About to pull the trigger on buying a welder..., What do you guys think of this one? Options

[914_1.8t]

http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/handler140.html

These are going for 440 ish shipped on ebay. Almost ready to pull the trigger on the purchase.

Can you more experienced folks let me know what they think about this welder? Anyone used it? Can I get something comperable/better for the cheaper/or around the same price(dont want spend more than 450)?

[914_1.8t]

QUOTE (tnorthern @ Apr 21 2005, 11:19 AM)

Adding 220 to your garage isn't too hard assuming you have a little eletrical know how first. It is basically a plug and play deal in your breaker box. If you turn off your main power supply (should be one big switch in it's own box) and then open up your breaker box and pull the metal cover, covering the main electrical conduits you will see how a breaker spans the two conduits and has your wire connected to it. Just add a 220 breaker and wire it out the box like all the other wires and then into some hard conduit through the garage wall to your plug. All that being said I know that this is well within my skills, if you are at all not sure, DON'T DO IT! A welder isn't much good for putting out electrical fires...

Only problem is my garage is carpeted (outdorr patio carpet, the washable stuff) and I'm kind of using it a a game room....so no welding in there, can only use the side of the house.

If I go with 220, my best bet would be to either figure out how to use the wiring for the A/C or run some wiring and an exrremely long extension cord from the garage when I need to weld.