Vulcan Omnipro 220 welder Miller multimatic 200 test
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- This video I run the Harbor freight Vulcan Omnipro 220 side by side with the Miller Multimatic 200 to see how they MIG weld. It was nice to see how well both welders worked.
I also talk a little about some of the differences and similarities of both welders. Thanks for watching!
Hey guys It's Michael here I have had a few people ask how the Omnipro is holding up after a year and a half, It's been Rock solid! Here's a link to a new video I made showing a real world duty cycle test on the Omnipro 220 along side with the New Titanium 200 welder. ruclips.net/video/kzbpbsBqs3I/видео.html
Hi mike. Did you have a e-mail o WhatsApp?? To share weld knowledge
Michael, I went ahead and pulled the trigger and bought one of the Vulcan Omnipro’s mainly based on your videos and experiences with it. I did buy the 2 year extended warranty for peace of mind, but hope for the best. Thanks again for the videos you do. I think I might need one of those Titanium plasma cutters next! Have a good one.
Thank you I've been watching a lot of your video's, they pop up after I was talking about buying a new welder. My old RED BOX welder is giving me a lot of hesitation. I took it in to see if I could get it fixed the shop said that welder is out dated and the maker don't even sale the parts to it anymore. I checked to welding shop's and both said the same thing. Not shire if you guys are using gas or flux wire?
I just watched the video all the way through .I didn't even bother watching at first. Now that I did I do agree with you. let me ask you a question is the Valcon brand new? and if so, how old is the Miller? I actually have the same exact Miller 200 and I'm selling it .I've only used it 10 or less times. Im working way too much now no time for projects now or in the near future. Your right about the price for sure and the valcon seemed to work just as good if not better.
@@hammertimeh2r910 how much are you asking for your Miller welder? I'm looking to buy a new welder because mine after 14 year's is going out it hesitates when I'm trying to run a weld the wire is not feeding right. I went to see if I can get it fix at two diffrent shop's they both said the same thing they don't sell parts for my welder any more.
Can we take a sec and appreciate this man laying down some nice beads
I welded thin aluminum with a spool gun on this vulcan 220 omnipro. It was an aluminum panel fence and I couldn't believe I was welding with that thing on a 110v setup. This is a great little welder for a multitude of tasks.
Right on! I’m glad you are happy with yours! It’s definitely nice to be able to weld aluminum :) These welders work really well!
Dude! You just inadvertently explained something to me. I have the titanium 200. It has the cold wire thing you were talking about. I put a new spool on for the first time today and it sped up on me. I didn't realize that's what it was doing. I thought it just had some kind of slow start feature. I bought the 200 after much research that included your videos. Thanks for putting these out there. 👍
Nice video! Really informative and good basic test. Real world I guess you'd say. Helped me make up my mind. I am just learning to weld and was seriously looking at both of these welders. The fact that I can get the Vulcan for $829 vs. $2100. base price for the Miller is very attractive. I will not be welding everyday for a profession. This is definitely part time for now. Thanks for putting up this video.
I'm glad you commented! I think you would be happy with ether welder, but the price and the fact that they both weld great really sealed the deal for me. I as well don't weld every day as my main job, I feel like the Vulcan has and will hold up well.
I have owned it for about a year now with no problems what so ever, I feel like it's a well built welder.
Take care.
You are the first one to mention consumables. That's a big deal for me! That just might have sealed the deal on the VULCAN. Thanks for a great review!
bought a vulcan 220 last weekend.tested mig on 16 gauge,3/16,and 3/8 plate,using the synergic settings.My results mirror Mikes,solid performance.Lat night tried the stick,was a little "sticky" untill I looked at the hot start,and arc force settings.they were default to zero.I increased those,and ran nice beads of 6011.The hot start really works! .Also ran some 3/32 7018,dropped the arc force down,very smooth,welded just as good as my other machines.Gunna try tig tonight.
Nice to hear!
I'm going to try out the stick welder side of this machine this weekend, good to hear about your findings on the hot start and arc force. Thanks Jeffrey :)
Mike,also tried 6010+++++ .As with most inverters,arc would go out unless stuffed in tight.Also,when using the synergic settings,when you pick the metal thickness,amps can be too high for 6010/6011.Might be spot on for 6013,but i dont use those rods.For 3/32 6011,I was at 70 amps,8 hot start,8 arc force.3/32 7018, try 90 amps,8 hot start,3 arc force.I was welding 1/4 plate .
Jeffrey Worth çcx$c
RE: performance - A friend is professional welder for the US Coast Guard and he turned me on to this brand. He has a couple personal units and swears by them he sold is big name welders. I already have a small older Millermatic 140 120v that for most jobs I do is sufficient, but this Vulcan is tempting with the Tig and stick built into the unit, and the screen auto-setup for a not so regular user seems a bonus. Lots of good features like the wire feed, removable power cords, etc. Now if I could justify getting one to the wife...
Scott Philbrook Thanks for your comment! I have owned this Vulcan Omnipro for a year now and it’s been great, I feel like it was money well spent. It’s good to hear from others that they have been happy as well with them too! I have been welding with MiG and stick welders for quite a few years and I did not know if I would use the auto set feature that much when I was going to buy this welder, boy was I wrong! It’s extremely convenient and I use it all the time in auto set, it’s great if you’re welding different thickness metals on the same project, it’s so quick to jump up and down sizes with a turn of a knob. I hope you can talk your wife into it! Take care
Thanks for taking the time to make the video!
Both of these are great welders. Both are high quality, and made in China. The Miller is assembled in America from Chinese and other foreign components. Big deal. Its a global market now. I like the adjust ability of the Vulcan. The Vulcan also has a bit more punch with the extra 20 amps. The duty cycle on the Miller sucks for the money you pay. I'll take the added weight of the Vulcan (larger heat sinks) over the Miller.
Both machines weld great. You run nice beads. Thanks again Mike.
Thanks for checking out my video, And I appreciate the nice comment on my welds!
Great video Mike! One of the better ones out there. I went with the Miller 5 years ago and have had no problems. There is nothing inherently wrong the the HF machines for the money. That price point helps so many people get into the welding game and that's a good thing. IIWII. No hate needed. Let that shit go.
I just picked up a Vulcan Omnipro 220 just yesterday! This video helped me make my decision. Thanks Mike!
They are hard to find in the stores. Very popular item. I have both Miller and Lincoln equipment, but Miller has forgotten about the home user/hobbyist with their stratospheric pricing on just basic equipment. Same goes with Lincoln, just not as bad of an offender as Miller. I also purchased the extended 2 year warranty for a total of 3 years like Miller offers, and still $1000 less, and a better machine. I heard that there will be a Vulcan plasma cutter coming very soon!!! Can't wait to see it and get it!!! Harbor Freight is going to be the new Sears/Craftsman store like Sears USE TO BE back in the old school days. Open on Sunday too! Miller can suck it. Its amazing that Miller's line up has lots of "assembled in the U.S.A. with CHINESE imported components", but don't like to talk about it, or want you to know about it. Please redeem yourself Miller, and Lincoln.
A perfect example of being cheap is like Lincoln and the MP 210 that the Vulcan is copied from...
I expect to pay for the additional TIG pedal and torch, but Lincoln is so cheap that they don't even put in the amphenal plug/ socket in the machine to plug the the pedal into. You have to do that too. Really??? Cheap F&%#s. Cheap plastic cords too. Vulcan has nice flexible power cords. Look at the cheap shit Lincoln gives you.
Joeak74 Nice!
I’ve been real happy with my Vulcan so far, it just works so good!
It’s good you got the extra warranty, I think it’s a safe way to go with any of these computer controlled welders, my friend Dave that owns the Miller in this video just had to send his Miller back for warranty work after only about 8 months of use, Miller also tried to charge him $130 for the repairs and it took 3 weeks to get it back. I’m glad my video helped you see how they both weld and showed you around the machine a little more. I made both of the OmniPro videos because when these welders first came out there was only in boxing videos and I really wanted to see how they welded, so I decided to buy one and see for my self, I feel they are on par with most high end consumer welders. I think you will be happy with it, and if anything does however go wrong at least you can walk into any HF and walk out with a new one!
Take care 🙂
Good content, thanks for the upload. I've had my OmniPro 220 for well over 2 years now, I got the accessories such as the spool gun and the TIG torch with the foot pedal and the only issue I've had is the set screw that tightens the MIG gun into the housing, the plastic broke off and now it's just a 4mm bolt head instead of a plastic wing nut, not that big of a deal. Other than that, this little machine has made me thousands of dollars and is absolutely one of the best tool purchases I've made to date. Could not be happier with Vulcan. Consumables are inexpensive and readily available. I upgraded to a 150 amp flex head TIG torch and tis machine is really quite good on stainless and carbon steel. I've welded handrail to custom sailboat exhaust to hot rod chassis, 4x4 off road frame rails, etc. Just do yourself a favor and buy excellent filler metals, whether it be MIG spools or TIG wire. It makes a huge difference.
Right on 👍 I’m glad to hear your have been happy with yours!
I sold mine off a few years back to buy an AC TIG but just recently bought another Omnipro because I really think the build quality is good and it welds really nicely 👍
@@Mikefestiva Right on man! I like your content style, keep up the nice work.
Thanks for the great vid. Just bought my Vulcan 220 n checking out RUclips for everyone else’s opinion. I’m pretty impressed with the machine n it’s versatility, for the price.
Right on! I think you will be quite happy with that welder. Take care
The bottom line is Harbor frieight is in the game competing really strong.. ND they are now producing some Very Good quality Welders these days. If u can do a side by side comparison with Vulcan vs. miller and they are both doing a great job then that means they are in the game.
Good job Harbor freight. Way to keep the market competitive..
And keep the consumer happy with the lower cost for the customer....
I work as a mechanic. I weld exhaust on an almost daily basis. At work we run a miller. At home its harbor freight. I personally wouldn't spend the money on a miller. I have mainly matco air tools at work but most of my hand tools ( wrenches, ratchets, extensions, etc.) are harbor freight stuff. The hand tools carry a lifetime warranty and at a FRACTION of the price. What I'm getting at is sometimes the expensive stuff is just a name.
MrFirefighter033 Thanks for your comment! I’m right there with you on the Harbor Freight hand tools like wrenchs and socket, They work fine for me, I have pulled a lot of motors and transmissions with mine HF tools and they always get the job done. Take care and thanks for checking out my video.
@@Mikefestiva I know I'm digging up an old thread here, but I just had to share my similar philosophy.. I have several antique cars that either impossible to lock up or not worth the effort.. For a $50 bill at HF I can buy a small tool bag and all the basic hand tools one might need for "side of the road" emergencies and I really wouldn't sweat it if someone ever broke in and swiped them. Hasn't happened yet.. more likely I lose them in the grass! LOL.. But in my garage I keep the expensive "good tools".. the Hazets, Weras, Wihas, ... Craftsmans.. lol
Good script, good performance, and good editing.
Look at and compare the duty cycles! WOW! Go Vulcan!
Both beautiful welders!
Today on Feb 29, 2024 the Vulcan is $1100 vs The miller at about $4500. That's a huge difference. Many of the reviews on the Vulcan seem to be good. If you're like me and tend to look at the one star reviews first just to get an Idea of potential problems the biggest seem to be lack of repair-ability and parts for the Vulcan. A common theme is if it's beyond the 90 day warranty you're pretty much screwed. It's also subject to a 20% restocking fee which is about $223 just to return it. Many people also say it'll live 2 years maximum. It's a bit of a gamble in that you'd get 4 Vulcans for the same price as one Miller.
Man I'm so glad to see you push the dual shield weld because that's all I basically do on ship incerts and it always comes out smooth with no slag inclusions. Great demonstration as always.
Thanks for checking out my videos man 😊👍
@@Mikefestiva You're welcome. Keep um coming
What I see here, is a good welder can weld with any machine. That said, there is a place in the world for entry level type welding machines. Gets people interested in an affordable machine starting out.
rickey bobby-pins
The vulcan 220 is used I'm my shop here in the oilfields. We use the fuck out of it all day welding and repairing trailers and pumps. We have a lincoln 210 and a fronius 2200. The vulcan blends in with the lincoln 210. No one complains when using the vulcan. A few guys bought the vulcan 220 after a few months of using one. It's cheap and runs fuckin great. It's from harbor freight??? That's the crazy part. I bought the titanium 200 and have been running it in the shop. It works very well but lacks the screen and auto settings that the other 3 welders have. But other than that it runs just fine. Harbor freight is stepping their game up big time!
How’s your fronius?
Difference between pro welders and home welders is the longevity not quality. Those won’t last long in a pro setting. You’re the only one I ever heard of using HF crap in a shop
@@Mikey-ym6ok “pro” welders are made overseas in most cases as well. I’m a 25 year professional have worked in automated code work both GTAW/LBW/MIG and own the 125 flux and its bloody fantastic. Compared to dragging a $1000 dollar ESAB around for the jobs that don’t require an engine driven welder its a $200 15lb machine that welds great. Plus you can get a warrantee and they are open Sunday. Used it on a hill welding a fence line on a long extension and welded 18 gauge tubing like nothing. These things being inverter based are good quality. An ex Lincoln engineer designs them from what i have read as well.
Mike you are really a great welder and I enjoy watching your videos!
Thank you for this video, which got me off the fence and headed towards Harbor Freight
The Vulcan just sounds better when welding. I agree, nothing wrong with foreign made machines. Its just like Fords and Chevy with Lincolns and Millers. Im going with possibly the Vulcan 200 TIG, casue I like to keep the machines separate. Just my feeling that's all.
Great video I just happen to run Into your channel just subed ,Im a retired welder fabricator 28 years I have to say its nice to see someone on RUclips that can actually weld really well , you got some skills Like I did back in the day Lol !!
Thanks for checking out my video and subscribing!
I really appreciate your nice comments :) It's especially nice to hear that from a fabricator 28 years!
Cant wait to see how you stick weld. I started welding 1970
I run multimatic on a daily. You should point out that the mig isn't so great on 110 power but it runs great on 220. They run great Tig on 110 and can run hotter than 90amps on 110 unlike maxstars or even worse the newer maxstars that max out at 70amps on 110. When you run on 220 for Tig, it runs very smooth. Stick is also Better on 220 for multimatic. Great review tho. Keep posting.
Thanks for your input on your multimatic. I had not used my friends Miller on 110, but I have ran the vulcan on 110 volts MIG on another video I made where I welding a rack for my work and I have to say it welded great, there's a Lincoln 140 AMP 110volt welder at my work and I did a few test with them side by side and the vulcan has more amps then the Lincoln and seems to be a better welder over all. Like I say with any of these newer inverter welders time will tell on durability. Thanks again for checking out my video.
One thing I noticed was the valcun runs higher current on default thicknesses. Good comparison thanks
Like the intro....LOL. Seems to be a pretty decent welder (Vulcan) for the money.
Like you said previously, time will tell about how long it lasts and parts sourcing if things go bad.
Thank you for giving a extremely fair review for these welders and letting us make up our own mind's i love to see tools and equipment in action that i haven't used my self yet to get an ideal if i might want to purchase it and give it a try
a lot people doing video's seem to kick a machine or tool that comes from china so it was nice to see someone make a unbiased video
Like this
After all if it's a good tool or machine then it will always prove it's SELF worthy in the long run
I thought they both did a great job
I really liked the settings display as you pointed out on the
omni pro 220 its a nice looking machine
the miller is a lot lighter and smaller and yet welded with the same power and capability nice machine cost a bit more tho
im leaning toward the omni pro 220 because it stood next to the miller in capability
and the price is considerably less
Thanks for the great video keep up the great work .
GRADY JONES Thanks for your thoughtful comments! I’m glad you noticed that I was just showing how these two welders worked without trying to knock one or the other down, I feel they both weld great! I have been completely happy so far with my Omnipro, it just works great and provides everything I need in a machine. Time will tell how they hold up but so far it’s never missed a beat.
Take care and thanks again :)
Nice job Mike. It appeared that the auto settings were a little hotter on the Vulcan. 19V ~120A on Lincoln and 20.6V ~160A on the Vulcan for 1/4" auto settings. A penetration review would have been interesting to add to the test. Of course a guy could always turn up the Lincoln manually.
Mike , this side by side welder comparison was excellent. The camera views of the welds are high quality, again excellent, top notch, a perfect apples to apples comparison. Your welds are soooo consistent. Do you use a cursive. e weave , or a continuous loop type weave on those welds?
Thanks for such a gooooood demonstration, kind of like being in a Welding class. I will watch for your next comparison. By the way I love you bandsaw mill, what a great build !!
You have so many skill sets, fabricating, Welding,electrical, your posts on the bandsaw mill is inspiring! I look forward to your next smaller bandsaw build. If you don’t mind my asking , what is your day job?
Thanks for the video Mike
Thank you Dave for helping!
Wow good review. I have been looking at these for quite awhile. But I was kinda skeptic about buying one. Just wasn't sure on how good these would be. But after watching this review. I think I found my next welder.
Gerald Roland thanks for checking out my video on these welders! I have been real happy with my Vulcan 220 so far, it welds great and does everything I need it to do.
john Smith this is the second negative comment you have posted on my video, the first one you must have deleted because you wrote that you were a welder for 35 years and you know what your talking about, but when I corrected you that if you really know about welding you would have known that you don’t weld aluminum with a DC Tig you weld it with a AC tig welder.
John I really don’t know why you really even care about what brand welder I use? Now about your comment, cheap welders are stupid welders? What the hell are you talking about. Now John if you are a welder for 35 years like your deleted post claimed, would you have liked it if you were planning on buying a affordable welder and learning how to weld and someone told you to just pay someone else to weld because if you cannot afford the best welder it’s not even worth trying to learn? Come on John your are not being very encouraging to others.
The price and features need to be compared to the Miller. You can't beat the Vulcan for price and features. They are new so durability is the question we all have but I will say that HF is killing it lately with the quality and features of there equipment.
I’m not much of a welder however like everyone else occasionally things break,,, and if we’re lucky enough to be able to,,,,we’re able to put them back together again and fix them,,,as a homeowner I guess I have what you could probably consider a hobbyist welder I started out years ago with an 88 amp mig welder from tractor supply company it was just OK,,,now I have a Hobart I believe Miller makes them ez 125 I bought about I’m guessing 10/11 years ago it’s OK,,, it doesn’t have any gas hook ups like my old TSC welder did,,,mines strictly flux core,,,it does a fair job however I would like something a little hotter with gas. I used a Miller over 20 years ago in a maintenance shop I worked as a helper for a little while at and it was the nicest welder I think a person could ever get. I don’t know what number it was but anybody could walk right up to it and start welding with good welds,,, I would like to save up and get a bigger Hobart or if I can afford it a nice Miller,,,,, I have an update on the newer welder it is a 170 titanium from Harbor freight dual voltage 120/240 volts,,, I have not used it yet it’s just too dam cold outside when it warms up I’m gonna get some gas for it and try it out it though,,,looks nice I bought the two-year warranty so I’m covered for two years and 90 days.
Joeak 74 thanks for your input on this review !!!
Makes me feel better about shelling out the $1000 for a Vulcan welder..
Usually heavier means a better core.
I noticed the vulcans auto settings run a bit higher amps than the Miller. Did you notice any deeper weld penetration?
you preheated the half inch by using the orange welder first
and it shows in the miller bead.
Ruby Bird thought that 2
Oh cool you're the dude that built that awesome dump truck. Thats a project I definitely want to try at some point in my life but I want to change it a bit to be an offroad truck boat type thing. Or maybe soke kinda hunting vehicle if i ever get into hunting like I want.
Mike, I finally have a weekend to try out my new OmniPro 220, AND ProTig200!!! Not enough hours in the day, but I finally get some time to take care of business. I'll let you know how it goes. Its really cold outside, but nut windy.
I sent a few friends over to watch your quality videos, to get educated on how well these Vulcan welders really work.
When is your next Vulcan welder video coming out? Perhaps you could test out the TIG function? Thanks again for the quality videos!
P.S. I just need to say this for other folks that get sucked into clicking on the first Vulcan video on youtube...
ChuckE2009's videos are terrible biased and hold NO quality information.
Wow you got Both Welders! I'm interested in how the ProTIG 200 is, I was thinking of getting one in a year or so?
Thanks for checking out my videos! I appreciate your nice comments on them, I try to add useful info for people that are looking at getting one of these welders, because when I was looking at them when they first came out there just was not much videos of people welding with them or showing how they weld. I have been planning on making a video of stick welding with the Omnipro and my friends Miller soon, but we will need to wait a few more weeks because his Miller Multimatic is getting sent back for more repairs :( so when it gets back we can run them side by side for a stick comparison.
Let me know what you think of your new welders, If they work as good as my welder I'm sure you will be happy with them.
I could not be happier with my Vulcan 220 it's a great welder!!!
Michael! I stumbled across your channel while looking for information about the Vulcan ProTIG 200. Great videos! We really need to get together and get caught up! Take care! Jim
It's great to hear from you Jim!
I'm glad you found my youtube channel, thanks for checking out some of my videos :)
I have been real happy and impressed with the quality of the Vulcan Omnipro 220 so far, I have not tried out the Pro TIG 200 but I would like to in the future. I do have a spool gun hooked up to my 220 so I can weld aluminum now but it's not even close to welding aluminum with a AC TIG machine. I did however TIG weld some 1/16" stainless steel the other night with the Omnipro and other then me not ever really having the chance to use a TIG torch before it welded good.
Well take care Jim and we for sure need to get together soon :)
The Omnipro 220 looks like a stripped down copied version of the Miller multimatic 215. Same housing, similar layout, similar wire drive. It doesn't have the dual gas solenoids and the same software and controls but its definitely a copy. Looks like a good copy and its set at a good price to.
Excellent video! An actual review that you can get info from! Thanks! By the way, I’ll be getting the Omni pro 220 next week
Thanks for checking out my video and commenting!
I think you will be happy with it. I'm going on owning mine for a year now and I've had zero problems with it, I feel It was money well spent. Take care
Thanks. The choice is clear. Buy two Vulcans. Appreciate it.
Thanks for checking out my video! I have posted a few other videos of the Omnipro running side by side with Harbor freight’s new Titanium welder, check those videos out if you get time :)
@@Mikefestiva I'm pretty set on the OmniPro. Thanks for the videos.
Hey Mike. Your videos on the Vulcan 220 Omnipro are very helpful. How has it held up? Does it weld sheet metal well? Thanks.
Big fan of dual shield 💯👍
For the layperson. Is the Vulcan with its many presets and profiles the best option? It would seem setting the material type, thickness, etc and let the machine do the rest is useful for the lay person who doesnt want to spend all their time learning to weld when all the need to do is a job here or there or patch up a vw bug (me).
I like the vulcan it was really comparable to the Miller like almost identical welds
The Vulcan has been a great welder so far, I have been happy with it!
For the price you can't go wrong.
Thanks for checking out my video!
Mike festiva you are quite welcome I love watching informative videos they could be hours long as long as its interesting and informative I am entertained keep up the great videos
Great comparison-Thanks!
Awesome Awesome video with really good information and your welding skills are on point just subbed and tapped the bell
- Well done Mike... Thanks...
Thanks for the review!
Can you review the TIG features? That's what I am most interested in... but I want an all-in-one machine.
What did you end up getting?
Thanks. Looking to get into welding. Thanks for the info on the HF box.
Thanks! I highly recommend that you pick up a welder and get into welding, I had always wanted to weld when I was younger, my first welder was a old Lincoln buzz box AC stick welder, it was not the right welder for me because at the time I wanted to weld thinner metals like bike frames and such, years later I got my first wire feed, even though it was a cheap 100 amp welder it was great to have the chance to do more projects. Now I have two multi function welders and they are perfect for all my welding projects. I really recommend you buying a welder and start, you won’t regret it my friend! Take care and when you buy a welder let me know what you bought!
@@Mikefestiva Thanks for the reply. While it's tempting to get an all-in-one machine, I'm leaning more towards one or two smaller, less-expensive boxes. Right now, I'm leaning towards the 170 Amp MIG/Flux welder from Harbor Freight and been looking at the different stick welders on the Home Depot site but have my eye on the Amico boxes, either stick-only or a stick/TIG. I figure something like those two could be a good start without sinking too much money up front, and it would allow me to do flux and stick and give the option to add gas on either box later if it comes to it. The other thing I am keeping in mind, I won't be able to do any work where I live (townhome, HOA) so I'm looking at the 7250 Watt generators at Harbor Freight that should handle the 30A input a lot of boxes take up. Thanks again.
Sounds like a plan! I welded for years with flux wire, it works fine the only thing is the welds look less clean with more splatter but it works fine.
I ran a small Lincoln weld pack 100 on flux for years then finally got a bottle and regulator to use it with shielding gas, then about a year ago I bought the Omnipro. Like you said start off with the 170 and learn and have fun. If you don’t have a 4.5” angle grinder I really recommend you pick one up to use along with your welder, with those two tools you can make a lot! I built a bandsaw mill about four years ago mainly with those two tools and only a few others. Take care :)
Mike thanks for the video I like the way you do them but I have one suggestion. For those of us watching who don’t know anything about welding I would like to see a little more commentary from you as you go through the process. For example you would do two welds and then take the camera and say “well here’s the Miller and here’s the Vulcan.” I wish you would add some commentary -tell me a little bit about what you like or don’t like about each of them- because I don’t know if I’m looking at one of them being total crap and one of them being really good! Know what I mean? When are you going to post your stick welding video? I ask because I’m just getting into welding and a guy who I trust said teach myself stick welding first because if I learn technique that way then the other types of welding will come easier for me so before I buy this unit I’m interested in seeing what you think and if it would be a good one to start with. Thanks again for taking the time and doing these videos you do a great job and you are easy to watch.
Thanks for watching my video Craig, I will add a bit more commentary to some of my next videos, I just felt the quality of the welds would speak for them selfs.
I was pleased with the way both welders welded, I really would have a hard time telling the welds apart if you took the finished welded scrap and mixed them up and had me guess which welder they came from.
I have heard this many times about start with stick welding and get that figured out then go onto other welding like MIG, I started with a old AC buzz box stick welder, but only because that's all I had access to at the time, I would have started welding with just about any kind of welder because I had drive and when I was a kid I was always interested in welding. Tell you the truth I will weld with stick but I really don't care for it, and most of my projects I weld lend them selfs much better to wire feed (MIG) welding. My suggestion to you or anyone is if your interested in welding, just start! work with what you got and make the best of it, If you ponder over welders, and what kind of machine to use, that's time wasted when you could have been learning how to weld on just about any machine.
I always try to make the most of what I got, even if it's "not the right tool or best brand"
I hope this helps
Craig,the guy who u trust is giving u solid advise!all the welds on Mikes vids are solid,just shows u the vulcan can weld like the Miller or lincoln
When these first came out, I read that they are actually made or based out of India. Now to double check.
Yep. It appears that Vulcan is an Indian company. www.vulcanwelding.com
Incorrect. Word on the streets is that the Harbor Freight Vulcan welders are manufactured by China's leading welder manufacture..."Jasic". Great stuff!
I think im sold on one of these..... I just seen these while at harbor fright buying some regualr hand tools & these looked better built than the Hobarts that i was looking at earlier that day...... I had a miller 210 that someone swiped from my storage unit & Ive been searching for $1600 & up multi process welders like the ESAB rebel EMP 215ic & the newer $3000 205ic which has AC/DC tig... But,,, For the $$$ - I dont weld aluminum that much - Just wanted the capability to do so....
I'm real happy with my Omnipro! It's a great tool and the price is affordable, I was looking at one of the Hobart handler welders but the weight of 80+ LBS and only running on 220 was a the deal breaker for me, then I saw theses welders and I was sold after looking at the build quality in the store, plus you can return them to the store and get another one if by chance something goes wrong with it. I'm sorry to hear some jerk ripped off your Miller :(
Mike festiva I literally just walked out of HF with my new Omnipro..!!! The actual quality of it is pretty damn good to be honest !! The plastics used is similarto every other welder but the metal housing seems to be beefier than most others !!! The dials are looser as you said, the mig gun is not that bad neither... (I had to replace my miller 210s gun after about 4 hours use in 40 days of ownership) The 1 year risk free trial , walk in / walk out with a new welder no questions asked is awesome... $120 (without promo code) for the 2 year extended plan... Not too shabby. Harbor Freight def stepped it up with these..!!!!
Nice!!! I think you will be happy with it :)
I'm with Mike Festiva on this one... 220 voltage is a deal breaker for me too. Every inverter welder in the + or - 200 amp range should be designed to go both ways. 110/220 volt. In my personal opinion, I believe the build quality is better with the Vulcan over the Hobart. Better features too. the Miller 211 and 215 are nothing to write home about.
Plus in Mike's tests, he says he never took it to the full 220 amp output. 20 more amps makes a huge difference!
Nice Mike Tyson's punch out I played the hell out of that game as a kid also I think I would take the omnipro over the Miller for price alone not to mention it is a clone of the Lincoln for the most part any ways
Haha yes our age group definitely remembers those older games! The Omnipro has a lot more features then the Millermatic has like, memory recall, post gas flow, spot weld feature, better duty cycle and a few other controls that change how it welds.
The one thing the Miller has going for it is it’s quite a bit lighter and more packable.
Take care 🙂
What about the Titanium Unlimited200 in comparison with those two? I would like to see that.
Thanks for your video. I'm looking at the Vulcan 220 to add to my collection. When I was a welder, I mostly used stick, I have 2 migs in my shop, one is an old 120v Miller with .023 wire for small work and quick tacks, the other is a used Lincoln 250 for the heavier work, my stick is an old Lincoln Ideal arc 250 a/c - d/c. I've never done Tig or spool gun, I want this Vulcan for that, and my big stick is having issues and I might just use it for air arc if I have a smoother stick machine to use instead. My main concern is, availability of parts, inside as well as outside the machine, and are any of the outside accessories interchangeable with other makes like would be on the stick machines. Remember I never did Tig or spool gun aluminum so I don't know what's interchangeable.
Hey Gordon nice to hear from you :)
I do know the front sockets on the 220 are a standard Dinse connections so for stick and ground leads you will have no problem making or buying longer ones that fit. I think the spool gun is something you will need to buy from Harbor freight, but I made a adapter to fit a Miller spool gun to mine so there's ways to do it.
I have not looked into other brands of MIG whips to see if they fit, I bet with a lathe you could adapt just about any MIG whip to fix, HF however does sell them and has them in stock at the store near me.
I'm new to TIG as well but after doing a little research I think most TIG torches will fit or can easily be made to work, I just bought the pedal and torch from HF and it works just fine, Again there torch fits standard TIG cups and consumables so you can find them almost anywhere. The TIG peddle feels like a good build quality, full metal case.
So about parts, this is what I have asked and found out about.
I was just at Harbor freight and was talking to a guy that works there about how happy I have been with my welder and I had a few questions about the extended warranty I bought with it, ( I recommend buying it ) so if it stops working in the first 3 years of the extended warranty you can just go take it back and they will give you a new welder, the guy even said I could bring it in right before the warranty is up and get a new one, I would need to pay $100 more for a new 2 years of warranty but I would have a new welder and I asked if you could keep doing this before the extended warranty runs up and he said yes! Crazy but by the sounds of it if you pay $100 every other year I guess you can keep walking out with a new warranted welder.
I don't know if I will because it seems wasteful but hey its a option?
If you go buy one ask some questions about the warranty see what they say?
Take car Gordon
Mike, Thanks for getting back to me with your thoughts. The welder went off sale price yesterday but I'll keep researching so I can better make a decision for the next time it's on sale.
Hey Mike, I know this is a bit off topic, but could you do a vid on your tractor and Festiva? I'd love to see them.
Hey Bill Thanks for watching my video!
Sounds good on your video ideas!
I have thought about posting a video of my tractor manly because I bought it used and it's a old Japanese gray market 4x4 and I don't see much on these old tractors on line. I can for sure say it's built amazingly stout for a 18 HP tractor!
I have had My Festiva for many years but I'm thinking of selling it some time soon, and putting more time into my old Datsun 510 wagon that I really need to finish, so maybe I should shot a short video of all the work I have put into that little car. Take care Bill :)
I got the migmax 215 and love it. Seems to have Less digital junk on it to worry about possibly going out than the omnipro. One thing I noticed with it vs my old cheap mig is even running flux core on 110 it barely produces slag at all. I took the same roll of wire off my old welder too so that's not a variable. The old one I couldn't hardly hammer all the slag off. The Vulcan I give a very mild tiny tap or two and it's done and looks about like I used gas.
I have noticed this as well with these inverter welders, much nicer even with flux compared to the older transformer welders. Take for commenting.
@@Mikefestiva yeah I love it so far. I really thought I'd consider getting gas to hook up to it but really thinking I'll never need to mess with it. I'm really satisfied with the flux core.
very nice welds.
Thanks :)
Looks like you get a lot of welder for the money. It's too soon to know about durability. For now my welding budget is spent on Everlast welders. They've got some serious features for the money.
How did you feel welding the half inch steel ? Was it good penetration? Can you go as hot as 450 amps and 26v ? And could it spray weld
No it's only 220amps but if your on the co2 mode you get 27 volts yes if you have 90/10 or greater gas than it sprays although I wouldn't recommend it it's duty cycle kinda sucks
I cant kill my hobarts my 140 is 15yrs old still going.
That Miller Multimatic 200 has only a 20% duty cycle at 150 amps. Pretty piss poor for a $2000 welder.The mighty Vulcan has a 25% duty cycle at 200 amps. Imagine that Miller people.Miller folks I know always point out the Vulcan's duty cycle, but don't have much to say when I point this comparison out to them. Then all I get is "made in Merica". Then I point out the fact that its "assembled" in America with imported components and is more that double the price. Then all I get is "but it has a 3 year true blue warranty". Thants when I mention my 3 year warranty on the Vulcan (I added the extra 2), and the fact that it has a 100% money back guarantee after one year of use, no question asked return policy that miller doesn't have, and then the same individuals start talking about the welders that they've had for the last 30 years (heavy transformer units) that still run. blah, blah, blah. Basically a dick measuring contest. Cognitive dissonance can be cruel to the miller guys. Snap-on guys, and Miller guys unfortunately seem to be in the same group.I can't wait for the new high end "Icon" tool boxes that Harbor Freight will be selling to come out! Not cheap, but is supposed to knock Snap-on's dick in the dirt. I can see the tool truck guys crying now. I also verified the following with a few Harbor Freight store managers... Harbor Freights new "store credit card" with zero interest rate! Comes out in January!!! WOW! A ne Vulcan plasma cutter is also on the way!!! Hang tight folks!
Haha! Thanks for sharing this! I have noticed the same with the Miller guys ;)
Take care
"100% money back guarantee after one year of use, no question asked return policy". That is a free loaner if you are a beginner. Beat it up for almost a year. Then decide to keep it. Return it because you cant stick two pieces of metal together. Or return it for a brand new machine. lol
Great video!
Thanks for the video
Hey mike would you prefer any welders
And not to mention the HF warrenty bring it in no questions for replacement. Peace of mind without the extra $1,000 for a different color welder.
That trouble free warranty is defiantly peace of mind!
My friend waited over 3 weeks for Miller to repair his broken welder, With HF you bring it in and walk out with a new one the same day!
I was really hoping to see you do the plug welds on the 1/2”
Good work but to show the real deal is to tweak both to your preference then weld. Suggested by mfg setting are not the way welders end up. In a shipyard on the hudson i ran 5/32 without changing the settings on a welder from a guy i relieved who was running 1/8. This was in the overhead position. The temp inside the barge was 140 that day with water dripping from the ceilings. The rod was either 7018 or hy80. Love your vid but spend a minute to set your pref. I know the miller is a better machine and comes with a damn good warranty. Most will end up buying the HF. For a business unless you're just starting out. Blue or Red take your pick. THX
The point of this video was to show these two welders using there stock settings, of course you can go and adjust and tweak to your desire, but that’s not want I was going for when making this video. I wanted to show both welders with stock settings.
Also Miller has a good warranty unfortunately my friend had to use it a few months after making this video. His Miller stopped working so he sent it in. Not once, not twice but three times before Miller actually repaired it.
It took over 6 months before the problem was resolved, the welder does work now but he has mentioned it still doesn’t weld as good as it had before the first time it failed.
Great video, Ive had the Miller multimatic 200 for just over 3 years now, ran about (15)12lb. rolls of solid 0.35 wire thru it and (6) 2lbs.rolls 0.35 aluminum with the spool gun, mig wire drive motor broke just before the 3 year warranty was up but miller fixed it for free. Whats the warranty on the Vulcan? And can it do DC tig?
Thanks for checking out my video!
The Miller is a real nice welder, all and all things sometimes break, sounds like you did get a lot of wire fed through that drive motor before it went out! I bought a extended warranty for the Vulcan for a extra $100 that makes it 3 years full warranty, they say if it breaks I can bring it in and get a new welder at the store, I don't need to send it in for repairs.
Yes it can DC tig and is spool gun ready too, I hope to buy the TIG, foot peddle and spool gun soon, One new toy at a time.
Thanks for your comments :)
@@Mikefestiva did you ever buy those extras ?
@@LemonySnicket-EUC Yes I have videos on my channel covering DC TIG welding with the Omnipro 👍
Can someone explain to me how the welding of 1/2 works when the maximum welding thickness says 3/8 for the vulcan? what are the rules that accompany this topic when it comes to seeing how thick you can actually weld? Thanks!
I think what it means is that it has enough amperage to weld 3/8 inch in a single pass you can weld thicker metal with it but will requires multiple passes
David is right with a couple exceptions. In most cases you're not limited in how many passes you can do unless you're welding to a specific code requirement. Also you may need to preheat your work piece if you're welding up some high mass parts like 1" plate otherwise the high mass will act like a heatsink, reducing the weld penetration. You'd also want to take distortion into consideration when doing multiple passes.
Vulcan machines seem like pretty good starter welders... inexpensive and they appear to do a good job
Much better than just "starter welders".
What tig switch can you buy for this machine using pedal is not always doable and really don’t want to scratch start. Let me know thanks
Thanks for the review and video, I'll be checking out your other videos soon.
Some other comments stated "Vulcan ran higher amps" this was all preprogrammed correct? If so it's a moot point.
After your reviews and others I may be making a trip to HF soon.
One other thing, did you do a TIG review? If so, can I ask about the high frequency start?
Vulcan is more affordable and looks way more durable. I'll go with Harbor freight this time.
I agree, I’ve been running a millermatic 175 for the last 16 years...constant rat nesting and poor grounding hasn’t been good. The $1600 to update to a current Miller VS. the $800-1k Vulcan is a obvious choice for me.
@@WhiskeyTango68 this miller doesn't have any issues and is very capable. Maybe not affordable but you get what you pay for.
16 years is a long time for a little welder. You might try a new liner in the gun. That will probably fix your feeding issues. Drive roll tension is probably too tight as well.@@WhiskeyTango68
I'm interested in the dual shield. Its spray transfer instead of short circuit.
I noticed the amps were different between both units the miller was about 20amps lesson average per job that I could see.
Don't know if that's something. I really like the omnipro and may return my mig140 for it.
THanks for the time you took on this. Have you used the Vulcan enough that the duty cycle has hit?
Thanks for checking out my video!
I have not had the Vulcan go into the pause cycle till it cools down yet, I have not really needed to push it that hard yet.
I weld a lot at my work and quite a bit at home and to be honest I really don't get many welders to pause for the cool down cycle that often, I think it's how I build and weld, I use a metal cutting bandsaw a lot for metal fab and I cut, weld, cut some more and so on, these short breaks seems to help. I have got the Lincoln 140 at my work to cycle some times but it's got a low duty cycle and 1/8" thick is about all it will do.
The Vulcan plugged into 240 volts looks like the duty cycle is 100% at 115 amps, This means you would never cycle it welding 1/8" metal tubbing. In less your welding long welds on really thick metal I don"t think the duty cycle is going to bother most people working on projects.
Yeah I figure for what I will use it for it will not be an issue its just that they are so new I am wondering how good they are....I guess that time will tell. I think though that for the price point that its gonna be hard to beat.
For sure time will tell, I feel the first three years are worry free with the extended warranty I bought, by that time I feel like If there's a flaw in the welders Harbor freight would have worked it out and would be selling and warranting the improved welders by then?
Why I feel this way is because the way the warranty works is you bring in your broken welder, they give you a new one at the store, so there taking the old unit, no waiting on the old one getting repaired, you walk out with a new welder and hopefully one that is improved if there is flaws in the first ones? This is just my thoughts on it?
One more thing I bet if they sell a lot of these welders theres people that would probably post videos of common repairs they have done on them, This will take time mostly after all the warranties are up but I bet there will be info people post about them? just a hunch.
Good point. I am looking real hard at this welder because of the price and what it offers. I am new to welding....got a job in a fab shop where the boss is teaching me so I want something at home to let me get more time in. Plus I want to try some ideas I have for projects. Again, thanks for the info.
It looked like the preset settings for the vulcan were hotter than the miller.
I just wanted to know if you still have the Vulcan 220 and still use it. If so how's it been over the years is it still just as good or has it started to degrade in quality of the machine itself or its capabilities to weld.
I sold this welder off many years ago, I used the cash to buy the Vulcan ProTIG so I could teach myself how to TIG weld aluminum.
I ended up buying another Omni pro 220 last Fall on a big Harbor Freight sale. So I have a Omni pro again. I really like it, never had a problem with any of my Vulcan welders so far. The funny thing is my friends Miller in the video actually failed within the first year of him buying it, it took sending his Miller back for repairs 3 times in a 6 month span before Miller actually fixed it right.
I was wondering how the 6010 runs on this machine.
I seen another review and he said it doesn't work that well looking war machine that can handle 6010 + 7018
How much did everyone pay for their OmniPro 220? They seem to be going up.
I paid $750 for my Omnipro 220 but this was just after they first came out, I think it was a introduction price to get people to try them out, after a few months or good reviews Harbor Freight started upping the price, I think $950 is what they sell for now. Once in a while they go on sale for a little less, but I don’t think they will ever sell for $750 again. Ps keep an eye out at there parking lot sales, you can find them returned, gently used for much cheaper, but there’s only a 5 day return on them and no extra warranty available. Take care
I paid under $700 with Ct sales tax 2 yrs ago. What I have used it, I like 👍 it !! Plus I got a 20% coupon to purchase accessories which HF allowed me to hold onto until it was tattered from being in my wallet 😉
I paid $850 a month ago but I had a coupon. It is around $980 without coupon.
$350, I think $375 in 1 case.
Got one today and they 1,150 to 1,250 in store.
Hi Mike, how are you? I am buying a Vulcan welding machine of this model, I would like to know if it works well with a gasoline power generator?
Hello I have never used any of my welders on generators, as long as you have one big enough I don’t see why they wouldn’t run on it.
Here’s a video with more info about this machine you might find useful 👍
ruclips.net/video/uX0jA4258Jw/видео.html
I run mine on a honda EU 7000 is, inverter generator works awesome
I prefer the Bernard centerfire tips.
Thanks
I preffer set up manualy
Best results
Auto is a starting point. Feel free to tweak it.
Could you put a shade on your camera? I have a Vulcan Commander and I think it's great!
So for the Omnipro is there a disadvantage using the low voltage power cable, or can it still do all the same things it would do with the high voltage cable? I just need it for in home use and don’t want to hire an electrician to put a high voltage outlet if I could just use the low voltage cable and it be the same. Thanks!
To answer your question if you run any of these multi voltage welders on 120 volts you are limited on amps, 220 you get the full range of amps out of the machine. Welding on 120 volts you can MiG weld about 1/8” metal, TIG 1/8”, Flux wire weld about 3/16” or maybe 1/4”? and stick weld about the same.
I hope this helps.
Mike festiva ok that’s what I was wondering. I figured you put less volts in and get less volts out but wasn’t sure if you could run all three processes off 120 or if any of them required higher volts to run. Thanks!
Can u give the setting on the omni pro for the dual shield flux wire? Plz
When you talk about dull sheild do you mean flux core and using 25/75 gas?
Yea that’s what dual shield generally refers to. Dual meaning the flux coated wire along with a shielding gas.
Isn't the Vulcan 220 Multiprocess: MIG/TIG/Stick?
Yes, both of these welders are multi process machines. Take care
My 2 cents. Both welded great. Autoset feature looked to be pretty accurate on both machines.
Since the Millers( smaller models) are now inverters and no longer transformer based machined i cannot say its worth double the money. Will either machine last 10 years with moderate use
Yes I think you are right 👍
Thanks for checking out my video.
Many millers have in fact lasted 10 years.
Here's a video of a Vulcan OmniPro 220 welling non-stop for over 10 minutes strait with no shut off, or thermal overload of any kind. Miller and a 20% duty at 150 amps... Hahahaha. Now that's funny. No more Millers for me... or Lincolns.There isn't any American made welders anymore. Its a global market. Nothing wrong with foreign made either as long as its built correctly.
I've had my Vulcan OmniPro 220 for over a year so far and LOVE IT! ZERO ISSUES! ruclips.net/video/-mfXu7InsFA/видео.html
Joeak74 I believe Lincoln had a part with the creation of Vulcan welders. From what I heard.
@@AK74Man87 I also heard that. I that the Vulcan product line is incredible! I would purchase another is a second.
Dam you can weld son.
Thanks :)
Were you running dual shield under Mig Settings? Because my 220 only shows gasless flux settings
I think I just did some practice runs and dialed in the adjustments on 75/25 MIG. It was over 3 years ago so I’m just guessing that’s what I did.
Thats what i did as well was jus wondering, thanks for the response
@@miguelesquivel3586 No problem 🙂👍
Did you get good results?
Amigo que material estabas soldando, aluminio o metal?
Es acero