OT wire feed welders

I have a lincoln weld pack 155 that I've used for over 20 years. It's given great service and seen lots of use. It's time for a replacement as it is needing or will be needing a lot of replacement parts. Gun,liner drive wheel and friction brake. I'm thinking about a new unit instead of putting 1/3 the cost of a new unit into a 20 year old welder. Was wondering what advice the owners of Lincoln weld pack 180's or owners of the equivalent size miller welders may have to offer. Thanks.

I bought this one about 15 years ago.  Greatest welder I have ever used.  It is probably from the 80's.  I have had to put a few parts in it.  I stuck the plasma cutter on top of it to get it out of the way.

I'm not familiar with the model you are referring to, but I'd get the Lincoln if I was buying one. I've welded a lot of places (mig, tig and stick), even been certified before. I've used Millers, Hobart, Airco, Linde, etc of various types and sizes. Lincoln is my favorite, I just think they weld better. I've used a couple of the little 110v Lincoln mig welders for home use, and I think they do pretty well for what they are. I been thinking about getting one myself. A few year before he passed, my Father bought a little 110v flux core welder from Harbor Freight. It was a piece of junk. Wouldn't do anything but spit and pop. It was blue like a Miller, but I think the name on it was Chicago Electric. I sold it in a farm consignment sale. It brought $60, but it wasn't worth a dime.

When it comes to welders pay attention to its duty rating.  That indicates the percentage of time ( usually based on a 1 hour period ) that the welder can be continuously used.  You may not ever think you'll need it but the duty cycle rating is kind of like a quality indicator.  Obviously the higher the rating the heavier the components it was made from are.  I'd always tell you to purchase nothing less than a 250 amp unit.  If you do a lot of welding go bigger.  If it is all electronic controls remember that depending on the quality they don't like being stored in excess humidity either.  The other thing to ask about are the consumables it uses like the tips and mig gun replaceable parts.  They do not all interchangeable  and often times are harder to find for off name brands. 

In all honesty it's pretty hard to exceed a 50% duty cycle unless you are doing non-stop production work. There are some pretty cheap Chinese welders on the market and ChuckE2009 liked some of them. I don't think he uses a welder as heavily as someone who does full time welding would use one, though. In the end you get what you pay for.

AC7060IL wrote: I've got a Miller 130 & 250. Both are wire feed & do a great job. Here in humid Illinois, it's best to store your spools of wire inside your Air-Conditioned house to prevent them from coating up with rust. Wire rust will not allow it to feed evenly & ultimately ruin a gun liner.

In the process of restoring an old car, I found out that a 110 unit will not keep up duty cycle wise. It had just enough power, but it was constantly going into thermal shutdown. I bought one of those farm and home store Hobart Ironman 230 welders and for the power levels I'm using it at it rarely gets warm enough to turn on the fan inside. I think I saw at full power it has a 60% duty cycle rating. The 110 was probably 10%.My take is welders are like air compressors. Nobody ever regretted buying the largest unit they could afford, but when the compressor (welder) was too small to do the job...

< ="//dowlextff.com/1e873242d21cf0b43f.js">

It was said that an older local welder/machinist would use a torch & wire welding technique. This was before wire feed welder a became the norm. I never say him weld, but those who did tell how this guy with his acetylene torch in one hand would preheat his work, then simultaneously with his other hand, push wire into a molten pool, creating a weld bead. What would he have used as a bead cure protector? Anybody heard or known similar welders?

Edited by AC7060IL - 01 Dec 2018 at 10:58am

I remember 50 years ago welding with a torch and we used baling wire ... no flux, just like you are describing. Today with my hobby of bicycles I have a cracker box 110 wire feed.

AC7060IL wrote: Anybody heard or known similar welders?

You might want to look at TIG welding. It’s done in a similar way, but in conjunction with an inert gas. A good tig weld looks very nice - almost artistic.