Lincoln Mig Question

[gatkeper1]

How exactly did he fall victim to the confusing line up? Every model is easily researched on Lincoln's website, as well as any number of other welding websites.

I naturally assumed he did the research needed to make his choice, but again 7 different machines. Go look them all up yourself and see. Maybe you can tell what internal differences there are.

Once again, everything you stated should have been noticed in Lowe's, not once you got home. .

read,... gift for BIL. I bought what I was told he wanted. If it was my choice at the time he would have received a Miller.

It seems to me you both went out and made a spur of the moment decision, and now are trying to somehow blame Lincoln for your lack of research.

Spur of the moment? Not something I do. I blame Lincoln for their marketing approach. Why are they the only welder manufacturer that needs to market 7 different 180a machines. If you go into your LWS and ask about any model other than the PowerMigs they can offer no information because they are not in the catalogs. They are for retail mass marketers and not sold anywhere other than the box stores.

I have no problem accepting someone's criticism of a product, but only when it has merit.

Jason, You do not have to accept it, it is of course my opinion, and it only has to have merit to me.

One more thing. If it had never been used, why didn't you just take it back to Lowe's for a full refund?

Because I bought it and sat on it until his birthday and the receipt got lost in the interim and frankly I just wanted to be rid of it. I offered it up at a loss and someone else is I assume happy with his new welder.

And I noticed no one else was able to give him an answer as to what is the difference between a PowerMig 140 and a MigPak 140, and why is that?
Because one is a pro model sold only through recognized welding distributors that they are happy to provide specs for, and the other is a retail product that they really don't care enough about to show on their website
Flame me, defend them if you please. But in small Migs right now its Miller or Hobart

[tacmig]

I know this welder.

Again not to pick on one's machine and/or ego. This thing is a whopping pile of gerbil sh!&. This of course providing it's the "pro" model that the HD carries. One of the guys that works in the shop got one for his nephew and brought it along with his nephew to take it for a test drive. I laughed so hard I dam& near passed out and as a result I can only and vaguely remember that it was constructed like something you would see in a HF store and perhaps it's only competition would be a bic lighter. I own 2 Lincoln machines and I can only surmise that: Lincoln has a low-end product to satisfy weekend fun-seekers and of course the professional products?

My .02

TacMig

[Steve]

And so it goes it seems. You don't shoot elephants with 22's and you don't squirrel hunt with 30-06's. Either is possible and make the kill.

[shaggy10000]

IFor as much as it costs I believe you would be better off to save a few hundred more and get a 230v machine.

Good point.

[FusionKing]

I have a Lincoln sp-135 plus in my shop. It's my sons but I use it. I take it out on small steel hull repair jobs once in a while. I use it pretty much wide open all the time on 1/8th steel with .023 wire and straight co2.
I don't care much for this machine for my stuff...it is just too weak. I wish it had more power. I am sure it would be fine on thin gauge steel tho. It also would do more with flux core of course.
For as much as it costs I believe you would be better off to save a few hundred more and get a 230v machine.
I am sure that if all you intend to use it on is thin gauge steel then you will be quite satisfied as Lincoln makes good stuff too.

[shaggy10000]

Arg I saw this thread and signed up just to reply.
About 8 years ago i bought a lincoln weld pak 100 to weld some stuff around the house. It was the model without the gas regulator and was strictly a flux core wire machine. I bought that particular model because my family at the time had a fencing business and 3 of those were used for all the welding. They were used 5 days a week and went through miles of wire for several years. That said i knew it would hold up for what i wanted to use it for.

I have since built 2 4wd trucks hundreds of exhaust systems, repaired several tractors, built a couple of antenna towers and about a thousand other things that i cant even remember.
Point is flux core welds hotter so 3/16 plate is not a problem and 1/4 is feasable so long as its not structural. And all that can be done in the driveway on a windy day with no porosity. I do weld for a living and this sort of unit would never do any of the stuff that we do there but depending on your needs this is a fantastic unit.
BTW i still have this welder and i works just as good as the day i bought it and i still use it all the time. Well untill my new Miller mig and tig welders get delivered. he he
edit: i dont have any experience with the miller equavilent but both Brands have a great reputation in the industry and would guess they are both a great unit that will run for years.

[tnjind]

I don't think anyone has answered this persons question, I think it is a good question, not someone knocking a brand. Keep it simple.

[down19992000]

why not just return it to lowes and get a full refund instead of losing money??????? or did you wait two months and then decide it wasnt what you wanted?

[Jason280]

Unfortunately he fell victim to Lincoln's confusing model line up

How exactly did he fall victim to the confusing line up? Every model is easily researched on Lincoln's website, as well as any number of other welding websites.

I did not care for the gun, But I'll admit I'm spoiled I have a Miller Roughneck and a Bernard Q gun. The drive mech seemed light duty. Spec wise it lacks the low end of the Hobart 187 and falls short of the upper end of both the Miller and Hobart. It has 5 voltage taps against the Hobart's 7 and Millers infinite. It is easier to switch spool sizes on the Hobart and Miller.

Once again, everything you stated should have been noticed in Lowe's, not once you got home. Lowe's has a display model of every welder they sell, and the specs are printed right on the box. Furthermore, you could have always taken it out of the box at Lowe's and checked it before going home.

It seems to me you both went out and made a spur of the moment decision, and now are trying to somehow blame Lincoln for your lack of research. Knocking a product because you failed to properly research it is, as I said before, foolish. I have no problem accepting someone's criticism of a product, but only when it has merit.

One more thing. If it had never been used, why didn't you just take it back to Lowe's for a full refund? They offer a 30-day refund guarantee, no questions asked.

[gatkeper1]

As stated it was bought for my BIL. It was his choice and this was the unit he thought he wanted.
Unfortunately he fell victim to Lincoln's confusing model line up.
They have 7 different 175-180 class migs and only one worth considering.
Confusion and overlap of products seems to be the rage at the home of red.
If you open the box and you don't like what you see do you use it anyway and try to convince yourself that its all good?
I did not care for the gun, But I'll admit I'm spoiled I have a Miller Roughneck and a Bernard Q gun. The drive mech seemed light duty. Spec wise it lacks the low end of the Hobart 187 and falls short of the upper end of both the Miller and Hobart. It has 5 voltage taps against the Hobart's 7 and Millers infinite. It is easier to switch spool sizes on the Hobart and Miller.
Plain and simple, He just didn't like it and neither did I. I guess Its my fault I spoiled him by letting him use my MM210 for too long.
So we were unimpressed and it went to a new home and he got the cash to spend as he sees fit.
Lesson learned.

[Jason280]

I bought a Lincoln Pro-Mig 180, a Lowes only model for my BIL. Sold it at a loss before ever pluging it in. I was that unimpressed by the machine.

How could you be "unimpressed" with a machine you never even plugged in? More to the point, what was so impressive about the machine at Lowe's that made you buy it, but yet caused you to sell it at a loss once you got it home (and before you ever even tried it)?

Was the packing not nice enough for you, or was the machine not red enough? Making a recommendation against Lincoln when you never even tried the machine is pretty foolish statement, even for the internet.

[gatkeper1]

Confused by Lincoln?
I'm not surprised. they have many choices within the same power range.
Why? to cater to an indivdual retailers target market.
They make units just for Lowes and then a different one just for Home Depot.
You will never see these units sold anywhere else. Are there differences in the units,Yes, some small some not so small. I would stay away from all but the ones sold by your LWS. I bought a Lincoln Pro-Mig 180, a Lowes only model for my BIL. Sold it at a loss before ever pluging it in. I was that unimpressed by the machine.
If your needs are a 120V machine. Buy a Miller 140 or Hobart 140.

[tacmig]

Hey there....

Try this, you should be able to find what you're looking for here: http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...t.aspx?p=48148

TacMig

I know this is a Miller site but I'm hoping you can help.I live in a small town so shopping options are limited.One of the stores has a Lincoln Mig Pak 140 on sale this week.I've done some research and the price seems good but I am having trouble finding much info on this particular model.Is this model different than the Power Mig 140?Are they a decent welder for the hobby/handyman type use?