20 Best Flux Core Wire Welder (2023 Updated)

I really like this welder. After borrowing a friends Ironton 125, I decided that I should have my own. I wanted a welder with a DC inverter for smoother arc and the ability to power with a generator.

I considered the Titanium 125 from HF, but chose the Forney 140 FC-i for several reasons. 1. It can handle a 10lb spool. 2. The leads are 8ft long. 2ft longer than most in this class of welder. I have appreciated the extra length several times.

3. Build quality looks a little better. The wire feed looks similar on all of these welders, but the Forney has better cables and gun. 4. Forney has customer support in the US. Forney says that this welder only works with 0.

030 wire. That is what i use, but you could run 0. 035. The drive roller has grooves for both wire sizes, so you would just need to get a 0. 035 contact tip. I have had great luck with Lincoln NR-211 MP and Hobart Fabshield 21b.

The Lincoln has less spatter that is easier to clean up, but the Hobart has a little bit smoother welds. Both are fine. The edge goes to Hobart, because it come in 2 lb spools.

Current efficient! Running on a weak 15 amp circuit (trips easily) for thin metal welding on 22ga. & 16 ga. sheet metal. This is a FCAW welder, NOT Mig. (Flux Core Arc Welder) No Gas ! There are pro’s and cons for each.

If I welded a lot, I would opt for one that does both. I am experienced in stick welding heavy machinery (since the late 60’s). Got this model to try @ wire feed and thin gauge. trying to break the old habit of sinking the stick while i weld.

I had borrowed a job smart model 1st. What I prefer on this model. Infinite wire feed & current – verses a High, Low switch for current. It does make a difference for me on light gauge metal for quality of bead, once you dial it in.

The Job Smart would trip my weak breaker (to be replaced) easily on light gauge runs (4″-6″) for practice – where this model does not. (Why the builder of this house only put a 15 amp circuit to the garage?) On heavier gauge I exercise my generator.

(which is good for the generator as well) Me, thicker the metal & higher current = easier the weld. Stacked dimes bead. Note – I hadn’t welded in 20 years.

Good welder For the price, takes a little time to get use to it. From my lincoln 100pak welder. Only thing that could be better is a faster wire feed speed,but welds great once you get use to it and fins the right setting.

Used it for sheet metal (auto body repair) and frame repair. It dose perform pretty close to my old lincoln.

Welder looks great. Comes with 2 extra. 030 tips. Welding leads and power cables are already on unit. Does not come with any flux core wire, it will have to be purchased. Does not come with a chip hammer, gloves, or helmet.

The price of the welder is very good, compared to other brands of this type, and it is a HOBART. Should do any small welding work you may need done around the garage, it states it will weld up to 3/16 in.

metal. This is all I will need as I am just putting repair body panels on a vehicle I am working on.

This is my first wire feed welder. I have been using a Hobart stick welder for years no issues. I purchased the flux core to eliminate the hassle of renting and filling gas bottles. I practiced on light metal for about 10 minutes and got the hang of it pretty quick! So much easier than the stick welder to get to work area.

Very nice machine at a good price.

I bought his welder to do small jobs where I don’t want to drag out my bigger MIG or TIG welders. I love the fact of how light and portable it is. Today I was putting 4-5 inch welds on 1/8 carbon steel on a bumper.

I was surprised that though the 20+ minutes of welding I never reached the duty cycle and it continued to weld well. As long as you keep in mind this machine is designed for light work, you will not be disappointed in your purchase.

I like it! This machine has a nice voltage range for welding. Other machines have a “high” voltage at the lowest setting making it very hard to weld thinner sheet metal. The thickest metal I have used it on was 12ga.

Works well for what I wanted it for. Good buy from Walmart!.

This small machine is capable of alot! It gets very good penetration and could weld thicker steal than 1/4 in. And can weld on thin steel good! The ground clamp is not trash like youtube review videos will tell you.

This is a 90 amp welder not a 200 amp welder. You don’t need a big clamp with a stronger spring. And the settings are easy to control and have alot of room for adjustment.

Great little welder. It has a short lead to the welding gun but is easy to pick up and move around with one hand. I also switched out for a better ground clamp which was recommended online. I use it with a thick extension cord and regular household outlet and haven’t tripped a fuse yet.

I got it for thin walled steel tube such as table legs, and for tack welding larger projects which I have then stick welded. Bare bones with no welding wire or any extras, which is perfectly reasonable for this price.

I think it’s only available online.

I own two Millermatic 211 machines (both purchased from Cyberweld during sales promo events). The first one is an older model I bought in November 2012 (still working great). The second machine is the latest generation mode purchased in November 2019.

While the older model is an exceptional machine that welds perfectly, there are several noticeable improvements in the latest generation machine. Among them are: Size and weight. newer machine is smaller and lighter.

Second, the new nozzle / gas handling technology seems like it works smarter and directs the gas to the weld site better. Third, auto setting the machine is slightly easier. Fourth, the new machine seems to be ‘smarter’ than the older machine in how it controls the weld start.

Fifth, the new cache uses less electricity to accomplish the same quality weld. Overall, Miller seems to have improved a machine that was already an exceptional welder. I highly recommend this machine to anyone just starting out.

There are a lot of off brand machines that can be had for less money, but not with the same cycle time, quality and reliability as the Miller 211.

After a week of owning a new Miller 141; I happily switched back to my 10 year old Hobart 125 Handler. I was a welder by trade for many years and now I restore classic cars as a hobby. I have welded miles of mig wire installing floor boards, body panels, inner panels, and repairing sheet metal.

I started a new project, and decided to buy a nice welder that offers infinite adjustment for welding 22-24 gauge metal. I chose Miller because of past experience welding with a Miller mig, brand reputation, and positive reviews.

I was expecting great performance. I am very disappointed with the performance of the 141 when tack/plug welding and stitch welding of 22 gauge automotive sheet metal. The welding surfaces that I am welding are clean of rust or paint.

When I pull the trigger the mig wire starts out slowly and balls up, and does not fully penetrate. My setup is. 024 wire, 75% argon, 25% CO2. I have tried the auto set feature for 24 and 22 gauge/. 024 wire, and manual settings.

I spoke with Miller Tech support and they described the smooth start feature as ramping up the wire speed for 3 seconds after pulling the trigger. I believe this is causing my issues. Miller tech support said there was no way to disable this feature.

Even when I hold the trigger for longer than 3 seconds the wire is balling up and dripping. I have tried the manual setting without much better results. I have attempted welding with the voltage set at 1, 2 and 2.

5 and the wire speed set from 40 to 50. The wire either balls up or burns through the metal. The person I spoke with at Miller basically told me too bad & and that the welder is working as designed. Cyberweld told me that since I used the welder it could not be returned for a refund.

The advertised application mentions auto/body I am not able to get smooth plug or stitch welds on automotive metal. Holding the trigger for 3 seconds to get consistent wire speed will warp the metal.

At least I still have my Hobart to weld with, while my nice looking Blue Miller 141 is collecting dust in the corner of my garage.

I use this welder on my farm and shop for all sorts of things. The quick change drive wheel is a great feature. Portability cant be beat, 120 volt receptacles are nearly everywhere. Ability to use flux core wire outside in windy conditions that would blow shielding gas away giving poor welds with lots of porosity or working in areas that are difficult to wheel in a cylinder is a big deal to me.

This welder is certainly powerful enough to run. 030″ wire as it is to use. 024″. The automatic feed and gauge settings are a handy improvement over the old 140. My 10 year old son took to it like a duck to water.

GREAT welder! Thanks Miller!!.

The 141 is a top of the line 110 volt welder. I have used 3 other 110 welders and the miller is by far the best. The Auto set feature takes all the guess work out of welding different thickness metals and I found it to be spot on for the metals I welded.

5 stars Miller.

I bought this unit a year ago to prepare for a small project this summer. I used it to weld the exhaust on a car to make sure it operated and it has set on the shelf since now. When I went to use it this week, the welder feed motor would not operate nor would it strike an arc.

While I am not a highly skilled welder, I am a highly skilled Electrical Engineer with several decades of hands on experience is a variety of electrical/electronic equipment. As such, I pulled the cover, but on my troubleshooting hat, and worked to diagnose the failure.

After looking for 30 seconds, I was taken aback. I have not seen such poor electronics quality control since welding class in high school. There were a number of cold solder joints, some components/electrical connections had significant rust (it was store in the heated garage with other electrical items), critical wires were not supported beyond heat shrink, and connectors do not have locks.

I diagnosed my problem to a transformer that appeared to be defective from the factory. I was rusted at the factory and was THEN coated and installed in my welder. Given the number of poor engineering/QA issues with this welder, I am tossing it.

Please note, if you buy one and it works, great!!! But do not count on it to be a long term investment. If you consider it to be a throw away item that is to be used one time, you will not be disappointed.

Otherwise, there are much better products for the price.

Had to fix a bunch of old horse paneling and gates that were in need of some welds. Haven’t even welded anything in 20 yrs since an elective class in college. Grabbed the grinder and tools and spent 2 hours prepping my weld spots and then fired the welder up and got to it.

90 minutes of welding fixed 23 weak/broke connections and a gate that should probably be thrown out but they don’t make anymore and I really like it. Paneling is 2nd hand to me and probably 10 yrs old – so rusted and well used most years in the elements.

I would have spent more than the $150 for the welder and supplies having it welded at a shop. Plus now I have a wire feed welder for any other projects that come along. No more temporary metal fixes.

No issues with the welder and ran smooth. This welder was the right tool for the job so far. Welds look plenty good enough for horse paneling. Let’s hope the tool using it was adequate.

I absolutely LOVE this machine. So much quality built into a small and light weight package. We had a Hobart 190 at our shop and I couldn’t believe the quality and how long it would go without a break so my wife surprised me with this 210 model for Christmas.

We’ve recently upgraded to the Millermatic 252 at work and I literally can’t tell a difference from start to finish! I surely wish this 210 had the highly adjustable digital display and pre/post gas option but at half the price of the Miller I can still dig it.

As long as she puts down the same quality “row of dimes” as the Miller that’s impressive enough for me! It also does Aluminum quite well with the spool gun. Cons: Throw away the useless ground clamp play toy! I took it into the field once for light duty use and I was not impressed at all with using the 120V on a small generator but honestly the generator was too small and was struggling so not really the welders fault.

I’ve never tried the 120V at home and have no plans to. Short leads and the gun is a bit cheap but way better than your average Home Depot Lincoln crap in a box welder.

I have owned the 140 Handler for the past 5 years but decided to upgrade for the greater weld capacity and service intervals. First of all Cyberweld were fantastic sellers with excellent communication and fast shipping.

Could not be more impressed!!!. Now the welder itself really is superior to the 140 (no surprise there) with deeper welds, faster wire feeds and a real pleasure to use. I could not help but notice that the feed roller was heavier duty and worked really well.

The Gas regulator was also noticeably a better quality than the Handler 140. The only negatives I have found is that the gun could have been increased in length (it is still the 10ft) and the worst negative is the cheap and nasty earth clamp which is literally made of tin and a thin earth wire — I replaced mine immediately with a heavy duty copper variety — Hobart really should supply this with a decent earth clamp – penny wise pound foolish.

Overall I would highly recommend this Hobart 210 to a beginner, farmer, DIY user or anybody that wants an all around quality welder that comfortably will weld from 16g to 3/8 steel in a single pass.

Great little welder for around the shop. Runs smooth and has good power for. 035″ wire and 1/4″ to 3/8″ material. Have not tried 1/2″ material yet but it has the capacity for that. Makes nice looking, professional quality welds.

The controls are easy to see and operate with no fluff or gimmicks. The stock gun is comfortable and feels substantial in your hand but is also light weight and maneuverable. The machine has nice quality fit and finish.

Excellent choice for this range of welder.

I bought a lincoln because my dad has had a lincoln 155 for about 18 Years and has never had any problems and has ran numerous 10lbs rolls of wire threw it. I was looking into a harbor freight welder or a eastwood because of the huge price difference but you get what you pay for and a welder is something you’re going to want to last and be consistent.

I’ve welded with this welder only set up for Flux core so far and it is very easy to get set up maybe 5 mins and I was welding this welder is very powerful for a 115v unit and lays very nice beads. Don’t buy a cheapo go with a name brand and you will have no complaints.

I don’t see bad reviews on lincoln but you see a fair share of bad reviews on chicago electric and eastwood. Spend the money and get something that is going to get the job done well and last a long time.

I got the welder on sale for $480 plus a free lincoln welding cart at blains farm and fleet just couldn’t go wrong with that price for the quality and dependability of it.

This welder runs better beads than the $2700 welder I used to have at a metal shop. While I wish the voltage dial had more settings, I run it on the hot side and it performs great! Setup was very basic and it comes with everything you need to get started.

I am a welder by trade as a mechanic where I work. I bought this unit and used it in my shop where I make custom metal work on my days off. Here is my honest opinion of the Lincoln. For $325 it is a good deal, but for heavy welding or for long periods of welding time it will overheat and you will be waiting for it to cool down.

The flux core is decent to weld with, I did most of my welding with gas and it was clean, could be better penetration but you have to remember it is only a 110 welder so it is only going to do so much.

The regulator does not come with a gauge so you do not know how much is left in your bottle or how much is coming out, I ended up buying one with a gauge on another website. If you are doing small jobs like lawnmowers, 1/16″ and 1/8″ metal it will work, but after a while you will figure out what it actually can do.

I ended up selling it and buying a Miller 211. The shield that comes with it is more like a toy in my opinion and the plastic used on the tension wheel to hold down the wire is cheap. But I will say, it never broke down for the year I used it.

Awesome! So, I’m a cabinet maker. A buddy of mine is a certified structural welder, great welder, owns a huge Miller. He found it shameful that I don’t know how to weld. He said, “its great to be able to fix stuff around the house”.

For the money he said this is a great welder, it’s all about the electronics. Then he said, “could you stop by latter and fix one of my cabinet doors? Lmao I enclosed some pics. It’s a piece of 1/4” plate from Home Depot.

I sepperated the pieces a 1/32″, and beveled the edge for better penetration. I flap sanded with a grinder and cleaned the steel with acetone. I also put on a 100% solid copper ground clamp. Im new at this so the weld is kinda ugly.

It’s ok. I then put the piece on an anvil and beat the living sh__ out of it with a 12lb sledge. I’ll be keeping this welder. 🙂 hope this helps.

Haven’t mastered the machine with nice beads yet but in time as I weld more feel it will happen. Had a couple adjustments which was able to figure out and really like this welder for the price. I am sure the more I spend the better the welder would be but this one will do what I need to get done.

small around the house and body work type jobs. Did have the trigger stick which feed the wire out non stop and had to take the gun apart but it fixed itself it seems and works fine at this point. Very happy with the product at this time.

thanks.

I purchased this welder to get me out of a bind and it works flawlessly. It’s let down by having transformer taps and a selection switch, rather than having a continuous variable voltage control. Also, although the gauges supplied with it work fine, they are pretty cheaply made, so long term you’ll likely be investing in some better ones.

The Ground Clamp seems fine so far, but the ground wire feels lightweight. As it’s a transformer type, it’s heavy, so lugging it around would get old real quick, so best located in the small shop/ home garage, where you can plunk it on a cart and wheel it about as you need.

Overall it’s not a bad welder by any means, it will burn wire like the best of them. It’s priced middle of the road and there are some better featured machines out there for similar money, but those don’t have the brand following that Lincoln have.

I haven’t used it often enough yet to say how it will stand up over time, but my initial experiences with it says it should.

The only minor complaint i have with this set up, is the rather low quality guage set up. I found them to be finicky at lower tank pressure (upgrade at your own expense if needeed). I should also mention, there a few different 180 units – check the Lincoln website) The180 mig is great.

I like the larger roll capacity – i have an 11pound spool on it now. Welds thin to heavy metal easily. This unit should be plenty for the DIY’r. Someone previously mentioned it was only 130amps – that’s the rating that they duty cycle it.

It is 180amps at max. From body panels to 1/4″ plate steel – no issues. I’ve repaired holes in my jeep body, frame and doing a custom front bumper as we speak. I’ve another 110 mig, 220 Lincoln stick, and this unit.

Ya can’t go wrong – buy one and forget it. It’ll last for years. Watch for sale prices.

After relying on a AC/DC stick machine for heavy work and a 115v. MAG/MIG machine for light stuff for many years i decided i needed a 220v MIG in my arsenal, i also wanted a power supply that could handle a 150 amp Spool-gun for welding aluminum.

I learned a long time ago the benefits of argon in my gas mix for wire feed welding and after being extremely impressed with the performance of my Mig Pak 180 on c25 gas i decided to switch to c15 gas and see if i could get it into spray transfer process on heavier material with L6 0.

030 wire. I won’t say the 180 will do spray tranfer precisely but it’s jammy enough to come close and that’s really saying something. I can’t say enough good things about how nice my 180 welds on a multitude of materials in all thicknesses and positions.

For anybody considering buying a mig in the medium power arena look no further as Lincoln really has this baby dialed in.

The welder has a great arc and i would give it 5 stars but it has this “Feature” not advertised where the wire comes out slow till it senses arc. The “Feature” sounds nice on paper but any real welder that runs it will see the flaw.

It Leave extra big spatter every time you start your weld which in our roll cage business is a big problem as far as finish goes. Also because of the “Feature” it makes it harder to start a bead overhead.

The extra spatter gobs down the wire as you start while overhead. These are not weldor user errors either as i have been welding professionally for almost 20 years. If you have ever had to tack tack tack to make a bead or fill up a void on something thin like sheet metal then this welder is not for you because of this “Feature”.

I have been welding for less than a year as a hobby. I have taken one class at the local votech. My welds using my flux core machine were ugly and difficult to lay down. I was a little better with my stick machine but like the flux core it created a lot of smoke.

I was going to buy the Hobart 140 but decided to just go all in on a 240 volt welder. This thing is awesome. I can actually make welds like it looks like I know what I’m doing. I’m working on my old brush hog deck that requires joining parts that are not the same thickness.

With the flux core I was blowing holes in 16 gage when trying to tie it to 1/8” plate. With the Hobart 190 it seems I can always find the right settings to make it work. The settings given under the spool cover seem to be pretty much spot on for joining similar thickness materials but I usually back off to the next lower setting to join plate with sheet metal and it works fine if you keep the heat focused on the thicker part.

I had an electrician install a 240 volt outlet in my garage so I could stop having to run an extension cord to the dryer outlet. Very glad I went with the Hobart.

I had tried an earlier autoarc 120v that did not work well at all. Was gifted an ESAB 215 that was ok but croaked, tried a cheap 220v from Jegs that wasn’t too bad but a little weak and finally bought the Hobart 190.

I should have done this years ago. It welds like the old Millermatic 200 I learned on way back in the 80s. I have used on light and heavy welds and it is awesome. I am extremely impressed. Acme had a great price, friendliest customer service I have ever experienced and shipped pretty quickly.

Thanks!.

Used it for a day to weld 11 gauge steel. Hobart recommended settings seemed to work well. Good penetration, strong welds. Fan is loud and runs continuously. At about 70 lbs. kind of heavy. Overall seemed good quality.

Disclaimer,,, I am a rank amateur, I had a little gas welding experience almost 50 years ago, then I came across a 65 year old “stick welder” for $5. 00 at a flea market, got that and made a stab at, and got a few reasonable beads.

Now, a few weeks ago I got the Chicago Electric 170 Amp-DC, 240V, MIG/Flux Cored Welder. With no actual guidance except you-tube, I have made various scrap pieces of scrap flat and angle steel stick together.

I have miles to go, but I see the potential for successful project completion with my new toy. It seems to fit my needs adequately, and precisely. I am satisfied, and would recommend this product to others in my circumstance.

i have the old dual mig 151 product that i’ve used for 20 yrs or so. and i used it alot. im no professional welder, but i think thats a pretty good buy. my old one shorted out and stopped working, so i had to get a replacement.

i bought this (the newer version) and i love it. as a side note, my old one started working when i turned it on a few days later. it must have overheated and shut down to reset or something. now i have a back up too.

ive only ever used it with argon/co2. no flux.

This is my first welder. I’m just learning to weld. I was told it would be great to learn on and it probably would be if I was welding on thicker steel! I’m welding on car panels and it’s blowing through.

It’s too hot to use for a beginner for sheet metal! Buy a mig, I did and I’m glad I did. It’s much better.

First off this is not a mig machine and never will be so stop calling it a mig wire feeder. It is a Fcaw machine mig actually means something to welders. So does fcaw so before you leave a review do some research.

As for the machine it’s decent but scratch start. I run Lincoln mp211 and it works ok too much spatter for 211 but theirs not much for heat settings. It’s hi or low and wire speed that’s it. If you want a 5 star mig, fcaw.

Machine look at Hobart or Lincoln but I already paid for this machine in a pinch on one job so 3 stars.

Machine itself is ok. Good for beginners. Burned through the cable, my mistake. Called cust service, they sent me a replacement for free. However, I didn’t know they were sending me anything until I got it in the mail, and they sent me a replacement for a mig.

This machine is not a mig. What they sent me is not compatible at all. Better to buy from a trusted company.

I have been welding for years and used miller welders at my job. I bought this welder as a replacement for a Chinese unit I use at home. This welder is superior in all ways starting with the quality of construction, ease of use and the weld results are great.

The voltage control is exceptional compared to the old unit and the quality of the mig gun/ feeder system is beyond compare. I can highly recommend this unit for your 110volt welding needs.

Bought this for a specific project and it works well. I am welding 3/16 flat bar to 3/16 flat bar. I have limited experience and I am getting very good results at the maximum power setting and a slow wire speed.

Couple of tips. When you load the wire keep hand pressure on the spool as the spool is under tension and will “unwind” if you let go before it is loaded and it will all get balled up on you. Think it is referred to as a birds nest when that happens.

LOL. Before you reload be sure to pull the remains of the left over wire out from the tip end with a pair of pliers, don’t try to push it through the gun as you load the new wire like I did. I will jam up.

You may need to remove the tip to get the wire to feed past it. Use on 20 amp circuit with no other load on the circuit. The starter wire provided worked okay but the Lincoln wire I bought from Lowes worked better.

Buy a decent self darkening mask. They are inexpensive and very helpful for a beginning welder. This is an AC welder and as such it makes a fair amount of spatter. Not too bad though. Good Luck!.

I am amazed at just how good this little machine works. I am old (80) and used to stick welders. This machine will quickly make you look like an expert even though you are not. Don’t plan on using it for heavy jobs.

It is not designed for that. (if your going to weld 1/2″ plate- forget it. One note: Look inside the welder for the accessories – nothing loose in the box. I was shortened the pick/brush but not worth shipping back for that.

Plug into separate circuit with at least 20 Amp breaker-30 would be even better.

Ok for the money. Nothing great, doesn’t penetrate well on 1/4″ steel. Wire speed is inconsistent. Will get you a temporary fix if your in a spot.

shipped quick . works good , all in all a good welder. only gripe is the instruction manual could have been done better too vague

Bought as a gift for Christmas, and I bought an additional welding helmet because it comes with a hand held one.

my husband went to use for the first time today, it will not work….trying to get my money refunded, had to give star, are it would not let me submit

I HAVE NO REVIEW OF THIS PRODUCT BECAUSE I CANCELED THE ORDER. FURTHER MORE, I AM STILL WAITING FOR MY CREDIT TO APPEAR ON MY CREDIT CARD. IT SHOULD HAVE NEVER TAKEN THIS LONG FOR A CREDIT !!

I adjusted it to colder settings and hot setting and performed well

Great welder. This welder runs great.