You are reading this article means you are somehow interested in welding. There are various welding processes, which are individually used for different purposes. The process called MIG is used for welding mostly the mild steel. In this process, the solid wire is fed through the welding gun to the molten pool. Shielding gas from a welding gun saves the welding from any contamination.
MIG welder does metal inert gas welding or MIG welding. The reason why MIG welder is chosen by most of the hobbyist and beginners is that it offers a solid uniform welded bead. Though it needs some practice and patience, the output is of excellent quality.
Another reason for choosing MIG welder over other welders is less production of slag. If you are using one of the best MIG welders, you will be getting a residue-free bead. Also, there is no worry of contamination in the process as shielding gas will take care of that.
Now we are proceeding to provide you with the best choices for MIG welders available in the market. We have also listed review of best welding helmets that you might be interested in as well.
Here is Our Top Choice
Contents
- 1 Here is Our Top Choice
- 2 8+ Best MIG Welders Reviews 2019
- 2.1 1. Miller Electric Miller matic 211
- 2.2 2. The Hobart 500559
- 2.3 3. Forney Easy Weld 261, 140 FC-i MIG Welder
- 2.4 4. Lincoln Electric K2185-1 Handy
- 2.5 5. SUNGOLDPOWER MIG Welder 140A Gas and Gasless Welding
- 2.6 6. Hobart Handler 210 MVP
- 2.7 7. LOTOS MIG175
- 2.8 8. Weldpro 155 Amp Inverter MIG/Stick Arc Welder
- 2.9 How we can choose the best MIG welder:
Forney Easy Weld 261 MIG Welder
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Specs
All metal case, Built to take the day to day. Big enough to handle 2 and 10 pound rolls of wire
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Features
Gasless/flux-core welding only, Portable, Torch wrap and Infinite voltage and wire feed speed control.
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Pros
Unit, quality built and easy to use especially for first timers. Priced right, shipped fast.
Our Best 3 Mig Welder Picks
8+ Best MIG Welders Reviews 2019
1. Miller Electric Miller matic 211
Brand Miller Electric matic 211 has come up with the smart blue MIG welder, which comes with several attractive features. The aluminium and steel made the body is 7 inches thick and it works by 230.00 volts. However, the current requirements mentioned here are for the maximum welding setting. If you turn the welder to lower settings, then the input current requirement will surely decrease.
It Comes with the instruction guide, which will give you ample details of how to operate the gadget. It can run via 024, 035 and 030 wires. Millermatic 211 comes with inverter technology. This is useful in maintaining the best arc. The arc of this welder forgives the variation of arc length and travel speed. The quick select drive roll offers three grooves. It will enable you to use two different sized solid wire, and there is another option to feed the flux-cored wire.
Miller matic 211 comes with a fan-on-demand feature which is somewhat exclusive. This makes the cooling system operate when it is required. This intelligent addition in the welder makes less noise, and the energy is used efficiently. Also the contaminants are pulled through the machine, and you do not have to bother about waste management. This lightweight machine is highly portable and supremely efficient in bead laying.
Pros
- Lightweight and portable
- Smooth penetration
- Dual voltage capability
- Great for beginners
- Best for solid wire and gas shielding
Cons
- Cheap and thin ground clamp
- Displaced hole in the drive shaft in few units
2. The Hobart 500559
The Hobart 500559 MIG welder is a 65 pounds gadget with a body of 19x11x13 inches dimension. This steel made welder is power sourced by electric and through the cord. Hobart 500559 has five years limited warranty from the company, which ensures the better quality of the product. This machine can weld 24 ga. up to1/4 mild steel. Hobart 500559 can be used by plugging it to the regular wall outlet of 140 amp unless you are going up to 220 plugs. The pack contains a 10’ MIG Gun and a 10ft. Clamp.
It is potent of making a smooth, stable, excellent arc, and that is possibly the best feature of this MIG welder. The cast driver system is made of cast aluminium, and it is pretty impressive while it feeds the durable wire as per your choice. The sloping control panel offers better visibility, so you can adjust it while working on the welding.
The Outside shell of Hobart 500559 is hardy and made of a thick sheet of steel. It has a metal wire feed assembly. You can execute MIG processes on cast iron, Copper, Brass, Titanium, Magnesium alloys and flux-cored aluminium by this gadget. The output amperage is 25-140, and it completes its 20% duty cycle at 90 amps. It has five position voltage controls which add to smooth and stable arc during welding time and at any thickness. It has a much smoother well-sized gas regulator to give you extra benefit while welding.
Pros
- Strong body
- Perfect packaging
- Good after-sales service
- Moderately priced
- Clean welding
- Five-position voltage control
- Auto-reset thermal overload protection
Cons
- A wrong feeder with some units
- The displaced groove in the metal wire feed drive
3. Forney Easy Weld 261, 140 FC-i MIG Welder
Green, metal made MIG welder is easy to use, and this140 FC-I MIG machine uses 0.30 flux core wire. The wire feed speed control is fantastic. Forney Easy Weld works with infinite voltage control too. You have all the facility to dial in to get the perfect Weld. This is an excellent gadget for beginner welders. This lightweight 19 lbs welder is easy to carry to places. Its output comes up to 140 amp, and thus you can weld mild steel up to1/4” plate.
This gadget can be used for home repairing, maintenance, metal fabrication and hobby purposes. The metal case is quite strong and is big enough to handle 2 and 10 pounds rolls of wire. You can do only gasless or flux core welding with this gadget. Forney Easy Weld does its job fast and with excellent finish. This is good for the novice ones too, and that is why it has earned so much popularity.
Forney Easy Weld has a torch wrap as well. The 8ft. MIG gun, 8ft. Ground clamp and 20A-15A adapter are included in the package. You need to buy contact tips, welding nozzles, diffuser, flux core MIG wire, and anti spatter spray and nozzle gel to enhance your welding ability and output while using this MIG welder.
Pros
- 6 feet cord
- AC power source
- Great performer
- Perfect for beginners and professionals
- Great customer service
- Affordable price
Cons
- Slow wire feed rate
- No work at dial set under 3
4. Lincoln Electric K2185-1 Handy
Lincoln is USA made MIG welder is much portable a gadget with a compact body and lightweight construction. This red coloured metal gadget looks smart and sporty. It offers you constant wire feed adjustment. Mild steel from 24 gauge to 1/8” thickness is ideal to be welded by this gadget. Lincoln Electric K2185 weighs only 26 pounds. The brand is there for 120 years, and they always offer the best quality products to meet the need of customers. This portable Lincoln Electric K2185-1 Handy can weld both flux core and MIG with shield gas. So you can call it multi-functional welder.
There is a cold safety feature to keep the welding wire electrically cold until when the gun trigger is pressed. You can buy the shielding gas separately for the MIG welding. This pack includes6 ft. Power cord and 8 ft clamp cable. The gun and cable assembly in the package helps you to get started immediately with welding. Along with that, you get gas nozzle, gas regulator and hose, spool of solid wire, contact tips and hand shield with filter plate and lens with this welder.
You get a manufacturer warranty on this product. Home repairs and hobby projects can be done smoothly by this Lincoln Electric K2185. The welding wire is of.035 diameter and this gadget has adjustable wire feed speed control. The duty cycle is 20 at 70A. Any household outlet of 115V, 20 amp can be used to get this welder going, and the amperage output will be 35-88. It works with an electric corded power source with 115 volts and 2300 watts. Batteries are not required for this gadget.
Pros
- Best for small welding jobs
- Can do Custom fabrication and body panel replacement
- Perfect dial to select wire speed
- Great price
- Versatile machine
- Cold contactor safety
- Long-lasting and durable
Cons
- Overheated during big welding
- Penetration not up to the mark
- No gauge with regulator
5. SUNGOLDPOWER MIG Welder 140A Gas and Gasless Welding
This 30 pound MIG welder is made of iron, and it is capable of multifunction. This one has a body of `19.8×15.11.5 inches. It has dual voltage capability of 110V/220V. This is a DC IGBT inverter MIG welder, which can do work gas-less with flux-cored welding and gas-shielded MIG welding. This is a really well-built MIG welder, and it can be easily counted as one of the most dependable ones. The packaging is pretty sturdy. The cardboard box package takes care of the added protection that is evident for a sleek gadget like this.
Sungoldpower MIG Welder 140A has both flux-cored wire and solid cored wire. Not only that, it has the suit for 2lb and 10lb wire spool. This MIG 140 welder comes with adjustable wire feed speed. Welding current is also adjustable in this machine. You are free to adjust this MIG 140 to suit different welding and various thicknesses. The arc is very stable, and even beginners can make high arc with the help of this welder. If you angle the electrode and add some voltage and amps, then you are sure to get great beads at first or second try.
You can work on rusty metals of farm and road equipment. The maintenance and repair job can be done well with SUNGOLDPOWER MIG Welder 140A. This MIG welder can weld mild steel, stainless steel and other metal materials. The performance of this inverter welder is consistent if you are using shielding gas while welding. Always use a positive ground for the flux core.
Pros
- Spindle adapter included
- Well built
- Delivers industrial output
- Decent welding output
- Nice Weld with good penetration
- Appropriately priced
- Great power to weld any metal
- Best for outdoor repair
Cons
- No LCD screen
- No synergic welding
- Problematic spool gun connection
6. Hobart Handler 210 MVP
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This is another dual voltage MIG welder, which comes with MVP plug. The plug makes the unit easy to plug into any regular source. Hobart Handler 210 MVP welds 24 ga. To 3/8 inch steel at a single pass. The settings at seven voltage help the welder to fine-tune for precise welding jobs. The duty cycle is 20% at 90 amps in 115V and 30% at 150 amp by 230V. No tool is required for the quick-change drive roll system. This gadget weighs only .16 ounce.
This gas welding MIG welder needs no battery to get operated. You get three years limited warranty from the company on this product. You can use 10lb roll of spool wire in Hobart Handler 210 MVP to weld steel. Hobart Handler 210 MVP does not come with a spool gun, and if you wish to use it, you need to buy it separately. This welder shuts down on its own when it reaches the duty cycle, and thus the unit’s output is disabled at that moment. Only the fan keeps working on. But the user is prescribed not to shut the unit off until it is overloaded.
To Weld aluminium, you need a spool gun, but that is not included in the package, and you have to buy that separately. The feed head was earlier made of plastic but after upgrading you will get metal made spool head in Hobart Handler 210 MVP. This machine is good for the beginners as the process of execution is quite simple and they will learn to weld fast with this welder. The transformer technology of Hobart Handler 210 MVP is time-proven, and all welders can trust this. The spool gun change process is also very easy.
Pros
- Great for beginners
- Very lightweight
- Great price
- Easy to use
- Works great with or without gas
- Great metal drive roller
- Great power to weld any metal
- Best for outdoor repair
Cons
- toggle for the voltage
- Not industrial heavy duty welder
- Single drive roll
7. LOTOS MIG175
This brand offers a regular MIG welder with lots of supreme functionality. This is a spool gun argon regulator based welder. It works with much durable, high-quality aluminium wire feeder. It offers stable working experience with welding. It has the high-speed MIG spool gun that works great for aluminium welding.
The 4-prong end connection is 10 ft. 4 inches long, and 1 lb aluminium wire comes with 0.9-millimetre dia. A 3/16” or thinner aluminium plate can be welded through this machine. The package includes one MIG torch (to be used for aluminium welding), aluminium spool gun, gas hose, ground cable clamp, Argon regulator, contact tips of various sizes and welding mask. Also you get wires of .25 to .30 inches.
The power and setting ability of LOTOS MIG175 is outstanding. You will get the exact value for money when you buy this MIG welder. This one not only offers supreme quality weld, but the accessories that come along package are also great, excluding the helmet. You can use this welder in a multipurpose way. It does weld mild steel, thick aluminium with a spool gun and stainless steel with ease and perfection. The torch that comes with the package is adaptable and can be comfortably used.
It works via transformer technology, this one is much reliable and durable than many of its contemporaries. It can weld stainless steel, mild steel, aluminium and some other metals, so you can call LOTOS MIG175 a perfect welder for the professionals as well as the hobbyists. It works great and is priced much reasonably.
Pros
- Good for small jobs
- Spool gun included
- Value for money
- Good after-sales service
- Great for entry-level welding
- Convenient customer service
Cons
- No two-stage trigger
- Packaging not great
8. Weldpro 155 Amp Inverter MIG/Stick Arc Welder
Weldpro 155 MIG welder is portable and very much compact. It can handle quality welding jobs. It runs on either110/115 or 220/230 volts and offers true workforce needed for professional projects. The working voltage is 115V/230V with a 15% duty cycle. The welding range is 30 to 155 amp. When it works on MMA mode, it can be used as a great scratch arc TIG welder. ¼ inch mild steel can be appropriately welded through this welder by using 220-volt input. It feeds on 78 to 472-inch wire per minute, and the wire feed speed and heat settings are way too adjustable.
This can use MIG, flux-cored or stick welding process that way. You do not have to use tapped controls like many cheap welders. You can experience the advanced compact IGBT inverter design in this welder, which also allows the automatic overheat and over-current welding protection. This model has incorporated 2T/4T models. During long welding session 4T helps a lot. You need not hold the trigger for too long.
This 155 Amp is a great tool for welding, with its dual voltage. The performance has pleased most of the users. For the ones who need a portable and lightweight welder, this is a boon. This is pretty much simple to work with, and no one needs more than 30 minutes to get started with welding by this machine. You can dial down to feed the thin metal wire and dial-up for the thicker wires. Also you can flux core easily with this welder, so it is pretty much versatile.
Pros
- DC power sourced
- 21.2-pound lightweight body
- Lots of components included
- Metal make
- Great penetration
- Energy saving
- Electromagnetic noise-free
- Cold contactor safety featured
Cons
- Performance is not great
- No thread at mug torch
How we can choose the best MIG welder:
We will be discussing a few points which will affect your choice of MIG welder.
Budget setting- For a beginner, a $300-$500 welder is great. But when you are welding thick metals like 1/4 inch or thicker sheet, or aluminium and stainless steel, then you may need something of the higher price range. But if you wish to do the aluminium job with $500 welder, then you can do it quickly, with the help of a spool gun.
Amp of MIG welder- The working ability of MIG welder depends upon the power input, and the output voltage or amps measure the production ability. The higher the amp will be, the thicker material will be welded by the welder.
To choose from 115, 120 or 230 volt MIG welder- The welders with 115-120 volt needs a regular three pin household plug to get operated. If you plan to weld mild steel or ¼ inch thick metal, then you must go for 230 volts or above.
Type of jobs- If you are doing welding basically for a hobby, then you may get the job done with a light-duty welder. But if you wish to weld thick aluminium sheet or stainless steel, then a high ranged welder will do your job.
Duty cycle- When the manual says that the welder has 20% duty cycle, then it means the welder can be used continuously for 2 minutes over a 10-minute span. After that, it gets overheated and needs a resting period of around 15 minutes.
The versatility of welder- you know your welder is a versatile one when it offers to weld of various metals.
Spool gun- to Weld aluminium you need a welder that must use spool gun. The aluminium wire that is used in spool gun is of 8 to 10 inches. So the MIG welder that is spool gun capable saves you from lots of energy and time waste.
Gas regulators- the regulator, as the name suggests, regulates the flow of gas from the cylinder to the welder.
Tapped settings or variable dials- Welder with rocker switch and tap dials let you set the welding output only the scale given. But it is a bit frustrating for the expert welders. So go for the welding setting chart with details of shielding gas, metal type, thickness etc.
Hoses and cords- MIG welder and MIG welder gun is connected through the cord. Another cord runs between MIG welder and grounding clamp.
Lightweight welders versus heavyweight ones- lightweight ones are portable, and in many cases, these could be carried to any place. This is surely an advantage.
The brands- Hobart, Miller Electric, Lincoln Electric or Forney, are some of the most reputed brands that offer MIG welders. From the new arrivals in the market, there are Everlast and Lotos, which have earned some reputation within a short span of time. So check your budget and get the one of your choices.
Accessories for MIG welder- accessories like leather gloves, good quality welding wire, wire brush, spare contact tip, good quality ground clamp, filled gas cylinder, and helmet and safety goggles are necessary.
Warranty– the last but not the least important factor in the list, a warranty from the manufacturer suggests that they trust the gadget for working ability and longevity. A year’s warranty is generally sought by the buyers, but some reputed brands offer up to 5 years warranty on their products.
FAQs:
What is the best MIG welder on the market?
Hobart Handler 210 MIG welder is the best one in the market, and also it is very much liked by the users. This is an all-rounder welder with high-quality components. This one is not very budget-friendly, but the output makes it worth the price.
Is stick welding stronger than MIG?
Stick, and MIG welding produces the same quality output or at least the same quality output. In terms of penetration, also, the stick welder and MIG welder work in the same force.
Is TIG stronger than MIG?
TIG is a primary welding method and it is also costlier one. Also, it is time consuming and challenging, but it offers high-quality welding.
What is a good cheap MIG welder?
There are so many cheap MIG welders, but the good and trustworthy one is Forney Easy weld 71, 140 MP welder. This small machine works in a wonderfully simple way and makes wonderful beads. The product also comes with one year of warranty from the manufacturer.In this case MIG welder under 500 USD would be better choice for you. Addition to this, if you have a better budget you can take a look on our list of best mig welder under $1000 as well.
What welder should a beginner buy?
MIG welding is the simplest welding process among all the welding methods. MIG welder is cheaper and is great at welding steel, aluminium and some thicker materials. With or without shielding gas, the MIG welder is the best choice for the novice ones.
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