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- May 14, 2020
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I bought this Vulcan Omnipro 220 about 3 years ago to replace a smaller Hobart 140. I'm no expert welder but I love fartin' around with metal fabrication. I can generally make two pieces of metal stick together but that's about the extent of my welding skills. I play around with my little plasma cutter, too.
Anyway, I finally had a need to set this thing up and use it for the first time yesterday. A hinge pin (or lag screw...not sure what it's called, exactly) on my driveway gate broke in the middle and my gate fell away from the post. I didn't want to go to town for a new one so I actually got around to setting up the "new" welder. It was pretty simple actually. The hardest part was trying to figure out how to make the cold-feed for the wire work. The instructions weren't clear but there's actually a setting on the display you have to have it in. Once I figured that out it was a piece o' cake to get it up and running.
I've never used a machine that figures out the settings for you. Dial in the type of wire or stick you're using, the type of metal you're using and it sets itself for you. I'm not experienced enough to know how accurate it is but it seemed to work fine on the little job I did yesterday.
I don't have a TiG gun for it yet...but I will soon. Never done any TiG work except for briefly in a welding class I took a few years ago.
I'm sure there will be plenty of work for this welder in the future around the property. We're getting more and more into the world of self-sufficiency and this is just one more tool in the box.
I need to find a source for reasonably priced gas (Argon or mix). I can't believe how expensive it is now. Unfortunately, I need the bottle, too.
Anyway, I finally had a need to set this thing up and use it for the first time yesterday. A hinge pin (or lag screw...not sure what it's called, exactly) on my driveway gate broke in the middle and my gate fell away from the post. I didn't want to go to town for a new one so I actually got around to setting up the "new" welder. It was pretty simple actually. The hardest part was trying to figure out how to make the cold-feed for the wire work. The instructions weren't clear but there's actually a setting on the display you have to have it in. Once I figured that out it was a piece o' cake to get it up and running.
I've never used a machine that figures out the settings for you. Dial in the type of wire or stick you're using, the type of metal you're using and it sets itself for you. I'm not experienced enough to know how accurate it is but it seemed to work fine on the little job I did yesterday.
I don't have a TiG gun for it yet...but I will soon. Never done any TiG work except for briefly in a welding class I took a few years ago.
I'm sure there will be plenty of work for this welder in the future around the property. We're getting more and more into the world of self-sufficiency and this is just one more tool in the box.
I need to find a source for reasonably priced gas (Argon or mix). I can't believe how expensive it is now. Unfortunately, I need the bottle, too.
