7 Welders: Vulcan (Harbor Freight), Lincoln, Yeswelder, Flameweld, Azzuno, Warcking and Chicago Electric. MIG welders compared for welds using both flux core and solid wire with shielding gas. Performance comparison includes weld penetration, weld strength, ability to weld very thin material, and current stability over 5 minutes. A big “thank you” to Virgil for helping test the welders!
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➡ Products Tested In This Video (in no particular order):
Lincoln:
Yeswelder:
Azzuno:
Warcking:
Flameweld:
Vulcan: Available at Harbor Freight
Chicago Electric: Available at Harbor Freight
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I just went out and bought seven Different mig welders to find out Whether a MIG welder that cost under 200 Could perform just as well or even Better than when to cost two thousand Well let's find out and the first test We'll see which welding machine makes The deepest weld penetration then we'll See which one makes it strong as well Using Flex core wire we'll see which two Welding machines are able to weld sheet Metal finally we'll see which welding Machines can weld for five minutes and Which ones won't at a price of 189 Dollars is this flame weld brand it's a MIG welding machine that offers up to 160 amps we're gonna test that it's a Dual voltage 120 240 volt it uses a one Knob intelligent control system the Machine Auto controls the voltage and Current to achieve a smooth Arc the Flame bow does claim to be thermally Protected the flame weld is made in China all the welders except for the Chicago Electric are also capable of arc Welding all the welders that are being Tested are designed for running both Solid wire with argon CO2 shielding gas And also flux core the inside panel on The flame weld has instructions for Setting up the welder and how to install The wire the welder comes with gas hose But not the regulator the flame weld Uses a threaded fitting while several of
The other welders use a quarter inch Barb fitting to install the roll of wire A first remove of the spool knob I'll Place a two pound spool of wire on the Holder and reinstall the spool knob with Two pounds of wire inside the welder 17.5 pounds the feed tester slides down And out of the way allowing the idler Arm to lift with this welder it is sort Of difficult to feed the wire into the Gun cable end the feed tester is back in Place and this welder has a button Specifically designed for feeding wire Into the cable the contact tip has Already been removed I'll go ahead and Install the contact tip and nozzle using 0.035 flux core wire let's go ahead and Measure the lowest and highest possible Current I'm going to lower the current From 60 to 50 amps and the wire speed is Off a little but the current varied from 37 to 97 amps on the 50 amp setting the Flame belt started at 158 amps and it Dropped 151 after 3 seconds at a price Of 230 dollars is this Chicago Electric MIG welder which is sold at Harbor Freight designed for Mig or Flex core Arc welding thermal overload protection With indicator light there are basically Four power settings with a high low for Levels one and two the wire speed is Controlled by a dial for Flex core Welding it's supposed to be electrode Negative thread wire is the electrode
And it is electrode negative for gas Welding it's electrode positive the Welding current is 30 to 170 amps DC Insert the wire through both wire liners And clamp it into feed mechanism remove Nozzle and tip plug in welder and turn It on squeeze the trigger until the wire Comes out and currently tighten the wire Feed tension knob clockwise until wire Will bend from feed tension at two to Three inches the Chicago Electric uses a Quarter inch Barb fitting and the ground Clamp for the Chicago Electric is on the Left and the flame weld is on the right I'm surprised at the quality of the Flame weld is just so much better with 10 pounds of wire on board the Chicago Electric weighs 58.5 pounds on the Lowest setting the Chicago Electric Started off at 82 amps and dropped to Around 67. on the highest setting the Welder started off at 151 amps and Warmed up to 168 after three seconds at A price of 252 dollars is this azuno Brand up to 200 amps of current equipped With overload and overheating protection Designed to handle two pound and 10 Pound rolls the nice thing about the Ozuno is it's a four in one welder it's Designed for Flex core Mig lift tig and Arc welding the ozuno is made in China Just like the Chicago Electric the Isuzudu uses a quarter inch Barb fitting For gas hookup the zuno claims to hold a
10-pound spool of wire and the 10-pound Spool fits just fine just like the Chicago Electric there's plenty of space For easy access to getting a new spool Of wire fed into the gun cable and the Zuna with 10 pounds of welding wire on Board weighs very close to 40 pounds on The lowest setting starting off at 22 Amps and warming up into the 40s on the Highest settings starting off at 206 Amps and cooling down to 196 at three Seconds at a price of 260 dollars is This war King brand it's 110 220 volt Dual voltage welder solid wire Mig flux Core is well a stick up to 180 amps of Current it also includes overload Protection the war King does not come With all the hardware that's required For TIG the welder comes with one Kilogram or 2.2 pounds of wire the war King is made in China and it's a very Tight fit with a spool that came with The welder trying to start a roll of Wire is a bit of a challenge a full 10 Pound spool of wire is definitely going To be a challenge due to the positioning Of the wire feed mechanism with two Pounds of wire on board the war King is Very light at only 23.4 pounds and the War King has a barred fitting for the Gas connection on the lowest heat Setting there's quite a bit of Fluctuation from 41 to 106 amps and the War King started off at 229 amps and
Dropped to 211 after 3 seconds at a Price of 360 dollars is this yes welder Mig 205 DS it claims to offer a full 30 To 205 amps automatic protection Function for over current over voltage And overheating 110 220 dual voltage Capable includes gasless Mig TIG and arc Welding the yes welder is made in China The S welder is well designed to handle A 2 or 10 pound spooler wire and the Wire feed mechanism is positioned to Allow the wire to feed into the gun Cable without bending the wire with a 10-pound roll of wire on board the yes Welder weighs 40.22 pounds and the yes Welder was pretty consistent from 59 to 68 amps in the lowest setting the yes Welder started off really hot and cooled At 2 and 11 amps after 3 seconds on the Highest setting at a price of 1150 is This Vulcan Omni Pro 220 which is sold At Harbor Freight it claims to be a top Of the line multi-process welder it can Handle mix stick TIG and flex core Welding for TIG and stick welding up to 175 amps includes 132 pre-loaded welding Programs for easy setup 120 or 240 volt Input inverter technology for highest Quality output and maximum efficiency The Vulcan is made in China of all the Welders so far the Vulcan is by far the Ease just for installing a roller wire However it is a pretty large welder the Geometry for the wire feed is excellent
And allows for a pretty straight wire Run into the wire feed mechanism there's A wire feed button to make the process Even easier and the gas supply hose has A threaded fitting and with 10 pounds of Wire the Vulcan weighs 66.5 pounds on The lowest heading 72 to 105 amps on Highest setting 257 amps starting off And dropping 206 amps after 3 seconds at An eye watering price of 2 300 is this Lincoln 210 as I've said many times Before this is not a sponsored Channel And I purchased all the welders the Lincoln 210 is designed for Mig stick TIG and flex core welding inside the Side panel of the welder is a very Helpful reference chart you can weld up The 3 8 inch material using Mig its dual Voltage offering 110 or 220 volts the Lincoln is assembled in Mexico without a Spool of wire on board the Lincoln Weighs just under 42 pounds just like The Vulcan 220 the Lincoln is a larger Welder with plenty of space for Installing the wire definitely an easy Process to install the wire into the Wire feed mechanism and is 21 to 49 amps Of current on the lowest setting with The Lincoln 281 to 208 5 amps of current On the highest setting later in the Video we'll test the welders out on some Very thin 20 gauge sheet metal on the Highest setting the Lincoln makes the Most current at 281 amps after 3 seconds
Of welding the working in the yes welder Tied for second at 211 and Vulcan 203 Amps and 208 can sometimes be a factor And the flame weld is the lightest at 15.5 pounds without the welding wire Installed War King weighs 21.4 pounds Azulu and yes welder weigh just over 30 Pounds a big thank you to Virgil for Helping me with the MIG welding review I've set up the test design for this Review to challenge the welding machines And they'll be set up running at a much Higher current than normal to compare Penetration in the next test Virgil will Be using 0.035 solid wire with argon CO2 Shielding gas to butt weld quarter inch Steel plate using the flame weld all the Welding machines have been set up to get The best possible penetration however The flame weld just doesn't produce Enough current to achieve good Penetration but it does make it pretty Nice looking Weld and the Chicago Electric is creating more wire speed Than the flame well but the wire speed Is fluctuating quite a bit and the zuno Does skip a little bit as the wire is Feeding through it but considering the Price of the welder it does offer a Pretty decent well and working is Delivering the most current yet and it Is delivering a smooth and consistent Well oh yeah I like that that runs Smooth as soon as you fire up instantly
Penetrates and the yes welder is Definitely producing more amps of Current than all the previous brands That was actually pretty good you can See actually in the material that you're Burning a lot deeper than some of the Other ones pretty good welder this one Here did a good job I like it and the Vulcan and yes welder make pretty close To the same amount of current I'm pretty Impressed with it it digs in pretty deep You can actually tell that it is a Little hot for the quarter inch but uh It digs in deep I'm pretty impressed With it just like the Vulcan the Lincoln Makes quite a bit of current you could Have adjusted the wire speed a little Bit more as in for penetration it's About the same as the Vulcan I think it Ran pretty smooth I really like it it Runs pretty good I'll go ahead and grind Off the weld that's just above the steel Plate so we can measure penetration I Folded each of the test pieces and Measured the area with the deepest Penetration for each of the brands and The Vulcan delivered the deepest weld at 0.188 inches but the Lincoln was in a Close second at 0.185 the yes welder Also performed very well at 0.183 inches In the next test let's see how the Welders perform using 0.035 flux core Welding together quarter inch plate with A 45 degree bevel and a 1 16 cents
Landing we'll see how each of the Welding machines perform making just two Passes so the wire speed just isn't as Consistent as some of the other machines It does penetrate pretty good for being As hot as it is but Fusion wise it is Digging in on both sides spots where you Can see a shadow and it's normally where It's not tied into the base metal that Is a pretty decent looking cat pass I Put together a tester the test to Strengthen the welds the scale will Measure the amount of force it takes to Break the test piece and Virgil is right About the cap Weld and the weld finally Broke at 5972 pounds and the Chicago Electric's Wire speed is a little bit more Consistent than the flame welds I don't Like the way this one actually did a CAT Pass and you can actually watch that Puddle moving around and it wants to Form in front of your puddle before it Actually fuses together it did burn Through but of course we did have a Beveled Edge for a quarter inch it did Okay I wouldn't use it a lot on on Quarter material if I was going to use It just for the flux side I would go With a thicker material and the Chicago Electric welding machine performed well At 4759 pounds but the flame weld is Holding on to the lead Zuno machine definitely seems like an
Upgrade compared to the flame weld into Chicago Electric doesn't have a whole Lot of splatter to it ran fairly smooth Except for the surgeon on the wire speed But all in all I like the way it welded The yazuno did pretty decent for the First part of it ended up keyholeing This one and the Chicago Electric just To get a decent root in there and the Ozuna offers more welding current than The flame weld in the Chicago electric And it made it strong as well that 6133 Pounds and working is delivering the Most current yet it was surging a little Bit all right the war King was not a Very good welder for this it does have a Lot of penetration to it but it's Inconsistent I I would throw this one in The trash to be honest with you just Because of the fact that it's just so Inconsistent on welding and it wants to Surge a lot we had a lot of issues with Some of the surging and the war King Just isn't as strong Three brands and a well-broken 3743 Pounds NDS welder is producing a nice And smooth wire speed without much Surging compared to some of the other Brands nice penetration smooth this is Another one I would love to have nice Little world yes welder this one here I Really enjoyed running I like to weld Hot and fast did a great job on burning Through we had a 330 second gap on all
Of these as in for fill on both ends did A good job tying into your edges I would Hit it with a grinder a little bit and Put another cap pass right across the Top of that with the cap weld past the Yes welder would have been even stronger But 5143 pounds is a very good Performance just like the yes welder the Vulcan produces a very consistent wire Speed without much surging compared to Some of the other welding machines as in For weld welded pretty nice really nice Plenty of penetration welded underneath This isn't your just your normal Hobbyist welder I like it very nice onto The Vulcan quite a bit of keyholing Going on with this one it did a great Job on filling it we run a little hot For a consistent weld it did a pretty Decent job as in for Phil I mean this One here could use two bead cap and a Cat pass would have helped but the Voca Still has plenty of strength at almost 6 000 pounds just like the yes welder in Vulcan the Lincoln's wire speed is very Consistent very smooth Christians of the sound of the well There's a nice even route it was easy Nice flow and the Lincoln could have Went just a little bit slower on the Route that route is fairly consistent as In a consistent bead I mean it's it's Beautifully tied in both edges not one Issue with this one and the Lincoln did
Indeed put together a very impressive Performance moving into first place with The strongest weld at 6 349 pounds very Impressive placing a cap Weld and all The test pieces would have helped but The welding machines performed very well Except for the war king and the Chicago Electric was also a little below average At 4 759 pounds we tested the welders on Thick material so let's see how the Welders perform on 20 gauge metal which Is about the same thickness of a fender On a compact car the welding machines Will be set up with 0.03 inch flux core Wire and the machines will be plugged Into 120 volt Outlet before beginning The test on sheet metal Virgil is going To set up each machine to optimize it For welding the thinnest material Possible this is definitely not the best Approach for welding thin gauge material But it'll help us identify which welders Are best suited for thin gauge metal and The flame welder is on the lowest Setting but it's still running way too High to run a continuous weld running a Continuous weld the flame welder is Going to burn right through the metal Virgil definitely does not recommend Using this approach for welding sheet Metal however I've asked him to weld This way just to show the lower limit of Each machine way too hot it won't fuse An actual puddle and when you do get a
Puddle it's too late instant blow holes You go to run too fast you're not going To get a consistent weld so the Chicago Electric is definitely not well designed For welding thin materials on the lowest Setting the zuno's current range from 22 To 58 amps which gives it a huge Advantage over most of the other Machines on thin gauge material that did Very well for being what it is good Quality weld holding one spot too long It will burn through but if you keep Moving the previous World on the lowest Setting the war King runs way too hot to Lay down a good weld without burning Through you can stay at a consistent Pace without it burning through trying To fluctuate it to where it will Actually lay down and smooth out and Flow better for well done the thinner Stuff I wouldn't use it I don't like the Way this one welds on thinner stuff Because when you're trying to do spot Weld because then it will clear out and Lay down flattered and nicer and Smoother when I'd hit it and then let Off it would actually fuse that wire all The way back up that's the part that I Do not like I like to have the wire Consistently out there instead of it Being all the way up it just runs a lot Hotter I wouldn't use this on thin gauge Material I would only use it on thicker Again it does run smooth this will not
Weld 22 gauge I mean you can weld it but You're going to be burning a lot of Holes because you just can't get it Turned down low enough this would be a Great welder for thicker material I'm Happy with that bead profile is pretty Nice didn't burn through a whole lot Heat signature is good straight line you Got to kind of fluctuate manipulate that Putt a little bit all in all good welder In the next test let's run to welders For five minutes as close as possible to 160 amps we'll check for current drop During the entire five minutes and the Flame weld is set for 165 amps but the Welder is only producing 100 amps after Two minutes and the flame well stayed Around 85 amps throughout the rest of The five minutes after about a minute The Chicago Electric was at 127 amps and Dropped around 100 amps after two Minutes and it's just go electric Overheated and shut down at 3 minutes And 43 seconds and the Ozuna was doing By far the best yet at close to 160 amps After a minute and the ozuno stayed very Close to 123 amps during the rest of the Five minute test and the war King Started off strongly remained around 160 Amps for the first two minutes after Three minutes it was down a little to 155 and 144 amps after four minutes and The war King just couldn't quite finish The test at 4 minutes and 52 seconds
Just like the war King the yes welder Started off strong at 156 amps it Dropped around 147 amps at 3 minutes and Finished at 5 minutes at 133 amps and The Vulcan held on to 160 amps for the First three minutes and then dropped 144 Amps for the final two minutes the Lincoln started off at 160 amps and then Dropped to little to around 145 by 5 Minutes and this chart is pretty busy But it shows just how closely matched The yes welder Vulcan and Lincoln are When it comes to delivering current for Five minutes the war King performed well But it did shut down just before Reaching five minutes so which welder is The best and the Lincoln finished first In every category except for weld Penetration however the Vulcan and yes Welder are both very competitive with With each other with the Vulcan barely Finishing ahead of the yes welder if You're really concerned about the budget The yes welder is a great buy at about 360 bucks if it's all about value the Zuno is very hard to beat at around 250 Dollars and there's a good chance you Could find a coupon to bring the price Down even more if you're paying over a Thousand dollars for weather like Lincoln or the Vulcan you're going to Expect great performance but what's Really impressive is the technology That's wrapped up in the yes welder and
The azuno both certificate welders and Those would be my choice if it's about Value all the videos in this channel Including this one our viewers suggested So if you have a video idea I hope You'll take time to leave a comment Thanks so much for watching please take Care and I look forward to next time