Eastwood MIG 135 Welder - a Novice's Review

[@joesjunkgarage]

Looking to purchase this welder myself. Thank you for taking the time to produce this video!

[@chrisarneson8644]

I don't use it a lot but I am still so happy with it. Good luck with it!

[@mustangpaul05]

Wow I just paid 400 shipped. Guess it went up

[@chrisarneson8644]

I might have gotten a bargain too. I bought mine right after they had a warehouse fire and limited products. I think I remember that it was one of the few products at the moment that they had tons of. Either way, it's been a great welder. Looking back it's been worth $400 to me.

[@johnboy4161]

I have had mine for over 7 years, put a ton of wire through it, and have yet to have any issues at all with it. I can't recommend it enough, terrific bang for the buck.

[@31chevymike]

Hi Chris - I'm having trouble with the proper settings for welding 1/8" steel with my Mig135. I'm using .030 steel wire with 75/25% Argon Mix. The settings diagram on my welder do NOT show for 1/8". Would you recommend the proper settings based on your experience? Thank you once again for any support!

[@chrisarneson8644]

I'm sorry but I don't think I'm the expert you're looking for. I believe they recommend fluxcore wire for thicker materials though.

[@blakenorman4822]

you can use that copper plate to fill in holes in metal you burn through, the wire wont stick to the copper and lets you fill in any holes you make by accident, used to use on production line

[@everydaylife1885]

That's a really good tip

[@UncleSarkis]

Will this weld stainless sheet metal?

[@chrisarneson8644]

I assume so but have never tried it. You'd need to buy the right wire for Stainless.

[@UncleSarkis]

@@chrisarneson8644 thanks Chris! I ended up buying it. It cost me 159 brand new with shipping (plus tax).

[@classicgames9947]

I have that one! I use no gas and went through 60 rolls and witn no problem. I stress it out and it has never shut off. Best welder i ever had.

[@kerrijodierberger]

How did you use it without gas, I’m a novice not sure if I want to mess with gas

[@nate8780]

Does anyone know what the wire feeder inside the welder is made out of?? Or a good idea what it could be made out of?

[@802Garage]

Still having good luck with it? Mine is actually having an issue where it takes a while to start working properly. Eastwood is totally taking care of it since it's within the 3 year warranty. Overall I love it though. Subbed to you because you have a lot of content right up my alley. Parts washers, sand blasters, welders, yep.

[@chrisarneson8644]

I don't use it a lot any more since I have largely moved on from the welding part of the project but it still works great and I still love it.

[@bubblehead7680]

Would it be safe to say that all your welding is only thin material since you only have .023 wire? I am looking at the Eastwood for my first welder too.

[@chrisarneson8644]

Most of the welding I've done is on thin material but certainly not all. I welded up the brackets holding my chassis to the rotisserie and those were 1/4". I've done some other work with 1/4" as well. It's only a 120V welder so you can't go crazy but if you grind the buttjoints back at an angle then you can just make several passes and fill in the gap. I cut a couple early ones open to make sure I had good penetration. I'm very pleased with it. If you are doing a lot of work on thicker steel then you'd probably want to get a 240V unit instead.

[@bubblehead7680]

Interesting that you could do up to 1/4 even with the .023. I don't plan on any heavy duty stuff, mostly just around the house. Work on repairing some burglar bars and a few small projects. I just like to have to ability to fix stuff without having to pay someone to do what I should be able to do.

[@chrisarneson8644]

I'm just a novice. Your mileage may vary but I've been thrilled with it. It can weld anything I need to do. The size wire only affects how many passes you need to make. I'm typically too lazy to change out the spool so I just use the thinner stuff with everything. Might take an extra pass or a little more time but it's easy.

[@terrinewman7390]

according to the paper work that came with mine if you use flux core wire you can go to 1/4 with no problem!

[@RobertViani]

I've had mine for about 3 years. Love it.

[@ksharpe10]

The housing that clamps the wire to the drive wheel and has the clamping parts attached to it, and you thread the wire through it, and is Black in color is that Plastic?

[@chrisarneson8644]

Yes I believe it is plastic. The drive wheel is steel I think.

[@gilsongallego2328]

Good review, thanks

[@ethansandoval1038]

Ok I’m done getting my welder now thanks haha

[@andialanbrito8307]

thank you sir, because of your mistakes I've learned a lot

[@jimmiranda7181]

What were your setting for the transmission tunnel??

[@chrisarneson8644]

Don't remember but I just used the chart settings for 20 gage steel and gas. The key with really thin metal like that is to do a series of spot welds about 2-3 inches apart. Gradually you fill in the entire seam with spot welds. If you try to weld it as one long weld you will warp the steel terribly or just burn through it. It's time consuming but it's the only way. I had to patch in my floor pans the same way. Good luck.

[@KOSYOUNG]

dumb question but do you plug this in or is it gas? or both?

[@chrisarneson8644]

Plugs in to a standard 120V outlet. It uses gas to shield oxygen away from your weld which reduces burning. It’s a mix of co2 and argon.

[@KOSYOUNG]

okay thanks i want to get into welding but not sure what kind to get I would prefer one that just uses electric

[@andrewharding4434]

What is the name of those square holders?

[@chrisarneson8644]

Patch panel clamps

[@andrewharding4434]

Thank you :)

[@danny610]

Have you weld using the flux core?

[@chrisarneson8644]

Nope.

[@akramalsheikh3868]

Just order it yesterday! I'm a beginner so what size of gas tank do you think I need for practice and weld small things in my garage? and did the gas tank costly?

[@chrisarneson8644]

Congrats! You will love it. I started out with a 10lb tank. It was remotely big enough. I could hardly begin a project before it was empty. I traded it in with my local welding supply company on a 20lb tank which I have now. I wish I had just gone straight for a 40lb tank. If you don't plan to use it a ton you might just start with a 20lb tank. I've been told that you can order tanks online and they will ship them full. You might want to compare that cost vs your local welding supply place. Good luck.

[@lrreidjr]

how long is the ground lead and wip?

[@chrisarneson8644]

Around 8ft

[@rk22cc]

Good info

[@robertashley2011]

is it ac or dc

[@chrisarneson8644]

Uses a standard 120 V outlet. You'll probably need a 20A breaker but I don't know on that.

[@mikec555555]

All you buyers beware Eastwood MIG 175. I purchased one of these welders in April 2018. Had it only 3 months, used only 3 times on sheet metal so that is on relatively low settings. Stopped working, no spark, no wire feed. After talking with Eastwood they said it was a known issue - something on the motherboard or something burned out. They said to send it back and they will replace it. It was fedexed back to them in a couple of days, a week after they received it I had still not heard anything. I called them and they said it might be another week or more before I receive the replacement because they only have one person working in the warehouse and this person had a lot of returns to deal with. Get that? They have a lot of returns. What does that tell you? Save your money for a real welder and not these pieces of China made junk.

[@chrisarneson8644]

I understand your frustration but it sounds like Eastwood Customer Service is working with you. You've also replied to a review on the MIG135 which is a different welder. I have always had great customer support from Eastwood and it sounds like they are trying hard to help you as well. Good luck regardless.

[@juiced71]

Talk is cheap let's see that baby in action 👍 On sale now for 200

[@chrisarneson8644]

Buy it! Sorry but I'm not talented enough to weld, talk, and film at the same time!!!!

[@jimjulie1]

Very informative....

[@حسنالزين-ت5م]

مرحباسلام ارجو المساعدة لشراء الماكينة

[@chrisarneson8644]

You'll have to find out if Eastwood.com will ship to your current country. I can't help with that.

[@حسنالزين-ت5م]

ارجوكم انا بحاجة لشراء الماكينة ارجو المساعدة

[@chrisarneson8644]

I had to use google translate on this. I have no idea if Eastwood sells where you live but I like mine.

[@danstaszko8039]

lol magnetic heat sink..... you know magnets demagnetize when its heated

[@chrisarneson8644]

Yep. That copper plate was a big fail!

[@WV591]

i got one a month ago for about 250. it's ok but for about 100 more you can get much better welder. i wish i had n't bought mine. you can't get a very clean weld with just flux core no gas no matter what brand wire or setting.

[@romanyamal1830]

WV591 what is the name and brand of the welder? Isnt gas going to make much cleaner welds then flux core?

[@802Garage]

Not sure which welder you can get for 100 more that is better than this. I haven't seen it.

[@jwuethrich8385]

volume maxed...i think you are talking...

[@chrisarneson8644]

I'm not sure what to tell you. It sounds fine when I listen to it.

[@jwuethrich8385]

did you try it from my pc? lol

[@chrisarneson8644]

Try a different browser. I’ve heard that chrome does some weird things to volume.

[@MrMikey1224]

I wish people would quit saying it has infinite settings, it has a start point and a end point which means it is not infinite. The word means " without limit " and this has obvious limits