Vulcan Welders

[Cedarsavage]

Anyone own a Vulcan Omnipro 220 TIG or Vulcan Outlaw? I’m in need of a AC/DC tig and a welder generator. I’m looking to start working on my own in the next month or so and obviously those are bargain prices especially with the %30 off sale coming up. I know that they’re not miller or Lincoln but I’m not %100 what direction the market will take me for work. My thought was buy both for the price of one Lincoln or miller and upgrade later when I have a better idea of what I’ll be using the most. I have a titanium wire feed and so far it’s exceeded my expectations. It’s no Lincoln but I have some hours and some side work on it and can’t complain. I’d be especially interested in hearing your .02 if you own your own shop.

 

[JayAdel]

If you are serious about it, I would recommend just going with the Miller.

Quality has its own quality

 

[Ope]

If you’re just doing side work at home it could work. But if you plan on running your own shop I’d go with a Miller/Lincoln, the one that has the most support in your local area. So you don’t have to worry about as much downtime if/when something happens and you need repairs.

 

[NeedleCrook]

You can get a 2 year extended warranty for cheap, and then if anything happens, you’re not looking for a service shop. You just drop it off at your nearest harbor freight and get a new one. No it’s not a Lincoln or miller, but if you don’t know what your long term plans are. It’s a darn good way to get into it. Harbor freight isn’t what it used to be.

 

[Wrench]

If you are in the Spokane/cda area, I'm about to list a miller 351 ac/dc with a miller coolmate tig cooler.

 

[Weldor]

Retired here, I have MQ diesel and run Miller, Lincoln, esab and a thermal arc. That said I was gifted as a joke a Vulcan pro165 as a retirement gift. It is only DC with HF, I have tried to kill this thing for 4 years now. Run it on 115 240 generators long cords etc. exceed duty cycle. It is still running like the day I got. If your going to open a shop, contact the local reps for Miller, Lincoln etc. They may be able to get you some good equipment at fair prices. I know our local Lincoln rep, He called me when they came out with 200 tig 5126 square wave, got for less than $1200. They retail for around $2600. Try to buy quality if you can, but if not get the warranty for sure. From what I have seen fail it is mostly plastic parts and boards. Best of luck in your endeavor.

 

[Weldor]

Don't forget to look at Everlast machines, My good friend owns a fab shop and after we got it set -up for aluminum for him it's been a good machine. He uses it every week. Their dials are a little wonky but otherwise good.

 

[Cedarsavage]

Retired here, I have MQ diesel and run Miller, Lincoln, esab and a thermal arc. That said I was gifted as a joke a Vulcan pro165 as a retirement gift. It is only DC with HF, I have tried to kill this thing for 4 years now. Run it on 115 240 generators long cords etc. exceed duty cycle. It is still running like the day I got. If your going to open a shop, contact the local reps for Miller, Lincoln etc. They may be able to get you some good equipment at fair prices. I know our local Lincoln rep, He called me when they came out with 200 tig 5126 square wave, got for less than $1200. They retail for around $2600. Try to buy quality if you can, but if not get the warranty for sure. From what I have seen fail it is mostly plastic parts and boards. Best of luck in your endeavor.

I always fight the battle between being real fiscally conservative and getting quality. There’s a few opportunities locally for Tig but I see mig and stick much more. The Tig is see as small jobs here and there but it’s tough to say for sure. You like esab? There’s a dealer here with a multi process 110/220 esab that’s pretty reasonable. I’ve only really used Lincoln, miller, Hobart and my titanium.

 

[Weldor]

I've used ESAB, mig Tig arc. They are quality machines. One thing to remember is a multi use machine if one process goes down the whole machine needs to go for repair. If you have stand alone , Mig, Tig, Arc, you can continue to make money while one is being repaired.

 

[BLJ]

I’ve read (no experience) very good things about these.

TIG225X AC/DC TIG Welder With Pulse

Meet the powerful and versatile TIG225X AC/DC TIG Welder—PrimeWeld's top-selling model! Equipped with everything you need to start welding, it caters to both hobbyists and professionals. Order yours online today at PrimeWeld! How to Choose Your Torch: CK17 - 12.5ft - 150 amps - Air Cooled CK17 -...

primeweld.com

 

[Cedarsavage]

I’ve read (no experience) very good things about these.

TIG225X AC/DC TIG Welder With Pulse

Meet the powerful and versatile TIG225X AC/DC TIG Welder—PrimeWeld's top-selling model! Equipped with everything you need to start welding, it caters to both hobbyists and professionals. Order yours online today at PrimeWeld! How to Choose Your Torch: CK17 - 12.5ft - 150 amps - Air Cooled CK17 -...

primeweld.com

That looks pretty solid. You know someone personally that has one?

 

[BLJ]

I don’t. I’ve just read some reviews.

If I was in the market for a TIG, I would take a chance on one.
Price, features and warranty make it pretty appealing. IMO.

 

[pacoalcracker]

I use a Vulcan ProTig 205 and it works just as good as most anything else. I also use a Millermatic 211 mig and a Titanium Plasma 65. No issues with any of them, nor do I expect any. However, I'm not running a full time fab shop either. If I was, I would only be running Miller machines for better reliability and better access to repair parts or repair services. Time is money.

 

[TaperPin]

I think there are a lot of these machines sitting on small business shelves for occasional uses, or in garages for side hustles. I even know a union steel worker who uses one for side gigs. It seems every big name has lower standards for homeowner/big box store models, so the difference between them and lower priced options is not as great as it once was. Sometimes the welder you have is worth 100x as much as the welder you wish you had.

Even Lincoln wire is not as reliable as it once was. A remodeling contractor I was working for liked to fab his own handrails and we needed just a little more wire to finish and Lincoln wire from Home Despot wouldn’t run in any of the three machines we had and Harbor freight worked just fine. I guess it was a flux issue?