Need advice on stick welder purchase

Basically this machine will be for farm use.
Probably not a lot of out of position welding but yes there will be some.... Deep penetration, yes. I seem to do ok with 5/32 rod,beveled edges and multiple passes when it comes to penetration. What will the DC machine do for me in these areas? Come on, you guys have nearly got me ready to shell out the extra bucks for DC but I would love to hear some examples of where DC does it better or AC plain old wont work..... Paul

OK, ya sold me on the idea of DC. I'll go that route. The idea of only 50 bucks each for two more welding options appeals to my tightwad side! LOL As I understand it DCRP (DC+) will weld much better overhead,vertical,etc and also be a better flat weld. Where will I use DCSP (DC-)? Any specific area that it shines in? Thanks for your help and thanks to everyone that replied to my questions. Paul

I bought my son a Miller Thunder Bolt AC/DC this summer. Street priced about $420. 150aDC and 225aAC with infinate amp adjust (crank handle). Lincoln still uses the switched 15amp jumps. I can use the Miller to Tig weld with a finner amperage adjustment. That sold me!

Arc stability is ok but not a Lincoln Pipliner quality arc but hey were not paying $12k for a new machine.

I took the cover off the Miller and there is no overheating protection so be careful not to exceed the 20% duty cycle rating. Ya it was worth $400.

T_Bone

150a DC seems so low, most anytime I use 5/32 electrodes that is where I start my amperage (AC) and generally go up a bit from there, is there a reason why the upper limit on amps is so low for DC machines?

Tig is not necessary for me on the farm. I do have a small lincoln wire feed (110v) that I use when the going gets thin.... I have gotten along fine w/ it for about 5 years so I think I will keep it around.

As for arc stability I think a lot of it has to do w/ the electrode.... I use rod spec'd for AC only and while it may not look like an Oklahoma 798'er ran the bead I do get a lot of compliments on my repairs and fabrications. I generally weld every day of the week so a bunch of it is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!

To be honest I dont think a 20% duty cycle would be enough..... As I figure it that means I could only run bead for 20% of and hour before exceeding the rating... Is that correct? That means 12 minutes of every hour are weld time.... Not enough for me. Maybe I am way off on my assumption so please correct me if so. Thanks again, Paul

Any of the cheaper machines have a 20% duty cycle wheather AC or DC. You would need to get the $1500 machines to get a 40% cycle and $2000 plus for 100%.

Is a 20% enough? For most shops and home use yes. That lets you burn about 5 to 10, 1/8" rods before a short brake is needed. My old Lincoln AC has a thermo braker when the x-former gets hot and takes about 15 min to cool down after being triped. I pounded alot of rods thru that machine over the years and only have triped it twice. I've done some decent long welding work with it but there's no need to push it that hard.

Do you need AC? no but there is a good amount of arc stability difference between AC rods and DC rods to where DC is a plus when welding out of flat postion. The cost difference is about $75 in the cheaper machines and well worth the $75.

Even tho the $400 machine is sub-standard to any well made machine, they do excellant for what they were intended for, a good machine for a low cost.

I can't justifiy spending $2000 on a machine when I only burn 10/lbs of rod each year. So my 45yr old AC Lincoln will be here until/if it dies :) T_Bone