110 volt welders

[Ted88]

I notice most of the welders recommended usually have 220V or more as the input. How much would I be giving up if I went to 110V? If possible I'd like to avoid the expense of adding a higer voltage outlet. We would be doing light fabrication on things like go-karts. We would use primarily mild steel, some aluminium, probably soem 4130.

[cope]

Basically you will be limited to +/- 3/16' steel with single pass, and that's cranking it up wide open. For what you are going to do it will work, but with a lower duty cycle than a 220v. machine. I know of an aircraft manufacturer who used 135 amp Lincoln MIGs to make chrome-moly tubular frames for their planes. Many people start out with the 110v. welders and progress up to larger 220v. models. Some keep the older unit for small jobs and others sell it to finance part of the upgrade. The small ones are definately great for portability.