Eastwood Mig 250?

Well I bought a few parts and got some 240 run to the machine. instead of piggy backing a new 6-50 outlet I made a adaptive extension cord using about 15' of some 4/8 awg I had in the shop, a 10-50p male plug and a 6-50R female outlet. I went this way because as I said the cord on the welder is like 4'-5' long (points off for that). I set the machine up for the highest recommended setting for 0.035 flux core wire. I ran a 3/13 fillet on 3/16 it ran good, a little hot but good. next I stacked a couple 3/8 on the fillet again nice welds. So I moved on to a few flat stringers and found the welds not that nice. The issue they were way hot, burnt looking with no fish scale look. kicked the settings down to the recommended setting for 1/8 and again good looking welds. Why the difference in what heat was needed you ask? well the back side of the fillet was already welded on yesterday so it had a bigger heat sink.

I stopped there because mommas car was in and I did not want to make a lot of dust and fumes.

Looking at this I say the machine can stay a little longer for more testing. (I'm not that easy to convince) I would say if you are going to pull the trigger in the next few days at least look at this machine, hey you can send it back if it don't work out. As of now I am liking this machine but more needs to be done before I say it can stay. this is a very simple machine the only bells and whistles being dual power and a rapid wire feed button for feeding new wire into the gun.

Well here are some shots of the machine and todays wells. I would say I do not think my welds would get much better no matter what machine I was on. (I don't do much wire feeding other than at home on the old Lincoln SP-125 plus 120V welder. I left the craters so that you guys can see that it is burning in good.

First is a shot of the machine.

These are the welds I was a little hot and could use a little fine tune on the wire for spatter control. but not to bad as there is at least 4 passes there on the fillet. Now what looks like small craters or inclusion on the bottom of the lower fillet weld is not. It is just some odd little dip playing with the light.

Oh BTW this machine lists at 899.99 it was on sale for 849.99 and since I have a gift to gab. (or as the wife says talk to anyone) I got them down to 809.00
Mark

I can't attest to the quality of the Eastwood migs, but a couple years back I bought the 40 amp plasma cutter/Tig 200 combo. I've been extremely happy with both machines, don't use the tig real often, but was pretty happy with how it's performed the times I've used it. The plasma cutter I am absolutely in love with. My original one died after a year of use, Eastwood sent me a new torch to try to fix the problem, to no avail, so they sent a full replacement machine no problem. All in all, I'd say the Eastwood machines are more than enough for the average home shop, but probably wouldn't hold up to heavy industrial use.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mad dog thanks for the input. What thickness are you cutting with the plasma 40?
Mark

Hey guys I know I said I would give some reviews, and I will I just have had a lot going on. I have had some time on the machine and it welds pretty good. But I do not want to give it a up or down without putting some .045 wire thru it to see if it runs it and how well. Also I want to etch some of the welds I cut apart.
Mark

Update is I am having issues with getting full flux cover and consistent arc. On the chart for .045 It will run way to hot to keep a good flux cover, but when I reduce the wire speed/Voltage to a level to keep the flux cover good it give a inconsistent arc. Now all of this could be something I am doing wrong. However I have spent several hours (over 4) on just trying to dial in a good bead somewhere close to 4lbs I would guess in wire has been burned.

Good chance I take this welder back to Eastwood tomorrow. As a matter of fact I posted a comment on there contact us page telling them this and challenging Eastwwod to show me this machine can do what the say. Here is the post.

I bought your 250 mig welder about Ten days ago. It has been unable to run flux core wire with any consistency. poor wire feed and poor flux cover are the main issues. I will most likely take the welder back to your Alsip, IL. store tomorrow 11/15/15 for a refund. I am however willing to give you guys a chance to send out a tech to check the machine. and or show me it can run these wires as advertised. I will hold off on buying a different welder for a few days while you look into this matter. If you can prove me wrong I will repurchased the same machine. I will be available for a visit to the store after 4pm Central time Mon.-Thu. of this week. If I do not hear from you by 6pm Tues. I will consider that a response of no, and will begin looking at other brands.
Mark Knox

Now I am not giving this machine a thumbs down yet as I am waiting on Eastwood to respond, I may have a bad machine, I could be doing some thing wrong. The machine at their shop did weld mig real nice.

I will Keep you guys posted.
Mark

Was the welder at the store using shielding gas or was it Flux wire welding?
Most machines that are dual weld have to be set for Flux core wire welding.
The manual should specify how to change the lead wires in the cabinet for each type of welding.

Mike the Machine at their shop was set up for mig (GMAW) using .030 or .035 wire. not for flux core. It was set at DCEP, I am set to DCEN as required for flux core (FCAW)Yes the manual does show it is the same as my Lincoln 125 wire feed welder.
Mark

markknx said:

Mad dog thanks for the input. What thickness are you cutting with the plasma 40?
Mark

Click to expand...

I have cut some 1/2" plate with it, but it's pretty nasty looking. About like a cut with a torch


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would take it back and look for a used Lincoln or Miller. I found a new looking Miller full size 200 amp machine with gas bottle for $1000. Very heavy duty looking machine compared to the above photos of the eastwood. The power cable looks very small for a 250 amp welder, the gun also looks small for this amperage. The eastwood looks like one of the smaller Lincoln welders you see at the big box stores. Are they made is China?