Took my Titanium 170 MIG back

Gary Fowler

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It developed erratic wire feed. It would hesitate before starting and burn the wire right back to the tip before starting to feed then when the trigger was released it would continue feeding at least 8" of wire before it stopped. I swapped it for a Vulcan 140 MIG and didnt realize that it was only 120v before I got it home. Got to go back Wednesday and try to get a Vulcan 215, theydidnt have a 215 in stock today so that is why I got the 140. I guess I will see how it does compared to the 170.
 

California

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Dang, So HF stuff is still 'Some Assembly Required" meaning the customer is responsible for final QC testing.

Is there a relay in there that could be sticking?
 

Gary Fowler

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I have no idea and wasnt about to open it up while under the 90 day full warranty. I dont think it was a relay sticking though, I could trigger it quickly and release and it would not feed 8" of wire. My Titanium 125 works well and stops immediately when the trigger is released.
 

Gary Fowler

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Every machine has it quirks. I set up the Vulcan 140 and thought sure I had another problem. It has a cold feed switch that runs the wire without energizing the gun. It would feed rapidly but when I pressed the gun trigger it just creeped out at maybe 2" in 5 seconds. I went ahead and tried it and it speeded up nicely when the arc was struck but even on max wire feed and max amps it still is much slower than my Titanium 125. I boxed it back up nicely and will swap it for the 215 when one comes in.
 

Gary Fowler

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Anyone with a HF Vulcan 215? I would love to hear about your experience and recommendation if any.
 

Gary Fowler

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Well no takers on the 215 so today I went shopping at HF and low and behold, the only 215 they had was already sold(prepaid by someone). I thought about it a minute and then went looking at what they had in stock. They did have the very expensive ($999) OMNI PRO 220 in stock so I forked over another $450 after trading back the Vulcan 140 and extra 180 Mig gun. I HAVE SEEN very good reviews on this machine used by professionals so we will see how it does.

Yesterday I needed to weld up some thin sheet metal and had to use my Titanium 125 since everything else has been either returned or in for repair.

I originally decided against getting a spool gun but went back and got the 160 amp spool gun and a couple spools of aluminum wire so my shop will be able to do complete welding service like my sign says.
Next I am going to do a little advertising of my services. I was talking to a guy in the hardware store and he said several people came in last week looking for a welding service.
I am going to have some business cards printed up also to place around town with my address and phone number. This might work out to a little bit of extra income and keep me working which helps me control my diabetes.

More to come later
 

Gary Fowler

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Well I will close this thread out. I posted another on my replacement machine, a Vulcan Omni Pro 220. I was a bit leery of another Titanium even though my 125 FCAW is a champion for its size.
 
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