Needz a weldur

[Hydra]

My 20 yr old mig just lit on fire the other day so I need me a new one

id like something big enough to handle 1/4-3/8", I have ability to run 220 thanks to my homebrew 220 extention cable, and I'd like shielded gas but I haven't used fluxcore so I really am open to suggestions, spanks

[Even]

I just picked up a brand new in box Lincoln 175 for 400 bucks off craigslist a couple months ago and couldn't be happier. If you are patient, there are plenty of deals out there to be had. It's small and very portable, and it welds 1/4" with absolutely no problem. The guy I bought it from ran a welding shop, and claimed I could weld up to 1/2" with multiple passes. If you stick with the big 3 (Lincoln, Hobart, or Miller) you shouldn't have a problem with quality.

This is the one- http://reviews.pricegrabber.com/sold...ls/m/12984001/

Run shielding gas. I used my fathers arc welder for a while, and even burned up the 2lb spool of flux that came with the welder originally. I went down and bought my own tank of CO2/Ar and I wouldn't be caught dead welding with flux core again. The only real downside to running gas is using it on windy days can be interesting, but I personally haven't had a problem welding outside as of yet.

Dana uses the exact same welder IIRC.

[CSaddict]

A 175 will weld 1/2 but you would need an extremely heavy bevel and multiple passes to get there. Then you will run up against the duty cycle and it will struggle.

[Hydra]

Well, the other thing is I have a 220 arc unit so I wouldn't be welding any 1/2" with the mig, anything >3/8 I would use the arc.

The main project I need this for is my stiffener