I've had it!!!!!!!

Goose

Well-known Member
I've had it with my Clarke MIG welder. As long as I've owned it, it's had constant feeding problems. Over the years that I've owned it, I've probably wasted more wire from jams than I ever used welding. I bought it for half price when a farm store closed down, and that wasn't the smartest purchase I ever made.

The welder came with a plastic liner to feed the wire through. When it warmed up, the plastic would swell and cause the wire to bind and jam. I replaced it with a metal liner from Hobart and thought it would solve the problem. It did so only marginally. Then it would jam at the curve by the trigger when feeding a new wire through. I thought I had that fixed. Then yesterday I tried to do some welding and it kept jamming for no reason. What I was welding was heavy enough to use a stick welder, so I did.

But I'm in the market for a new MIG welder. I see Hobart has a model 140 that sells for between $450 and $550, depending on where you go. Has anyone had any experience with those? Or any other recommendations in that price range? It's not like I use one every day, and I sometimes go months without using a MIG welder, but when I need one, I need one that works.
 
When it comes to Mig welders I would look at Miller brand before ever thinking about any other. Miller is pretty much the caddy of mig welders
 
Been there... I bought one from H.F. and it stunk... REALLY stunk... so I bought one of those Hobart 140 110v ones and put the gas on it.. HUGE difference.... Love the hobart.... buddy bought the 250v version of it.. I cant really tell the difference except it will do heavier material than my 140.. but thats why I have stick so...make sure you get the hobart with the gass attachment though.. big difference..
 
I've had several of those smaller welders, 3 Lincoln and a miller. I guess you could add a hf that someone dropped off but I couldn't get to work. 2 of the lincolns were 220 and one and the miller 110v. Of those 3 the lincolns were better. The miller worked ok too, but the others were better. Get a 220v if you can, you won't regret it. And gas with 75/25 is a must.
 
goose, if its just the gun and hose giving you problems, toss them and put a tweeko gun on it. tweeko makes adapters to fit the clarke machines.
 
I have a new Hobart 140 on the way! Going to use gas with it. I researched
buying one almost to death. One opinion was clear, for the money the Hobart 140
is a tough one to beat. Note; $499.00 from Northern Tool free ship.
Will post after I get it.
 
I've had a 140 for over 10 years now and it works good. I've had occasional hiccups with feeding but it usually comes down to dirty rollers or fines building up where the wire goes into the tip.

Mine has survived two accidents. One, I had been tacking something on the suburban. Suburban was backed up in front of shop. Wife was going somewhere and when the suburban started to move the welder cart started to move. Next thing the welder is doing end flips across the pavement. When I had bundled up the ground wire and hose there was a loop that the bumper got ahold of. Case got banged up and door tweaked pretty good. That was years ago and it still welds fine.

Miller and Hobart are part of the same company so a lot of the parts are Miller anyway. It will turn down enough that I've welded R-panel with it. I use gas but have used it a time or two with flux cored wire.

It's not the most sophisticated MIG you could buy but is very cost effective.
 
For what it's worth...

Campbell Hausfeld 120v mig, never would feed right, was just about where you are now, ready to throw it in the pond.

Finally figured out the external sheathing they used was too flimsy for the welder, the curve radius would get too tight while I was angling the gun, and the wire wouldn't feed.

Had some 1/2" sprayer line, it's a fairly stiff plastic, removed about 2 feet of their sheathing right befor the gun and replaced it with the sprayer line. It was a pain to get everything fed through the line, but got it done.

The sprayer line is stiff enough the radius stays a lot more open, hasn't hurt my gun position any while welding.

Did this 2 years ago, it's still a cheap welder, but it works now.

Fred
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When you put in a new liner the length has to be right to guide the wire through to the tip. Sometimes just taking the tip off does it. I'm sure you've probably tried this. Asking what welder is like asking what pickup or tractor should I get. I lean toward Lincoln but I worked there over 40 years. The last 15 in the R&D lab. Wish I had a dollar for every liner I changed. I know guys who won't weld with anything but Lincoln and some you can't pay to take one. Just my nickles worth. Personally, I can't weld my way out of a paper bag.
 


Watch Craigslist. Lots of mig welders for sale when people need some money.

FWIW- I had 2 migs given to me in a trade. One is an old Miller with feed problem
 


Watch Craigslist. Lots of mig welders for sale when people need some money.

FWIW- I had 2 migs given to me in a trade. One is an old Miller with feed problems. It hasn't been fixed yet. The other was a practically new Cebora that was supposed to be 110v that never worked. 10 min of internet search got me a manual download. It was obvious was never a 110 machine. Switched to 220, reversed the leads for flux core, lubed some stuff and blew the rust out of the liner and it works fine. I got a gas bottle and regulator but haven't tried it yet.
 
Watch for online auctions for stuff from schools that are upgrading or dropping programs.

Wisurplus.com is a good example

Other auction services might have them. Wallapop or Letgo as it is now called.

I am frugal and spend time instead of cash!
 
Post your post above over on New Ag Talk, people tell me the manufactures watch what is said over there, and they might contact you, they might have a fix
 
Before you or anyone else reading this and thinking of buying a wire welder, spend money, consider this: I got a Hobart 185. If you do machinery repair, I highly recommend that unit, or what it has evolved to. It comes with a 10 foot welding cable. After using that lead/cable, I would not want one any shorter. The cable with the 140 et al, you have to have the welder right next to where you are welding or make a back back to carry it to get close to work site. I have used the 1# spool and pretty much used the 10# spool, so not a lot of use. I have gas shielding, be sure to get that too. This is, in my opinion, one of those times in life when it pays to spend some $$ and get a real good tool, the gas and long cable being the things to make using it enjoyable.
 
I bought one of the Hobart 140 wire feeds 6 years ago and love it! I have 2 ac stick welders for really heavy duty welding but most of my projects fall within what the 140 will do. I use it with gas and it makes some very nice welds. I haven't had a single problem with it and it gets used quite a bit. Make sure and get an auto darkening helmet if you don't have one and I think you will like it.
 

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