Buying a used Lincoln mig

[robinsoncrusoe55]

Hello there,
I've seen a used Lincoln 180 mig welder for sale, no wire, regulator, gas bottle etc, for £330, with 6 months warranty.....
I've got a few questions......

Is this a good deal?

Is this a good mig welder?

Whats the min weld current on these machines?

Many thanks

 

[F.J.]

I used to work with a Lincoln compact 220 and it was a belter. The owner used to leave it out in the rain as he lived on a farm but it would keep going and laid lovely welds. On the back of that I bought a Lincoln compact 350 amp and is a joy to use, must be easily 10 years old and cost me £600 earlier this year.

What I would say is have a go of it on all settings even if you have to take your own scrap! If say take some thin sheet, 3mm and 6mm off cuts of scrap. Lay a few beads and make some joints using all settings and you will be able to make your mind up there and then if its worth the money.

To help you out a bit a sold a murex Tradesmig 165 for £260 and a butters 180 amp for £200 just two weeks ago. The murex was about 12 years old and the butters was easily 15-20 years old but both worked a dream

 

[SiPMerlin150]

My first venture into MIg welding was with an old 'compact 185' , it was about 10 years old and will give newer machines today a run for their money.

Very nice, never a problem. We used it on car body repairs in a garage, and it never really saw anymore past the '2' out of 6 on the voltage selector.. It was rather powerful. I'd say 6mm with a gap wouldn't be a problem for it.

No laughing, as I said, these were my first MIG welds on this photo!

 

[robinsoncrusoe55]

Thanks very much for the info lads.....
I suppose I'd mostly made my mind up already, just needed to have it confirmed.
It was a choice between the Lincoln, or a new Sealey professional 180.

Thanks again

 

[F.J.]

The temptation would be great if your looking at a new Sealy. I was always told as a youngster never to near anything branded with Sealy weather it be spanners, ratchets or anything else due to their poor quality but as it happens one of my customers has a Sealy supermig 195 and I have to say it is a brilliant little welder. I've used it loads of times to weld 1.2mm tube upto 6mm plate which I only did yesterday.

But if the Lincoln works as it should I myself would still go for that it is a more respected brand in the welding world