Welder Machine 110V Mini ARC225 Electric Stick Welder ARC Welding Machine IGBT Digital Display Work Welding Electrode Holder Household Use Blue

I am super impressed with this welder. Like every cheap welder, all the accessories that come with it should be tossed and replaced with better quality but still cheap Harbor Frieght stuff. If your the occassional welder, the leads that came with it will suffice. I bought this about 4 months ago, and use it several times a week. Its been 100% reliable. Be conservative with the duty cycle and it will probably last. If it dies tomorrow, while I wouldn't be happy, I'd have no complaints, since I've used it way more than the average dyi buyer.

Works as described.

Buena maquina

I will start off by saying I do not believe it puts out 225 amps on 120 as that is not possible , but that said this welder does work just fine for thinner steel I use it a lot for 1/4inch and I have not had a problem with penetration. The machine itself is smaller and lighter than I expected so I plan to keep this on my tractor for field repairs. I think for the price this is a solid value especially for a backups backup.

The best light weight Welder

I learned to weld with a stick welder 45 years ago, this welder gave me the most trouble getting an arc started that I have ever experienced.I plugged the welder into a 30 Amp 120 Volt RV outlet with an adapter made from a #8 AWG cable to a standard 20 amp household outlet that I use for my 120 V Mig welder.I was trying to weld some 1/8 inch thick scrap together, and tried a 3/32" 6013 electrode at first.I could not get it to start an arc at all, it just stuck the electrode to the scrap. A few times I thought it was going to start but then it just stopped for some reason, like the current turned off.I started out about the middle of the current range for 3/32" 6013 at 75 amps, and tried adjusting it to different currents from 40 to 100 amps, and it never started the arc.I tried some fresh 3/32" 7018, and had almost the same results. The 7018 tended to stick even harder than the 6013 did, but it never started an arc.Finally, I tried some 5/64" 6013. It also wanted to stick constantly but I was eventually able to get an arc started at 45 amps.Then disaster struck, I made it about 1 1/2" down a 2" seam when there was a pop behind me and the fan in the welder turned off. I turned around while lifting my welding helmet and discovered smoke coming from the welder.The power switch was still on, but the welder was dead.I pulled the cover off the welder to see if it could possibly be fixed, but found one of the IGBT's had suffered an explosive failure and was half gone, and the Bridge Rectifier for the incoming power also had holes blown in it.I did some inspecting.The power cord is a metric 2.5mm square 3 conductor cord, this is between 13 AWG and 14 AWG.The wire inside the cord is Copper Clad Aluminum, this limits it's current carrying capacity when compared to standard copper cables. Copper Clad Aluminum can only handle about 50 to 60% of the current of solid copper cable.2.5mm copper is rated at 19 amps, this puts the current rating of the 2.5mm CCA at about 10 amps.It has a 15 Amp plug on the end of it, but the average current for the welder is 35 amps according to the label on the bottom of the welder, and it maxes out at 45 amps.The 16mm square welding electrode and ground cable are also Copper Clad Aluminum cable and therefore only have a current rating of around 57 amps.The wires wrapped around the current transformer inside the unit were also CCA wires.This welder might have worked if it was made with pure copper cables and wires, but they crippled it by using the CCA cables.

This is perfect to have around the home for quick repairs. It’s probably not something I’d buy for a profesional shop, but for home or car repairs, this is amazing. It is relatively easy to use (although it does require practice if you’re new at this) but once you figure it out, it gives pretty good results. The best parts are that it is small and easy to store, and also it doesn’t need a gas, so you can use it any time.

I had my first stick welder many years ago, and that was one heavy machine that needed strong muscles to lug around. This one - in comparison - feels like it's made for a doll house. The included shield - it's not worth mentioning, also no gloves included - so - no it's not something that has everything included to get started with welding. As for power - not enough for some serious work.