Improve your stick welding skill, very useful in the long run specially when welding thick materials (stock). But also consider your plan in purchasing a good mig welder, for sure it will speed up your projects and will sure produce better looking welds once you get to learn the process of applying welds correctly plus its much faster than stick welding process, mas malinis pa, almost no spatters at all. Using a mig welder is just perfect for thin gauge metals surface, eg. pipes, square tubings, thin gauge metal sheets etc.

So go ahead, make your plan a reality, you won't loose anything but yet gain additional skills.

Good luck on your choice ! :thumbup:

thanks sir rosy. I'm using a ventilator to suck fumes, will a ventilator also work for a mig welder? I'm thinking that it might affect the gas shielding?

mig welding does not produce too much fumes compare to stick welding, specially if you are welding light gauges tubing.

btw, what brand and model are you eyeing for your mig welder?

I'm eyeing locally available brand like the powercraft 180i 3in1 or the hitronic 250F. What you guys think of those mig welder?

Kung speed and pretty welds ang hanap mo,MIG ang kailangan mo.madali pang matutunan..much better kung mga high amps model ang mabibili mo..di mo rin kasi masabi kung kailangan mo ring mag weld sa thicker materials..

yes speed at pretty welds nga target ko atsaka less usok kakapanghina din kasi ung usok sa stick welding. enough na kaya ung powercraft 180i or hitronic 250F sa medyo thicker metal?

You have a good taste, If I only have the option to choose local brands I will choose any of the two, I recently acquired 2 Powercraft machines not more than 2 weeks It's the Plasma cutter 40a and 200a TIG Inverter both are built solid the only things that I want is the accessories is built cheaply the cables are too short but what do you expect for a Chinese brand welder but no matter what this the best brand available locally that bang for the bucks. 2 weeks ago I saw the 2 welder (powercraft and hitronic) the powercraft is like built to last, Im not saying this because I have those machines but you see for your self and let us know what's your opinion.

I think the Powercraft he is talking about is the Lincoln brand.
Not the Powercraft Brand though i agree it is also Heavy duty.

The Lincoln Powercraft 180i is very good since it's 3-in-1.
ARC-TIG-MIG.

If you wanna learn all those welding applications and practice them on 1 welder.
That's a good choice.

Ok after months of thinking I finally chose hitronic mig 250F over Lincoln powercraft 180i because:
1. The unit is dedicated to Mig, I don't need a 3in1 feature of powecraft because I already have an arc welder and for now no plans for TIG.
2. more powerful and can handle upto 1.2mm wire
3. less expensive than powercraft... cheaper by around 7K

How I wish someone had done a review on this welder as it will help a lot of would be buyers.
Looks like I'll be the first to review this...very soon!

Wow new toy congrats brader! Isalang na agad yan! External wire feeder noh? More pics pa sir..saka available ba parts dito like torch,tip and liner?

Congratulations Sir jantech! I can appreciate a "dedicated machine" for mig, or any other welding process.
Sometimes, it seems, that a "multipurpose" machine develops "multi" problems or just doesn't do all that's expected very well.
I have not tried a Hitronic....they do come from a very reputable company.....
Am looking forward to your review of this particular machine!!

By the way...don't know what machine you have for stick welding....but, you can tig weld with a dc machine....
It does not have to be a "tig" machine. A flow regulator and tig torch are needed - and you "scratch start" the weld.
For aluminum....the best is with ac and tig machine capabilities....although, aluminum can be welded with dcen and helium.

yes this is with external feeder. as per goldapex (goldpeak) the accessories like nozzle, contact tip, etc are standard so its available in the market. I'll create a separate thread dedicated for the review of this welder.

I have no experience using Tig and it never crossed my mind that an arc welder can be used for Tig... thank you very much for the info!

Ok after months of thinking I finally chose hitronic mig 250F over Lincoln powercraft 180i because:
1. The unit is dedicated to Mig, I don't need a 3in1 feature of powecraft because I already have an arc welder and for now no plans for TIG.
2. more powerful and can handle upto 1.2mm wire
3. less expensive than powercraft... cheaper by around 7K

How I wish someone had done a review on this welder as it will help a lot of would be buyers.
Looks like I'll be the first to review this...very soon!

Yes bro jantech, I myself was waiting for the review of this mig welder purchased by another member a few years back, but I guess its not in his system to share reviews for others who may be interested to buy this machine.

I myself have considered the HiTronic 250F and also the Powercraft PMW280 MIG/MAG machine for they are both powerful machines that can weld thick surface materials. But I suppose I have already an inkling what to
purchase for I have already the stick machine.

Well I guess I"ll just be waiting for your reviews of the HiTronic 250F, this will make me decide which one to choose soon, just need some sort of confirmation.

Happy welding !! :chopper:

I also considered the powercraft equivalent of hitronic mig 250F which is the pmw 250i-S, the two machines have the same specs and looks, however when I called toolsfromus the price of pmw 250i-S is around 55K. For that price I'd rather buy a miller 211 which is around 50K plus 5K balikbayan box shipping. Although miller is not an option for me as well because I'm not very patient waiting for the shipping and as much as possible I prefer a machine that is available locally...