I actually asked for a review on these welders in the "ask a welder" thread I have never tig welded before, and am looking to replace a mig/flux unit. I just had a cheap $300 mastercraft before which suited my purpose for the most part, but i was pushing it beyond its limits So for a hobby welder that melts broken things back together for friends what do you think about the MigMAX https://www.harborfreight.com/weldi...-215-welder-with-120240-volt-input-63617.html I have access to 240 so think it would be wise to go that route, but still have the ability to use 110 The old unit i had had adjustable wire speed and 2 temp settings I have never tig welded before and am not sure i ever would Here is what i was looking at before finding these new HF units http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/lincoln-electric-mig-pak-140-wire-feed-welder-0588040p.html#srp if it were your money, what would you do
There is no other welder that offers a 1 year, risk free return window. None. That alone should be enough to choose the Orange, but to add to it, if within 90 days you decide you like it and intend to keep it, buy the 2 year additional warranty for around $100 and you get 3 years replacement. No parts, diagnosis, shipping etc...just carry it in and they'll give you a new one. That was it for me.
I figured if i bought it i would go for the warranty since i am in Canada, and only go to a city in the USA with Harbour Freight about once a year. I am sure i would like it as it will be a big step up from my Canadian Tire mastercraft i had. Will the 240V allow me to weld much thicker like 3/8 steel without issue? my 110v i had before would do 1/8 ok, and for 1/4 i would have to warm up with a torch to get any real penetration Also is TIG something that a hobby welder would take on, or is pretty advnaced from running a simple bead? Planning to go to Duluth sometime in March, and am hoping to get this welder and the MC lift from HF on sale if i get really lucky. I will probably plan the trip around a sale since the savings will pay for our hotel if we get them and 20% on top
Tig isn't harder, really. It's a different technique and does involve both hands, but the process is a lot more flexible than Mig and puts much less heat (HAZ is smaller) into the work than Mig. I really enjoy Tig. Mig for me is for maintenance welding. I weld 1/4" with my Hobart 135 on 120 without issue. It's just not going to do it in one pass. 240 will allow the welder to provide all the amps it's rated for, which on heavier materials will be what you want.
I am actually looking at the OmniPro 220 right now and just realized that it will do flux, mig, tig and STICK! So now i am sold on it as i used my arc welder about once a year to fix my snow plow, and built a smoker with it Long story short i have to replace 100% of my tools, so am really trying to concentrate on getting tools that will do what i need, and are good quality. So going from two welders to one welder seems like a no brainer just based on space savings. And having a arc welder that can be on a cart is a real nice touch too i think. I had my mig welder on a little cart but the arc welder was always on a shelf when not being used because it was big and bulky, but had a long stinger and ground which are great when working outside the garage door
The multi process machine Omni Pro 220 is not AC so you can only weld aluminum with a spool gun. Also you don't get the the TIG Torch and Pedal with it you need to but those separately.
Can someone confirm I can arc stick weld with the omni pro at 240V as in this can be used to replace my big old arc welder
Omni's documentation says that with 240v input you can get between 10 and 175 amps for stick welding. 100% duty cycle at 100 amps and 25% duty cycle at 175 amps.
Hey. I haven’t been riding in a few years but I still lurk here and dream. I was doing some internet searching for the Vulcan omnipro 220 and came across this thread. I had been researching the Vulcan line for a while for my first welding rig. After a lot of youtube reviews and waiting for one to be in stock at my local HF, I pulled the trigger on the omnipro 220. So far pretty happy. It seems as well built as a red or blue machine of the same level and my local HF likes me so I dont think I’ll ever have any issue with warranty issues. On a related note, the extended warranty is more of an insurance policy that it is a warranty. So when you can’t have this rig on sale, for normal price you get the machine with the 3 years and 90 days worth of coverage. I’ve done mig on 110 and 240.. 110 works great but there is a huge difference in what you can do with 240. The programs work pretty well and you can adjust and save settings as needed. Everything looks pretty standard as far as parts go and I don’t really see any reason you couldn’t upgrade to better 3rd party accessories in the future (but that’s not trying to say that what you get with the package is in any way lacking for what I do in my garage). I also picked up the TIG setup with the pedal. It seems to be doing all right even though I wish the pedal was a little more forgiving. Perhaps it will wear in a little bit. I also didn’t mention how much I suck at tig welding. The Vulcan helmet is super comfy and has a lot of visibility and adjustment. To be fair I am on my second one because the first one didn’t seem to adjust as I needed it to and it would intermittently flash me when I was in the middle of a weld. They exchanged it with no problem. The second one has been great. Just for more info there is a website called harbor freight coupon data base that has all current coupons including the 20% off on Vulcan accessories. Just throw that into google and you will be set. Overall I am happy with my purchase and feel confident that HF has done well with this new line.
1/16" tungsten 110v 130amps 1/2" plate one of these things does not belong. Sure you didn't mean 1/8"?
Working on a new project that has me using my Protig 165 more than I have in the last 2 years of ownership (man I'm rusty...) I dipped my tungsten every few seconds from shaking and breathing induced hand movements. 20% consumables will come in handy! People laugh when I say I have a HF brand welder, but it's gotten me in the garage building cool custom things and learning new skills, so does it really matter?
Read this before buying any Welder.......Vulcan part maybe a BIG problem.......$800 welder and no parts! https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=459242
"My gut feeling (based on where it's blown up) is that the welder sensed the voltage dip during the dryer start up, switched into 120v mode, and then promptly blew up. Usually the way multi-voltage devices work, is they internally run on 240v all the time, and switch in a voltage-doubler for 120v mode. So if it switched itself into 120v mode during a momentary voltage dip, it'd blow itself up as soon as he voltage came back up." Guy had his welder on a shared circuit with his electric dryer. Unit potentially sensed the voltage drop and switched to 120v. Could be a design flaw, but I feel this is a scenario that would be covered by whatever certifying body did the pre-production testing (UL or equivalent). I have my protig 165 on a dedicated 240v 30 amp service, but in the dead of winter my furnace uses resistance heating (2-50 amp breakers). I know the resistance heating has kicked on while welding, and it's lived to fight another day (I went through an 80l bottle of argon last week and it hasn't skipped a beat). I also have no delusions of long term reliability with any of my harbor freight tools; they're cheap for a reason. After sales support is a main reason the red, blue, and yellow brands cost significantly more.
Depends on how much the Blue or Red parts cost. I worked at a fab shop years ago that built and installed dairy equipment, inverter welders have a hard life on the road in the wintertime - condensation forms on the boards coming inside from the back of a 30 degree truck, new boards cost 600 bucks and the dealers weren't interested in replacing the components.
Yes.........The reason it failed is likely user error in the power source ..........but............the real concern is NO PARTS.
Understood. I weighed this carefully when I purchased my 215. However, for about 1/2 of what a comparable Miller costs, I took a chance. It's paid for itself already in less than a year. Now as a hobbyist I can see the dilemma. In a shop environment you tend to look much closer at ROI. Honestly if I was a hobbyist I would purchase the Central Electric unit HF sells for far far less. That way it doesn't hurt as much when it fails. As a shop on a budget, I would seriously consider the Vulcan.
