Technical Cheap 110V Welder for Sheetmetal on 53 Chevy

I'm debating whether to get a Lincoln Pro-Mig 135 welder with a bottle for $240 from someone locally. Supposedly the unit wasn't used much at all.

I'm debating whether it's worthwhile. I'd be learning how to do MIG mostly so I can do sheetmetal work on my 53 Chevy. My floors, firewall and trunk floors don't have rust, but there are a bunch of small holes I'd like to seal up.

One option is to just use sheetmetal, screws, and some type of silicone, or get a welder and learn and weld little pieces over all the holes.

My biggest concern is my garage outlets. I don't want to redo any electrical outlets and wiring because I'm planning to sell my home in early 2015. Does anyone know if a 110V welder really needs outlets with thick gauge wiring for sheetmetal work? I don't intend to do anything structural.

I'd have to buy a helmet, and cart, and regulator so part of me says to use sheetmetal and screws and redo later when I'm settled in a different house and invest in a good welding setup.

 

my Dad always said" when it comes to tools, buy the best you can afford"

 

I had (HAD) a 110 flux wire welder. It was a cheapie, and it was a pain. If there are good 110 welders, someone here will know, but get as good as you can afford. Some tools that you only use once in a while can be cheap, but not a welder.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm OK with spending more for a better welding setup but I don't feel like hiring an electrician to redo outlets in my garage given I want to sell and move to a different place.

I'm guessing there is nothing wrong with sealing holes with sheet metal and screws and silicone, or even sheet metal and 3M epoxy meant for body work? I would like to do things the right way but at the same time I rather spend the money when I am more settled. For now I want to cruise in my 53 a little more and with time redo a lot of things.

 

I have a Lincoln 135 and Love it for sheet metal. You can go up to 1/8" or maybe 3/16" with no problem. I have always ran it on a 25A circuit and never had any problems. This machine also runs flux cored wire but I don't like the way the welds look. If the machine you are looking at is in good shape that is a Great price. I would go for it. As for a cart buy some stock and weld up a fancy new cart as your first project. A good 4 1/2" grinder is a good thing to have to go along with it all too.

 

I know I am going to catch hell for this but I bought a little 90 amp flux core MIG from... Harbor Freight. Now with that being said I only needed to do a small patch job with it and I didn't expect much out of it. However as I did little projects here and there I fully expected to see it burst into flames and die a month after I bought it but its been 2 and a half years now and I have gone through about 6 spools of (good Lincoln) wire and it is still going strong. I burned in all new floor pans and toe boards with it, made countless brackets and was able to even weld some 1/8th inch steel with good penetration with it. I guess it all depends on your skill level and budget but if your not going to be welding real thick stuff it might be worth a look. Of course as with all harbor freight stuff the quality is a bit hit and miss and I am sure someone else has a horror story about that same welder but for 90 bucks it was worth the gamble for me.

 

I dont know if its as true as it once was but the higher end 110 welders had better quality parts, as in i believe the rectifier was copper, in the cheaper ones they are aluminuim along with the wiring..

What does that mean? It means they built amperage faster which in turn gave a quicker heat build up in order to give a great quality spot weld where you had good penetration instead of just putting a weld on top of the metal with no penetration.

I prefer a smaller 220 to 110, i can build heat and amperage fast thus giving great penetration in a 1/4 hole spot weld.

 

X2 good price on the Lincoln.
Do you have any idea what size wire you have now? You might not need an upgrade.
I'll bet its #12 and will carry 20 amps.

 

That's a fair deal if you get the argon/o2 bottle also.As binger said get some angle and square tube,lawn mower wheels and make a cart...good practice.You won't like the look of screws&glue for patch work.

 

Thanks! I have used a small air compressor to fill tires and it trips the circuit breaker using the most convenient outlet. When I ran the air compressor off the farther away outlet where the washer/dryer are located, it didn't trip it. I would run the welder off that outlet with a heavy duty extension cord but I don't know what gauge wiring that outlet has. I will have to take the outlet cover off and look.

 

Thanks, I'm also a beginner so I don't know if my patch work with a welder would look even worse than screws/glue. I have a bunch of tiny holes (varying sized from 1/4" to 1/2"). I'm not sure if people cut out and put new pieces for tiny holes or just put a piece right over and weld it in place. I'll have to read up on how to do patches.

 

Run a 220 welder off the dryer plug
Should take less time to look at the wire than to create a thread

 

WITH a bottle, that's a very good deal. A quality (red or blue) 110v machine on gas will let you do sheet metal work 'til the cows come home.

 

If you truely have just a few small holes to weld up. Talk to somebody with a welder. Ask him about doing it. Ask about what he wants done to prep. You do the prep work, have patches cut close to size so he just has to trim. You will be suprised how much can get done in an hour if the welder just has to weld. It will be like on TV, come back from commercial and it's done.
It will be one less thing to pack when you move.

 

Thanks so much, one of my work related colleagues has a Hobart 140 110V and said I could borrow it when I need it. I'm just bashful and hate to bug people but I'll probably do that and then get a decent 220V MIG with time.

 

That is a good 110V unit at a good price especially with a gas bottle. Later you won't have to upgrade unless you want to do chassis work and need greater capacity. At that point, you could keep the bottle and sell the machine for what you have in it.

I ran my older Lincoln 110 unit on a 15 amp breaker. When at full throttle, it would occasionally throw the breaker. After I switched the wiring and breaker over to 20 amps, in addition to not tripping the breaker, I noticed that the machine ran a better arc at full capacity than it did on the 15 amp service.

For sheet metal, you won't need the full capacity of that welder, that machine is capable of material 3 times the thickness of your floor.

 

I have an Eastwood 135 MIG. Have had it for a number of years now. One of the features I really liked was the infinite wire AND heat settings. Many of the smaller welders have just an A-B-C heat selector. I believe they had them for $279 yesterday.

 

I have used my 110 Lincoln for over 20 years. Best money I ever spent. Definitely go with the shield gas, not flux core. Only reason I bought my 220 mig was to make sure I had plenty of amps to weld the roll cage in my stude. I use the 110 Lincoln 99% of the time. Damn good little machines. Did all the sheet metal work on my cars with the 110.

 

I had a Hobart 140 Handler and I think you will like your borrowed version. It was fine for me but the wife wanted to weld heavy "stuff" so we upgraded. i suspect you will do fine.

 

I got an Eastwood a few years ago for $179 and free shipping. It works pretty good for sheetmetal.

 

Another vote for the pro mig. If the circuits in the garage now aren't up to snuff it shouldn't take that much effort or cost that much to have an electrician run wire from the panel to one plug or maybe two that you can run a higher amp circuit on. If the panel is in the garage they could probably put the plug real close to the panel and y0u could run your heavier extension cord off it from there.
One of the guys mentioned running a 220 welder off the dryer plug. For years I ran my big Forney welder plugged into the plug for the kitchen stove. I usually did my welding when my wife was at work then. When I got my mig I ran under ground conduit to the garage and my brother wired it for 220. I changed plugs on the big extension cord I have (actually SO cord for three phase) and can use the welder 50 ft from the plug in.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone! I am going to try and get the Lincoln 135 with the bottle and if it doesn't work out I can sell it later.

 

For that price grab that Lincoln....that's a good welder for the hobby guy and welding sheet metal

 

I have a Lincoln 135 that I run of the regular 15 amp outlets in my garage. But if you are just going to fill some holes just gas weld it.

 

My choice would be a Millermatic 135 but they are pricey

 

I've got a 110V Lincoln and I love it. Only used the flux core in it so far, but it's worlds ahead of the Chinese one I had before. The flux core isn't bad on things like floors that will be covered anyway. You can always grind the welds down if needed.

 

I have a Millermatic 135, but the Lincoln will be a good welder for you. Don't use the flux wire, use gas, especially on sheetmetal

 

That machine will accomplish what you want. Use good wire, use gas, practice on scraps before you move to the car.
I'm concerned on the wiring in your garage, if you run that machine on 110v 20 amp circuit you should be ok. If you're in the suburbs/spec house you normally get 1 or 2 outlets at the end of a maxed out 15 amp circuit. If that's the situation, you may have trouble getting good performance from any welder.

 

Thanks, yea I know, in the outlet closest to where I'd be working just running a small air compressor trips the breaker. When I run it off the dryer/washer outlet it doesn't. I will try the welder there and see what happens but before that I will be looking to see if its a 20A outlet and what kind of wiring is there. I'm probably going to sell my home next year and the breaker box is outside to the left wall of the garage so I'm thinking it could be expensive to have an outlet installed, but im not sure.

 

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I went ahead and bought the Lincoln 135 and the Bottle for $240. I will be posting pictures when I have a little time. Thanks!