Airco or Lincoln

little_doodie · Jan 8, 2009

1st of all I am not a pro welder.
I have an older Miller gas powered stick welder that works pretty good for thicker metals
I am looking at an older Airco auto-Pak 130 mig welder 220V for pretty cheap 100$
I am also considering a lincoln 3200 that runs on 120V and would be very portable.
most of what i want it for is light mental under 1/8"

the lincoln is new and is about 500$

Whats the opinion on the Airco? Vs Lincoln?

toadjammer · Jan 8, 2009

From my experience the 3200 has the cheaper plastic drive mechanism. And the Airco if it is 130 amp is very small for a 220v machine and will more than likely be hard to find parts for. I would look at the hobart 140 or miller 140.

macona · Jan 9, 2009

Arc Products would have the parts for the Airco. The 3200 is a piece of junk.

Chances are the Airco is rated 130 amps at a higher duty cycle than other similar machines. You would need to see the data sheet to be sure. The 3200 will be rated at 80 or 90 amps at 20% duty cycle. Also the 3200 usually wont be set up for MIG , only flux core.

little_doodie · Jan 10, 2009

Thats great info !!
I did buy it ... it was kind of a chance because the guy selling it was selling it for a widow and she said it worked but the seller did not have a power connection to try it so its ability to weld was unknown.
I wired it up yesterday and it seems to work fine.
it also has a few optional features Stitch weld , and mig spot .
I need a regulator and tank for it but it worked fine with fluxcore wire.
the real big plus is this machine is rated 60% duty at 130A
most of the machines i was looking at where 20% at max load.
This thing will most likely weld all day at 90A

I am very happy with my purchase.
Thanks

Darkreamer · Jan 11, 2009

Airco

We have a Airco 350 MIG and we use it daily, Great Machine
I ask our service genius of what he thinks of the Airco and he commented "if it was not built so well it would now be in the scrap pile" therefore its not in the scrap pile because of the built in strength of the design.
The "orange one" rules in our shop

Enjoy your Airco

Regards

Johnno

little_doodie · Jan 11, 2009

I do have an additional question.
my welder is rated to 130A and it has a large 8 position voltage setting labled 1-8
does anyone have a clue what Amp setting they would be?
I am guessing 1 would be 30-40A and 8 would be 130 but no where is it labeled.

Thoughts?

moonlight machine · Jan 11, 2009

It dosen't matter to much, after you use it some you will know what heat range to use. My miller 35s wire feed just has the heat positions marked 1-6 and in the 25 years or so I have ben using it I have never needed to know how many amps each setting is.

Darkreamer · Jan 11, 2009

Airco

I dont know the amps related to the dial settings but our Airco runs 35 thou wire at about 5.5 feet per mn and the voltage is always in the 5 to 5.5 range
Hope this helps

Johnno :cheers:

little_doodie · Jan 14, 2009

Well I bought a 20cf gas bottle of C25 and a flowmeter for it.
I picked up a roll of superarc L54 .03 wire for it and proceeded to test my skill.
in about 5 min. I was a better Mig welder than 20 years of (hobby) stick welding.

No doubt this was a great investment.
Now I just need to prioritize the "to-do list"

toadjammer · Jan 14, 2009

One thing to remember about mig welding is that the weld can look good, but you really have to make sure that you are getting good penatration. This can be accomplished by looking at the back side of the part or welding up some sacrificial test welds and cutting them to ensure the welds are as good as they look.

gimpyrobb · Aug 20, 2020

Just picked one up cause it was cheap and nearby. Not sure if this would help anyone but here is the chart inside my machine.

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Airco or Lincoln

little_doodie

Aluminum

toadjammer

Hot Rolled

macona

Diamond

little_doodie

Aluminum

Darkreamer

Aluminum

little_doodie

Aluminum

moonlight machine

Diamond

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Aluminum

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Aluminum

toadjammer

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Plastic

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