jeepguy553

Okay...so maybe I am a little crazy BUT...

About 3 months ago I got a 150 amp 220V MIG from HF...before I bought my Lincoln 180 MIG. I never could get the thing to work right. So I took the first one back and got another one. I messed with it today and had the same problem. No fan, no wire feed, no arc. I took the side panel off of it and what did I find? The instructions don't tell you a thing about how to wire up the 220V male plug on the end of the AC power feed. I had to trace it all out. Turns out that they reversed the green and white wires. I reversed them in the plug and PRESTO!!! IT WORKED LIKE A CHAMP!!!!

I know it isn't a Lincoln or a Hobart machine, but I have to give this machine its props. It lays down as flat a bead as my Lincoln and doesn't skip a beat. I laid the first weld down with it and I have to say I was genuinely surprised and a bit impressed. It didn't lose arc and the wire feeds just as smoothly as any other MIG I have ever used.

Soooo...if any of you guys are out looking for a cheap, all-purpose 220V MIG, go to HF. The store here in Shreveport is having a sale this weekend and you can get it for under $200...reg price is $299. Get the extended warranty too. They WILL honor it. I had no troubles at all getting them to straight-up exchange mine using the extended warranty.

Just my 2-cents-worth. Maybe I got lucky and got a good machine. Either way, I was impressed with how easily it worked once I got the plug wired up right. They should put that in the directions instead of telling you to have a qualified electrician install the plug.

Now that I am married and finished with moving in with the wife I can FINALLY finish my roof rack build and maybe move on to a set of bumpers and a rear swing-out carrier. This stuff should help out with the new project I just bought...a 1989 Grand Wagoneer in need of a little TLC and a few new pieces of sheet metal.

eraujk

I have the same one and i agree. As far as i can tell it keeps up with the Miller i was using a year ago. The HF one doesn't come with a plug and you have to wire it yoru self. I got a plug from Home Depot that was adjustable to any outlet and it had the directions on how to actually wire the thing.

Sarbatche

Before everyone goes out and drops a couple hundred bucks, let me just say this: My first welder was that same HF 220V MIG and it took me more time messing around it than actually welding to fab up a cart for it. *When* it did work, the beads it laid down were fine. The wire kept kinking in the unit, wouldn't feed through the hose out to the gun, etc. Ended up getting a 220V 125A Lincoln AC stick welder and have since made a front stubby bumper, rear tire mount, shortened the frame of a '51 Chevy truck by 3.5' (cut in half and welded back together), and a dumping stake bed for that same Chevy. Stick welding has been great, though I would like to try TIG...

BTW, if anyone near Olympia, WA thinks they want that HF MIG, then I'll just give it to them.

jeepguy553

If anyone is near Olympia, WA and you want a "decent" starter MIG machine, go see this guy. He has one for free. Go get it and start learning to weld for yourself!

I learned to weld with a stick welder in my former father-in-law's backyard. (I am pretty sure he was an illegal immigrant but one helluva welder. I still talk to him all the time and respect him a lot.) His stick welder was a 220V machine with the voltage handle held in place by a piece of yellow twine. He used it to repair used riding lawn mowers so he could make a side living. Needless to say...it sucked and I learned to hate using a stick welder. He used to give me all sorts of crap by saying my wire-feed MIG was "cheating" until he tried it himself. I am pretty sure he still has my old 110V Lincoln machine and I am sure he uses it a lot more than his piece-of-crap stick machine with the twine-held voltage handle. Just sayin'...

The time taken "messing around with it" is worth it. You may actually gain a little understanding into how the thing works. Keep the "hose" (also known as the torch lead and liner) straight when you are first feeding wire into the thing and all will be good. Unscrew the contact tip too when you are first feeding wire. This will keep from jamming the wire into the backside of the tip and causing a bird's nest on your wire spool. The HF machine "hose" has the same type liner that my Lincoln machine has. It looks like the inside of a bicycle brake cable. It hasn't jammed up yet and I have already run a full spool of wire through it. Again...keep the "hose" straight and I bet it doesn't bind up.

I now have two MIG machines...the HF 150 amp machine and a Lincoln 180-amp machine. Both can do either MIG or flux-core work. I'll probably give one of them to my dad because he needs one for his farm. Which one I give him is a toss-up. They are both good machines as far as I can tell. I guess life span will be the deciding factor here. After I finish my current roof rack project the next project is gonna be a 10-foot-tall deer stand. I'll use both machines and post pics of both projects. I would lay good money that the welds will be strong from both machines on both projects. Any takers?

AstraX

You have a pm.

Patman

Is this still available?