Hello guys I have a tool sale coming to my small town and they have a century 90 Amp welder for $199.00, down from $359.00 its gasless and was hoping they make a gas conversion kit for it. I'm including a picture because I only see one knob for adjusting heat or wire speed? all I will need it for is welding sheet metal and some frame mods. I see a car frame being the thickest I'll be welding... heres the pic, thanks alot guys
Oh one more thing is this a 110volt or 220?


Mike

Century was bought out by Lincoln, it's probably on sale because it's a discontinued model. Call Lincoln and see if they'll support it.

FYI, buy something WITH the gas kit included or you'll hate life.

-J

Definitely call Lincoln before buying. It's a good little unit, very good figure but....you'll be ALOT happyer if you get one that can also do gas. It is 110VAC. It looks like you can control your wire speed but, not you current. This means you might have a difficult time going between thin panels and heavy metal. Not that it can't be done, just requires a bit more practice and "fudging". Gas makes a cleaner weld for sure. I picked up a little Lincoln 3200HD the latter part of last year.....
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/equipmentdatasheet.asp?p=7112

Never had used a MIG before. It was great. I started by using the flux core wire then, got a bottle and started using gas with wire minus the flux core. SOOOO much cleaner. Home Depot: 459.00 I picked mine off of Evilbay with shipping for 360.00. New still in the box. It came with everything except the bottle (ditch the cheesy welding "helmet" and get a real one).

Just called Lincoln and they said it already has the gas input in the back of it and all I need to do is buy a gas regulator and thebarbed hose fitting, then they said I'd need to switch polarity inside the unit??? I don't know anything about that but he said the instructions are printed inside the unit. So I believe I'll be buying this unit since it can be used as a gas unit.... my only question is, is the 90 amps going to be hot enough to safely weld metal as thick as car frames..... thanks....

90 amps is not even close to being enough to weld a frame. You would need 200 + amps just to put a ding in it. And also if you run at full capacity for any lenghth of time you want an ever bigger machine. I have an old stick welder for the heavy stuff and the 110v wire feed for sheet metal.

I also have the Lincoln 3200HD. nice little machine, but I paid the full price from Home Depot. Guess I should have looked at e-bay. I however love the cheesy helmet/shield want-a-be for quick spots. And the instruction video was an epic, I laughed… I cried… it was the most emotionally intense instruction video ever made.....3 thumps up. I hope they come out with it on DVD with Dolby 5.1 surround sound for a life time of enjoyment.

I have had a Century model #117-034 (1 hi-low heat switch, 1 speed dial) for at least 17 years. I've only had to replace the rectifier and recently the wand/gun assembly. Century's are good machines and made made quite a few for other companies, that were relabeled. The only problem would be if Lincoln would honor it's warranty or not. That machine you asked about apparently will weld up to 3/16" with a single pass, on or off gas. That's more than adequate for chassis work. Mine is less than 90 and I can blow a hole through a chassis if I wanted to, on flux. Reversing the polarity is no big deal to convert to gas. What they told you on the phone is correct for conversion. You wouldn't even necessarily have to buy a century kit. There's a picture down below for polarity. That's not a bad price, but I would check on who is honoring the warranty.

Does everyone agree this machine can weld up to 3/16 inch? can I get some more comments about weather or not this thing will weld a frame back together if I were to cut it in half? (Z a frame?) thanks..... Its ok if it won't I just would like to know as from the ads it does not tell me how thick of metal it can bond together safely. I don't want to die by frame ripping apart lol.....

Mike...

It'll do it. You hit both sides of the metal and it'll get it.

Not trying to be a smart a$$ or anything, but by the questions you ask I assume you are in the same boat I am....a beginner to welding? If so I would recommend getting a pro to weld your frame, even if your machine is up to it, it's a safety issue. Just my 2 cents.

The smaller machines aren't like the bigger ones where an inexperienced welder can get by with squeezing the trigger and just pulling backwards on the gun. It's more of a slower weaving rt to lt, moving the puddle forward or backwards, especially with flux. Gas is much easier to get used to. That machine can do chassis' no doubt. Mine is outdated and it still is used to clip chassis, cages, full chassis, motor mounts, nerf bars, or anything else. It's built engine hoists, rail dune buggies, go cart, a bunch of race only vehicles, my present car hauler trailer, just too many things to list. I run that machine on flux only for my convenience. It was well worth the $500 I paid back then. Z'ing a frame is no big deal. The math...measuring, cutting, squaring & leveling are more critical. Just practice with whatever machine you decide to get, before doing your chassis. Actually probably a lot of practicing, if you have never used one. Otherwise, you might end up doing what krue is suggesting, to correct it or start over. The Marquette (Pro-Arc) P3095 and Century P3095 are the same machine. Sure there's one for Craftsman too, if not others. http://northerntool.redtagstores.com/categories/products/marquette-90-amp-gas-wire-feed-welder-p3095-4917.html

Here's a pic of one built by mine. Original chassis was boxed and the wedge cut to look like a clip job, instead of notching for rear axle....

Does everyone agree this machine can weld up to 3/16 inch? can I get some more comments about weather or not this thing will weld a frame back together if I were to cut it in half? (Z a frame?) thanks..... Its ok if it won't I just would like to know as from the ads it does not tell me how thick of metal it can bond together safely. I don't want to die by frame ripping apart lol.....

Mike...

Sorry I would have to disagree, I just dont trust 90 amps to penetrate well enough to do frame work. Maybe to weld on a bracket to the frame. But to make a critical weld like your taking about I would get a bigger unit.

I have a Miller 220v 175A and it will easily weld 1/4" single pass, and 3/8" if you take your time. I'd say the 110v 135A machines will weld 3/16" single pass (frames) but I wouldn't trust a 90A unit for anything heavier than 1/8".

Also, keep in mind that you can weld about a thickness higher on flux core than on solid, so factor in some extra "power" if you're using gas for the cleaner welds.

200A+ (say, miller 210, 251 etc) are good for welding 1/2" single pass, but way overkill just for frame work. Most people go with a bigger machine because you can weld a bit lazier, and the duty cycle is way better.

Do yourself a favor and step up to the 120-130A machines

Thanks guys, I will no doubt parctice with the new machine. I used the Z'ing a frame as an example. thanks so much for $199.00 I don' t hink I can beat that deal for the welder I'll get. Once a little exp sets in I'll step to a bigger machine if I feel I need to be welding the bigger metal... thank for your input

Mike...