which is a better welder to have,
LINCOLN pro-mig 175 WELDER or the
LINCOLN 175 plus WELDER
for general welding around the shop, nothing heavier than 3/8 to 1/2 mild steel , 1/4 and lighter aluminum, and light stainless tubing
i'm about to buy one or the other, thanks for any help with this
I doubt the 1/4" aluminum is going to happen with that machine. I have the Millermatic 210 and it is near the top of its capacities so I doubt a 175 anything will ever get there except in a multi-pass. Besides trying to push aluminum wire is no easy task, I use a spoolgun due to the difficulties of pushing a soft wire. I would step up to the mm210 with gun-on-demand mig gun and spoolgun and no change over to switch from steel to aluminum, very cool and easy to use.
Peace,
how about 1/8 alum, weld that ok.
and what about the 2 welders noted above, which is really better.
and thanks for your responce
The pro-mig is a bit better as it is made for the shop owner as opposed to the hobbiest. On aluminum the hardest part is pushing the wire through the gun, so keep the gun straight as possible and if you can get a liner for aluminum only {teflon or nylon I think} also going to the stiffer 5356 instead of the typical 4043 which is soft and birdsnests easily. The machine should do 1/8" ok pure argon gas instead of co2 though.
Peace,
The SP175 plus is the infinite voltage control, and it is
the best model. A Tweco nylon liner will fit right in to that gun.
No weird off brand consumables for Lincoln. :)
By DannyD
Date 07-29-2005 10:52
I agree with Brand X, the SP 175 + is most definitely the better unit out of the two.
Have your distributor demo both units. Compare the arcs with 100% CO2 with 70S6 wire. It is an acid test for the small MIGs. Then use 75-80% Argon CO2 for a final test. Mechanically they may be similar machines but you may want to buy the best arc.
thanks , i've heard enough, it'll be the 175 plus
edited.... the 175plus will be here in a couple days
Lincoln dealers do not have access to a ProMig 175. Because of that, I would reccomend a PowerMig 215 or 255 instead. If the dealer can't get it, it is built for cheap, aftermarket customers.
