This New Harbor Freight Welder Is Not Happy. Vulcan MigMax 215

Nate, you have it on "auto" mode. If you look at that little knob in the middle labelled "wire diameter", you have it at ".035". You need to turn it to "Manual" mode in order to manually select wire speed and material thickness. You'll notice that there are two colors on the material thickness knob. The orange color is auto mode and the white color is manual mode. Putting it into "manual" mode activates both knobs. I ran into this same problem and thought the machine was broken. But once I realized my mistake, it explained it's awkward behavior.

I have been welding all my projects with a HF level of quality of a welder for years I found what really helped my machine with consistency was upgrading the ground wire to a bigger better wire and clamp

Hey Nate: try a Lincoln gun (if you have one) on the Vulcan. The stock gun is only 180A on a 215A machine and struggles with higher outputs. It’s standard tweco connectors, so should be able to use any gun. After upgrading mine, thicker metal was easier. Still not Miller, but better.

You have no idea how much time you saved the community by testing with your professional skills. Can you imagine a rookie trying to work his/her way up to 3/8 and experiencing the problems you did? You were able to instantly dismiss it as "the machines simply isn't happy" whereas a NOOB would spend days trying to figure out what they are doing wrong. Thanks for taking the time to show up the sweet spots, as well as the weaknesses!

These Comparison and Testing Videos are Fantastic! I lile the fact that you Use machines like this on a regular basis. The fabrication and builds that you do are diverse enough to get a good idea how machines and tools are working for you, Which in Turn, Helps us on our own projects! Excellent!

I have an Eastwood mig 180, and so far I’ve been happy with it, although I haven’t tried to push it past or to it’s “limit…” gonna have to go pick up some thicker steel to see how it likes it

We needed to buy a new welder at work and my boss wanted to cheap out on a multiprocess machine. Thankfully I was able to talk him into the exact miller machine you have! What a wonderful machine!

I have a Vulcan OmniPro 220. Haven’t done much over 1/4, but I’ve found it to work well on 1/8, 16gauge, and auto body sheet metal work, which is the majority of what I do. I think it’s definitely a good value for a hobbyist and the easy to find consumables are nice.

I value your reviews because they are a No Holds Barred opinion after extensive use. Thanx for the Content

Perfect timing. Just had a small repair done at an old buddy's shop. He sucked me in. I think I could use a tech class, but I've got my open invite back. Oh, you do such nice work!

Agree. I had a Miller and absolutely loved it.

Really want to learn to weld!! Just went through brain surgery a year ago so hopefully this summer I'll be 100%. Love watching your videos!

I bought one of these back in Nov. of 22'. So far, I have only used it to begin boxing my frame (3/16") and so far it seems good. I do run Lincoln wire in it. However, I will soon be building a steering box mount out of 3/8" so we'll see how it does.

Awesome video! I’ve been looking at this Vulcan and wanting to buy it. It’ll be my first mig welder. Seems like it’s a decent option for a first timer. Thanks Nate!

Thank so much, for all the videos and sharing your knowledge and experiences.

Never had that issue with my Vulcan welder, plus I immediately upgraded the ground clamp. For the type of welding I do

I like the idea of sticking with the box store style welder theme. Personally I think a Hobart like you'd find at a local Tractor Supply would be nice to see tested. Here in the northeast, Harbor Freights are just starting to turn up but tractor supply is almost as common as a Walmart. Thanks

I bought a weldpro 200 amp multiprocess welder off Amazon and to me it works great. This is my first welder and I haven't welded thick material. It would be cool to see something like an Amazon welder tested

I feel like it’s a great comparison and someone mentioned the torch and they are 100% correct if you replace the torch it makes a huge difference in my opinion. But at the same time your paying less than 1k for the welder and in my opinion that’s a great welder for the price. It hangs with the best until you push it to the max and that’s ok in my book.

Loved the video. I purchased a Lincoln 140 from Home Depot during the pandemic. I taught myself to weld during my time off work. I already regret not buying a bigger welder. I was looking at Harbor Fright welders. I am on a budget and I need to get my wife on board with buying a new welder already. I was hoping you would be 100 percent pleased with the Harbor Fright welder. I will still be considering the HF welder. I don’t weld as much as you do. Thank you!!