Lincoln Ranger 330MPX generator/welder review

[@556actual]

I was watching one of your other videos wondering what welder you were running. I've been saving up to buy that exact machine for a while now and have been searching for someone that has a decent amount of hours on it. Every time I think I'm only another couple jobs away from buying it Lincoln decides to raise the price up another $1,000. I want to say it was $6,500 when I first seen em and most places would throw in 200' of leads at that price. Now it's around $9,000 and you'd be lucky to get 1 free clear welding lens thrown in the "deal" with it. Keep the content coming you got another subscriber here!!!

[@NAWeldingandFab]

I didn't know the price was rising that dramatically. Mine was around $8,000 at Airgas last April, but it didn't come with leads or even a tank of gas. Lol. I'm steady working on more content for yall, but it'll probably be the weekend before I can get another video edited and ready to upload.

[@williamthomas9463]

Good, honest review. I’m probably going to buy one of these in the near future. I currently own two Lincoln Ranger 305G’s. The original is still going strong at 7600 hours (I did have to replace 2 boards in it a couple years ago at the cost of $ 2650.00+/-) and the new one has around 3200 hours on it. Absolutely love them! I run a lot of Ultra-Core 71A85 .045 dual-shield with mine though and get along very well with it outdoors 80% of the time. Don’t be shy about gas flow. 50-60cfm.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you and thank you for watching.

[@cab8188]

Good review John , always good to get a review from a professional welder that produces quality welds .

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you and thank you for watching

[@williamthomas9463]

Hello John. I don’t know if you get comments on the older videos or not but here goes. I had commented on this video when I watched it the first time that I was probably going to buy a 330 MPX. Well, I just did it two weeks ago. Finally got it put on the truck this past Saturday morning. All I’ve done with it so far is some welding and generator work in the shop to build the adapter skid to mount it on my truck so it fits where my two 305G’s have been mounted. I have to say that I was shocked to see some of the engineering blunders I have found since I bought one that makes routine maintenance a whole lot harder than it needs to be. Wish I had noticed these quirks on my two different buddies 330 MPX’s before I bought one. I admit, the 330 performs flawlessly in the 7 or so hours that I’ve used it but I’m feeling a little bit of “buyer’s remorse” at the moment. At the $8264.00 that I paid for the machine after the dealer’s discount, I’m sure hoping that I’m going to fall in love with it! Hope you’re well and I’m enjoying your truck build videos.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

I hope your new machine treats you right. I personally don't mind the extra annoyance some of the design features present because honestly, all the smaller machines I've ever had to work on or maintain have had little annoying quirks like that to overcome. I guess I'm just used to that. Lol. I hope you're doing well too and thanks for watching my channel. I'm glad you're enjoying it

[@diegomarquez9505]

Thanks for the review, Im in the process of buying one, and your experience on the smaller outlets caught my attention, but to run off the 220 outlet for your smaller accessories is what sold me on the machine.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you for watching.

[@ls2005019227]

Really enjoying your channel. (Especially with the awesome stickers!! 😂) Your explanations & 7018's/gouging are probably my favorite. Thanks!

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you and thank you for watching

[@campstrat]

Thank you! Someone who understands what 'review' means!

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you and thank you for watching. That was my 1st ever review on anything, so I just tried to cover everything I'd like to have known before my own purchase

[@jamesbankhead117]

Brother you can definitely run some nice looking strings, and your weaves are bad also. Your not stupid by any stretch- this I can promise you. Your gifted in more ways that you realize, as your followers such as I just sit and shake our heads…..how the hell did he pull that off. Keep the videos coming please. JB Florida 🇺🇸

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you and thank you for watching. More videos on the way

[@canamrider7195]

I just ordered a 300MPX. I've never welded before, but this looks like just the thing. Hopefully my neighbors will help me get it into the my apartment. Can't wait to runs some beads. I'll start a YT Channels and review my success.😁

[@NAWeldingandFab]

I wouldn't recommend running it indoors or welding in an apartment. Carbon monoxide can and will un-alive you without discretion

[@canamrider7195]

@@NAWeldingandFab I could not get it in the door, so I left it outside just one night and someone stole it.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

@@canamrider7195 well, if they was man enough to walk off with it, I'd let em have it.

[@buddylouis8348]

That was a good review, I've had mine for about 1 1/2 years now, about 300 hrs, as I use it for my side work, and I have had the same problems as you. I really like the arc air function as I use that a lot, but like you my air compressor is really noisy compared to the 330. I do like this quiet welder after using a weld and power 225 for 38 years, but that little unit could weld. Overall I run my plasma cutter, spool gun, LN-25, and a 185 amp multi purpose machine and 200 amp lincoln squarewave tig with no problems.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you. Thank you for watching too

[@buddylouis8348]

@NAWeldingandFab and I subscribed to your channel too. I've watched several of your videos and enjoyed them

[@NAWeldingandFab]

@@buddylouis8348 thank you for subscribing too. I'm working on more content every day

[@bsquadrider]

I appreciate the in-depth review with information that is actually useful. I just subscribed to your channel, looking forward to future videos.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you. I'm glad the review seems to have helped some folks. Thank you for subscribing too. I'm working on more content every day

[@donnowakowski4224]

You are not “just” a welder. You are an excellent welder. Don’t degrade yourself. You are a good person and an excellent welder. That’s a lot more than many can say. I really like your videos. Keep them coming.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you and thank you for watching. I'm working on more content daily, but trying to produce higher quality videos with just a cell phone is a bit of a challenge. Lol

[@adampeters1212]

I had a similar issue using a Dewalt grinder on my 305g. Some Dewalts grinders have a soft start kinda feature ( I don't know the technical term) . But I never got it to work. At the same time, I have a Dewalt grinder without that feature and works great. Something to look into if you want.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

My Milwaukee 4.5" had the soft start, but my Dewalt doesn't. Those 120v plugs would trip with either grinder.

[@someguy4476]

Did you ask your dealer about that receptacle issue? That seems really odd and makes a huge portion of that machine useless. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️ And what are your thoughts on the durability of the screen??

[@NAWeldingandFab]

I didn't have time to take it in for repair, so no I didn't ask them about it, but after I changed the brushes at 1000hrs, the plugs went to work, so it's fixed now. As for the screen, I'm over 2500 hours and it still works like new. That being said, I also don't abuse the machine

[@jayusher576]

For the cost i wasnt inpressed and was even less inpressed when trying to use it with innershield wire of any dia over 0.45.. i sold it to a helper that wanted it to practice with..found a bigger blue pro mocheen for a good price.

[@blackyandjackblue]

Never had a problem with gfci I have 700hrs on mine I love this machine lots of power for the money

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Yea I figure mine's just got a faulty GFCI system. If I had the time or a backup machine, I'd carry it in for warranty, but I don't have that luxury right now

[@macdaddydiesel]

Thanks man! I really appreciate it!

[@NAWeldingandFab]

You're welcome. Hope it helped you. Thank you for watching

[@paulg5900]

I'm not going to lie, a hinderance to run 110v axillary equipment is a pretty big deal. I've got a miller trailblazer and I'm not sure how much better it is to gouge off the miller versus the lincoln as I always hear it's harder on machines that aren't minimum 400 amps. 5/16" is a huge carbon, I was nervous about ever running 3/16" rods off my trailblazer. If I have to gouge, I'll probably lean on my plasma cutter.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Almost 2,000hrs on it now and still gouges like new. If it couldn't handle the amperage load, I'd know by now. As for the 120v plugs, they suddenly decided to work properly after I replaced the brushes at 1,000hrs service like Lincoln wanted me to. Until then, the 2 gang box on the modified dryer cord worked great for bypassing the GFCI

[@Captainredneck1488]

Have you had any overheating issues with this machine?

[@NAWeldingandFab]

@@Captainredneck1488 only when it was mounted improperly. The amount of room the owner's manual says the machine requires isn't a joke. It needs every inch they recommend or it will overheat and act 10 kinds of stupid

[@WELDER-UP]

Any way can you do a demo on it? Stick process? Been thinking heavily about this machine. But I cannot find anyone that does any of the processes on it? Thanks man, keep on burning and earning

[@NAWeldingandFab]

It's the machine I run in all my videos. I aint got a camera setup for arc shots or anything like that. Thank you for watching though

[@WELDER-UP]

@@NAWeldingandFab will check them out. I appreciate it man. Have a great one.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

@@WELDER-UP thank you and you do the same

[@dougrector4412]

does this machine grind at a idle like the trail blazzer?

[@NAWeldingandFab]

No sir it revs up

[@timothyhartley7986]

I like your review. Thank you.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Thank you for watching

[@Eastcoastoverdose_]

Thanks man

[@jackgarrett9563]

you should check about those 120 plugs and get lincoln to fix that, good video think about getting a new welder, the ranger 8 works but that would be a nice upgrade

[@NAWeldingandFab]

Funny thing is, they work now and I have no idea why. Maybe changing the brushes fixed them? I don't know

[@i.parkinson7822]

Have you carbon arc gouged with it yet? If so, how did it handle it? What CFMs was your Air Compressor running? Thanks, Iz

[@NAWeldingandFab]

I run 5/16" carbons through it all the time with amperage cranked wide open. It aint no Commander 500, but it's better than a Bobcat 225 or Trailblazer 302. I aint sure what CFM my compressor puts out, I just know I can hear it build air and start bleeding it back off while I'm steady gouging.

[@i.parkinson7822]

@@NAWeldingandFab ok - cool. I just bought the ranger and I am in the process of building a trailer for it. I was curious about the gouging capes because the specs say it’s only capable of 3/16 but it sounds like you’ve got it to work with 5/16. Just out of curiosity, are you using a K4000? Glad I found your channel - just subscribed. Thanks for the info!

[@NAWeldingandFab]

@@i.parkinson7822 I'm running some old Napa piston style compressor my dad gave me a few years ago and a Profax gouger. When selecting gouging carbons, I look at the recommended amperage the carbon calls for instead of what the machine says it'll handle. 300 amps is 300 amps whether you're welding or gouging, so if a 5/16" carbon calls for 300 amps, that's the size I buy. Lol. Might not be the "exact correct thing" according to a spec sheet, but 3/16" carbons are pointless to me

[@i.parkinson7822]

@@NAWeldingandFab that makes sense…. Thank you… and again, love the channel and I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

@@i.parkinson7822 you're welcome and I didn't see it the 1st time, but thank you for subscribing. I'm glad you and some others seem to be enjoying the channel. I'm working on a new video right now actually since the "Weldibeast" is down with transmission problems, but I hope to post the new video this week sometime

[@506curtis]

Good thing you are mechanically inclined. It's pretty disappointing to pay all that money for a machine and not have it perform. The gfci on my big blue tripped easily when I first got it. Then I got it replaced on warranty, and it was better. but after a few years I got tired of struggling with it because the smallest bit of moisture would trip it. So I just got rid of the gfci all together and it's much better now. Nothing worse than not having something not the work the way it should when you are on the job site. And yea the maintenance never ends, your pretty well married to that old welding truck once you start hah.

[@NAWeldingandFab]

True. Lol. I'll eventually figure out how to bypass the GFCI stuff in favor of a traditional style circuit breaker, I just haven't had time to do that. Certainly haven't had time to wait for someone else to get around to fixing my machine while I rent a spare either. Thank you for watching

[@aaabbott1383]

340 hours on mine (its a 2021) and after a battery swap, Chopper Board blew out, never started again. $4500 to repair, but if I do there wont be any warranty so Id be an idiot to do it. Now it's a brick. Wanna buy it for parts lol?

[@NAWeldingandFab]

That sucks. I hate to hear it.

[@joshmurray4427]

Apparently lincoln uses junk receptacles and gfcis, I have a cross country and one of the gfcis took a crap on me at about 570 hrs

[@NAWeldingandFab]

That could very well be the case. I'm a decent mechanic, but not an electrician by any means. In hindsight, I should've had those 120v plugs fixed under warranty, but I already bolted the machine down and had work to do, so I improvised with the modified dryer cord. As long as that continues to work, I'll be fine. Lol