Review of my new I-MIG 200.

I recently purchased a I-MIG200. Haven't had a chance to play with it until today. First I had to pick up a bottle of 75/25 and wire from Praxair. Then I bought a plug, and off I went. My biggest hurdle was finding out what worked for me with the settings. Once I got that nailed down, off to welding I went.

I am not using the stock gun. I haven't even took it out the box. I bought a Tweco gun because it was longer. I really like it.

Overall, I have to say that this machine is a really good buy. I've used it about a hour straight, and no issues at all. It's a handy little machine! I'm am pumped now that I have her running and it's working flawlessly. If you are looking for a MIG welder, I say this is the way to go.

Here are a few pics.

The machine!
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps888ac11e.jpg

Tweco gun
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...psf474f2ca.jpg

Welds....
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps8eb794d8.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...psabca3c33.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...psb0bd1f44.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...psc42c81cc.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...psae8f6eb2.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps87a94970.jpg

Did you clean the railing post first? Just curious why the splatter? I'm guessing you were either bunring the paint off or it was windy out blowing the shieling gas. Seems like a nice unit! Thanks

The wind was blowing pretty good. I think I need to bump up the psi.

When I was first learning with my IMIG I didn't take the time to prep the metal and it worked ok. But once I spent some time grinding down to bare metal it was like a new machine. Do yourself a favor and clean that metal and give it a go to see what you think.

I've been looking at Everlast IMIG units for awhile now, and I'm jealous of your new IMIG 200!;) I think I really want to step up to something over 200 amps though, and right now the only thing stopping me from doing that is $1700 and enough free space to store the welder! Just a few "minor" details that need to be ironed out...using a steam roller, or 5!:D

Have you tried using it on 115v yet? I'm curious how it will perform on 115v.

One thing I see, if you are welding at the setting in the picture, you ought to try lowering your volts to about 18.5-19 and increasing your wire speed to 210-220...assuming it is .030 wire. Turn your arc force to about 7 or 8.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sw2x

Have you tried using it on 115v yet? I'm curious how it will perform on 115v.

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I've used the 200 on both 110 and 220 and haven't noticed any difference. For an extended weld session you'd see a performance drop in duty cycle, but for homeowner purposes, for instance, it's brilliant. I've loaded both solid MIG wire and flux core and used both on 110v with good results. For portability the convenience of plugging into a wall socket is a game changer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sw2x

Have you tried using it on 115v yet? I'm curious how it will perform on 115v.

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It will perform well on 115v, but in my opinion 220v is the way to go.

Yea. I plan on using it in the field so I may run across a situation where I dont have 220v. Several locations ive needed to weld only had 460v 3phase and 120v. So I was curious if there were any performance differences between 120v and 220v other than duty cycle and max amps. I had a hobart handler 120 mig welder and it welded like #### no matter how I set it I tried everything!

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