VIDEO: Selecting MIG Welder Quality & Features

In this video I want to explain some things that will help you choose a MIG welder for yourself

And the reason why I need to explain this is because on the cheap end of the spectrum

you've got some welders that you might be able to get for a couple of hundred dollars. At the higher end

there's a machine like this which in Canada costs about $2,500. So a big range

but there are some very specific things that you need to keep in mind as you're choosing

The course includes some specific recommendations for certain machines with links and prices and things like that

But this information will just help you to make more sense of what you're going to find printed in the course

The first parameter you need to consider is voltage and by that I mean the input voltage

coming into the machine. All of the inexpensive small light portable models will will operate off of 120 volts. So just an ordinary outlet

You just plug right into it and away you can weld. The higher end machines can also operate on 120 if you want but they can also detect a higher voltage and

run on that too. So it's a pretty pretty smart setup. So 120 on the low end, 230, 240 volts on the high end. That's how I have this machine configured

So the question you might be asking, well, what does it matter? The bottom line is that it affects the power of the welder. So the ability of the welder to

create enough heat with the arc to penetrate deeply enough. The small 120 volt welders

they're fine for sheet metal and metal up to maybe an eighth of an inch thick, three sixteenths of an inch

It varies from small machine to small machine, but that's about what you're looking at. And if you want to go to weld

thicker material, you need greater penetration, greater heat, greater arc strength, and that's where the 230 volt

capabilities are going to help you. So just to recap on power, the

120 volt machines less power, 240, 230, 240 volt machines more power

But there is one thing you need to keep in mind with the lower powered machines. Now, they will all work

plugged into a regular outlet. There's no problem that way, but most of them won't deliver their maximum power

unless they're plugged into an outlet that delivers 20 amps instead of 15. Your average

outlet, 15 amps, it's got a 15 amp breaker on it. That will probably trip if you use the machine at full power for any length of time

So you should consider having a 20 amp circuit installed for your welder

You don't necessarily need to do that before you get your welder, but if you keep tripping the breaker

then you know what to do. Now, it's not enough to just take a regular 15 amp circuit and put a 20 amp breaker in it because the wires are still sized

for that 15 amp current load. So you really need to create a completely new circuit and that's

thicker wire. So instead of the number 14 cable that's normally used for a 15 amp circuit

you're going to have to use a number 12 and of course you're going to need a 20 amp breaker to protect that cable

But you're also going to need to use an outlet that is meant for 20 amps. Regular outlets are only rated for 15

The 20 amp outlets can take a regular plug, but instead of having two slots and a ground pin hole

one of the slots is actually T-shaped and that's how you can tell at a glance

whether the outlet is a 20 amp or not. Another thing you need to consider is whether or not you want a welder that can use shielding gas or not

Now I've gone into some detail about why this matters, but in short, the shielding gas protects the weld from

oxidizing while it's still molten, red-hot and liquid. The welds need to be shielded in in one way or another

Now this machine is configured to use shielding gas. So this is a combination of argon and carbon dioxide and

it's fed through this regulator which determines the flow rate of the gas

outside of the end of the welding gun like this. Now the least expensive machines don't have gas capabilities and they can't be

outfitted with a regulator and the things they need to weld that way

Instead, what these less expensive welders use is this kind of welding wire

which produces its own cloud of shielding gas so that you can get a decent weld without having to rent a tank and

to pay extra for a machine that can handle gas. Now the drawback is

that the appearance and to a certain extent the strength of a weld created with the

self-shielding wire, which is what this is, no gas needed, the kind of thing that you'd use on the least expensive machines

those welds aren't going to look quite as nice. Functionally speaking, they're going to be as strong as they need to be, but you're actually going to get a nicer looking weld

that's somewhat stronger if you use the gas capabilities. So that's really another parameter you need to decide on. Voltage first, do I need the power of a full-size

230 volt machine or not and am I going to be satisfied with

self-shielding wire and the welds that it produces. Now there is one thing to consider. If you don't have a welder right now

you might be thinking, well, this is a pretty important decision and you'd be right. It is a fairly important decision

But if you're in doubt at all, the price difference between some of the least expensive and most expensive machines is so wide and the quality of the least expensive machines is

quite good. If you're unsure yourself, go get something simple. Go get a simple small

portable machine. And if you find you're running up to the limitations of that and you need more welding capability

you haven't really wasted a lot of money if you spent, you know, two or three hundred dollars on a welder

Now the reason is because that little portable welder is going to be very useful for you

I don't have one of those in my own shop. I only have this big one, but a few times it's been

something that I wanted to have. Just something I could pick up, carry, you know, plug into a small generator or a regular household outlet and and weld

remotely. I have carted this big machine around to a few different places. I've run it with a generator remotely when I couldn't plug in

So it's possible to move these around, but if in doubt, go for the least expensive machine that's going to do the job for you and

then consider adding some more equipment after that