Wire Welders

I have a 110v mig for light stuff and that little bottle lasts me a LONG time.

I've used mine for body work -- it's not ideal but does get the job done. A friend of mine has the same welder with the gas kit installed and he swears by it -- says he wouldn't use anything else for body work (he restored a Trans Am recently after getting the kit installed).

If I were going to do much body work, I'd buy the conversion kit. For everything else, the flux core wire works well

I've used both the gas and flux-coated wire, and the gas is superior for welding sheet metal. The welds are so much cleaner with gas that you have little to do other than grind them down flush. Flux-coated wire leaves lots of flux and splatter (at least my welding does!).

Its worth the money to get a quality one; the one I bought 15 years ago is still plugging away, but I paid major bucks back then.

Consider it an investment!

Jim

I have a small shop and do a fair amount of body panel replacement on antique cars. I have an oxy-acetylene torch, a 230 amp arc welder, and a 140 amp wire feed welder made by Daytona Mig. The torch does about 2% of my work, the arc welder about 3%, and the wire feed the other 95%. It uses .023 uncoated wire. The "B" size tank of Argon-CO2 (about 2 feet tall) lasts me about 10 hours of welding for $14.50. My machine makes me wonder why I even keep the others around at all. It is, as they say, MILES ahead of whatever is in second place. Cost was about $600 including a 10 lb roll of wire and a bottle of gas. Worth every penny, in my opinion. Might be just what you need. Hope my 2 cents worth will help you.

: I have a small shop and do a fair amount of body panel replacement on antique cars. I have an oxy-acetylene torch, a 230 amp arc welder, and a 140 amp wire feed welder made by Daytona Mig. The torch does about 2% of my work, the arc welder about 3%, and the wire feed the other 95%. It uses .023 uncoated wire. The "B" size tank of Argon-CO2 (about 2 feet tall) lasts me about 10 hours of welding for $14.50. My machine makes me wonder why I even keep the others around at all. It is, as they say, MILES ahead of whatever is in second place. Cost was about $600 including a 10 lb roll of wire and a bottle of gas. Worth every penny, in my opinion. Might be just what you need. Hope my 2 cents worth will help you.
When calling on a client generally, a farmer, everyone wants a wire welder. The fact is that you need to look at where you are going use the welder. Inside vs. Outside. (in a drafty area) Gas will provide the most consistent weld, however, it will give poor performance in a windy situation. The other major concern is will it only be used for sheet metal, or will you be like 99% of the owners of wire welders and want to weld beyond its capacity.
Remember many of your 110 wire welders will have a 10-30% duty cycle depending on their size and quality. Those 100 amp units are maxed at 3/16" as compared to the 130-140 units will handle 1/4". Step up to the 220v 200amp you are maxed at 3/8". 250 amp at 1/2". If you elect for one of the small wire welders be sure your polarity is hooked up properly. When using gas you need to reverse the polarity in the machine if it was originally set up for flux core. Check your warranties. Century offers 5 years as compared to 1-3 on all others.