[N_Jay]

I am looking to buy my first welder.
I have not welded since high school when I (just barely) learned stick welding in shop class.

I am looking at the cheaper end of the MIG/TIG/Stick machines at about 200 to 250 amp.
Probably don't need that big, but most have kind of crappy duty cycles, so a 200 or 150 gives you 150 approaching 100% cycle so you don't have to worry about heat and time.

Right now (unless I find better/at a good price, or just as hood at a lower price) I think the YESWELDER 250-Pro scratches the itch.
Their company store on ebay has a slightly older model that does not do a spool gun at a $40 to $50 savings.
Seems you really only need a spool gun for Aluminum MIG, as I don't think I am going to be welding any aluminum as that probably takes skills I don't have.

Of course, if I actually get into more than fixing holes in my 914 and building jigs and racks to hold things, I would be upgrading my machine (with the knowledge gained from real work and not just reading).
I can worry about spool guns and AC and HF and such then.

Thoughts?

[N_Jay]

No advice?

[sh944]

Am guessing Garage Journal is a better place to ask. I can’t help, unfortunately as I am a terrible welder with poor equipment.

[N_Jay]

Asked over there and got some good advice, and some conflicting information.
Was looking to confirm.

[TheDeckMan]

The ability to tig weld aluminum is an amazing thing. Tig welding was the first thing I taught myself and use it the most for steel/stainless/aluminum.

I have a Miller Syncrowave 350 Tig system/Miller Sycrowave 250 Mig / Miller Syncrowave 150 mig w spool. The 150 works really well for autobody stuff. The 250 works great for heavy welding things like frames/tables/machines ect. The tig water cooled unit works great for all the other tig items like sheet metal/cast aluminum repairs ect.

Sounds like the 250 unit without the spool gun will do everything you need, you can always use stainless wire in a mig for welding stainless exhaust ect. You can also always get a spool gun for aluminum later on too. Everyone always tends to want to weld aluminum but very few ever actually end up doing so due to the learning curve of it.

[N_Jay]

The ability to tig weld aluminum is an amazing thing. Tig welding was the first thing I taught myself and use it the most for steel/stainless/aluminum.

I have a Miller Syncrowave 350 Tig system/Miller Sycrowave 250 Mig / Miller Syncrowave 150 mig w spool. The 150 works really well for autobody stuff. The 250 works great for heavy welding things like frames/tables/machines ect. The tig water cooled unit works great for all the other tig items like sheet metal/cast aluminum repairs ect.

Sounds like the 250 unit without the spool gun will do everything you need, you can always use stainless wire in a mig for welding stainless exhaust ect. You can also always get a spool gun for aluminum later on too. Everyone always tends to want to weld aluminum but very few ever actually end up doing so due to the learning curve of it.

Kind of what I was thinking.
Get the non-spool gun 250.
It doesn't have AC TIG, so I hear aluminum TIG is out any how.
I can MIG aluminum (if I need to) and just have to live with hang-ups in the MIG feed tube, but it is short anyhow, so it might not even be an issue.

Later I can upgrade to a machine that does AC-TIG and runs a spool gun if I need to.
Seems AC-TIG units are starting to drop in price due to electronic inverters, so I might as well wait a few years and get a little experience to know what I really need.

Guessing for the first while I will be using thick flux core MIG and stick till I get practice.

So far most of the advice agrees with this (except for the "It has to be Miller (or Hobart)" gang.

[TheDeckMan]

The ability to tig weld aluminum is an amazing thing. Tig welding was the first thing I taught myself and use it the most for steel/stainless/aluminum.

I have a Miller Syncrowave 350 Tig system/Miller Sycrowave 250 Mig / Miller Syncrowave 150 mig w spool. The 150 works really well for autobody stuff. The 250 works great for heavy welding things like frames/tables/machines ect. The tig water cooled unit works great for all the other tig items like sheet metal/cast aluminum repairs ect.

Sounds like the 250 unit without the spool gun will do everything you need, you can always use stainless wire in a mig for welding stainless exhaust ect. You can also always get a spool gun for aluminum later on too. Everyone always tends to want to weld aluminum but very few ever actually end up doing so due to the learning curve of it.

Kind of what I was thinking.
Get the non-spool gun 250.
It doesn't have AC TIG, so I hear aluminum TIG is out any how.
I can MIG aluminum (if I need to) and just have to live with hang-ups in the MIG feed tube, but it is short anyhow, so it might not even be an issue.

Later I can upgrade to a machine that does AC-TIG and runs a spool gun if I need to.
Seems AC-TIG units are starting to drop in price due to electronic inverters, so I might as well wait a few years and get a little experience to know what I really need.

Guessing for the first while I will be using thick flux core MIG and stick till I get practice.

So far most of the advice agrees with this (except for the "It has to be Miller (or Hobart)" gang.

Sounds like you are on the right path. I went with Miller for lots of machine building back in the earlier days with the machine shop with my old man. We phased out welding to focus on CNC so the stuff now all is in the garage. Hobarts are great, buddies have those and love them.

The spool guns work really well and dont tend to jam up that much/easy to unjam. If/when you get an aluminum spool gun, keep the wire in sealed bags to prevent oxidization which was the biggest pain ran into. Having the bigger 250's with the higher duty cycle really helps when you get rolling on a project vs having to wait in between with the smaller units. Same applies to plasma welders which make a great addition.

Helped my old man a couple weeks ago make light poles for his riding arena, cost to build was less than $300 for two 24ft ones. Took about 3 hours to cut and weld them all up. I'll try and grab some pictures next time I am by his place.

[N_Jay]

One of the reasons I am looking the YESWELDER is their 60% duty cycle at full power and nearing 100 at reduced power.
A lot of the cheap units have duty cycles as low as 20% to 40% with much greater reductions for nearing 100%.

Guessing other will be catching up with this spec also, as inverter electronics get better all the time.
(Thank you EV Vehicle development for cheaper high power switching!)

[N_Jay]

One of the reasons I am looking the YESWELDER is their 60% duty cycle at full power and nearing 100 at reduced power.
A lot of the cheap units have duty cycles as low as 20% to 40% with much greater reductions for nearing 100%.

Guessing other will be catching up with this spec also, as inverter electronics get better all the time.
(Thank you EV Vehicle development for cheaper high power switching!)

Well Frack!

The Yeswelder 250 went OOS.

Hmm, There is a similar Toolio, but given the number of other projects I have going on, I'm going to sit back and watch prices/features for a few more weeks.

At least I have a better idea what to look for.

[SeaCay]

Look at the various welding instruction videos on YouTube. The "instructor" will be going over settings and capacities on different machines.

I have a Millermatic 220 AC/DC. Works for what I need it for (no HEAVY duty stuff). It wasn't cheap, but it's a Miller and should last me the duration of this life.

[N_Jay]

The miller looks nice, but almost 10X the cost, and really low duty cycle. (But probably a more accurate spec.)

[yellowducman]

I've got a Miller 210 mig with a spool gun and a miller 180 tig which is too small for aluminum. I've been keeping my eyes open on marketplace efor a larger Miller tig with a cooler on marketplace because I don't use one enough to warrant a price on a new one. You used to be able to pick up one around here every year because the nascar teams would rotate their equipment and National welders would be selling their old ones but I don't think that happens anymore.

A lot of people like Everlast welders. I have never used one. https://www.everlastgenerators.com/?gcl ... _MQAvD_BwE

[N_Jay]

Ordered up the YesWelder 250.
Reviews seem acceptable for the price, and as others have pointed out other tools and consumables outweigh the cost of the welder, so If I find it to be a problem, upgrading is not that hard, (other then $$).
Yes, the used Welder market seems stupid, as maybe all the good deals stay between friends, or such.
I am not sure I believe the advertised duty cycle, but even cutting teh numbers in half, they are comparable with major brand "entry level" welders.
My guess is it is easier for a "Cheap Chinese" manufacturer to update to new electronics (Better semis in teh inverters) when available, than a typical first world company that spends 6 month to a year trying to decide if a product revision is warranted by the market, then another 6 month to a year redesigning the equipment, updating the quality tests and rewriting the sales literature.

[sh944]

Out of curiosity, got any updates on how the welding is going? I need to take the jump myself and hope to ride your coattails.

[N_Jay]

I haven't done much yet, but the couple of test projects went okay.

I Attribute this to wire fed being easier than the rod I learned with, and inverter being easier than an old transformer.
Really, not enough experience to make a good judgment, other than the newer Yeswders are more money for the same specs.

Looks like they are trying to go one step upmarket.

EDIT:
Looks like the 250 is back and on sale.
https://yeswelder.com/collections/welde ... r-mig250sg