowback, etc.  It just forms a barrier that keeps the spatter from sticking.  The only time I've had to replace tips was when I didn't routinely spray the nozzle down.  Then I'd get some slag or spatter stick the wire to the tip and it wouldn't break lose so the tip was junk. 

I've got some thin aluminum lying around.  I'll experiment over the weekend and see if I can get it to work. 

red351 wrote:

Welding aluminum is another expensive add on kit and one more bottle that could be added to existing mig welders, but I could never get that approved by my wife.

I didn't tell my wife about the additional bottle and I was actually after some practise able to make decent aluminum welds with my 220V ESAB MIG just by changing the gas bottle and the wire. Over here we are spoiled with 220V as our household current available everywhere.
 

The issue with cheapo welders is the plastic wire feed unit. Brand names, Miller, Hobart,  etc use aluminum for that part which is much more stable  than recycled water bottles.