Hobart500553 Handler 210 MVP MIG Welder - Empower Your Welding with Precision and Power Small

This is a nice "concentrated" type of compact welder..... that is a good thing for most folks. It is not a light weight unit with little going on inside of it.The one question that I personally wondered about was if the dual voltage would be worth the extra money over just buying the lighter single voltage unit. Now that I am using it, I think that I will indeed get some use out of the convenience of the 120VAC input. But do be aware, and know, that when using the 120VAC input you will NOT be able to do any heavier welding or aluminum welding unless it is paper thin materials. Aluminum sucks all the heat away so fast that much higher currents and voltages are required than with steel. I put it up on voltage levels 6 & 7 and ran two beads of about 1.5 inches long at 30% wire feed speed..... it tripped a 20 amp single pole Square D breaker immediately. Biut, that is exactly what one should expect to happen, right? Also, Square D is one of the best made and most sensitive breakers on the market so if you have an old GE panel or a Cuttler you may get away with more. (Just a not from a Journeyman Electrician for over 30 years now: the breaker protects the wiring within your walls.... prevents fires, so if it trips there is a reason and do not merely reset and go on. These are thermally triggered so need time to cool down or a wiring fire might result.)This machine has some great engineering in merely the packaging, let alone the rest of the machine! It is well packed and should get to you without any problem. The assembly of it is easier than many and should present ZERO trouble for anyone..... the instructions are excellent.... but what else would one expect from a USA made machine?? To say it is "Made in USA" at least the majority of the unit must be assembled from USA made parts as well as labor - I was glad to buy USA and support my fellow workers.This machine has a novel way of swapping the wire drive wheels too! Just push it in, turn 90* and slip it out, turn it over and slip it back in and it is ready to go: no screws or tools needed at all. The stinger is quite good for the size and price of the machine..... oh yeh, like some commented, the trigger is pretty easily tripped, but most of us do not use the big heavy leather guanlets with a buz box because they are not as hot and do not present such problems to require such heavy gloves. I just used some good medium duty leather gloves and the switch was ZERO problems at all.... at least it was zero for me.Would I buy this again? Yes I would, and I think that if you want a slightly larger/heavier unit with greater capacity than the smaller units, this might be just what you are looking for. Hobart has a very good warrantee, and that too is a bonus. Buy with confidence. Enjoy.

MVP, not Most Valuable Player, but Multi Voltage Plug! This allows you to weld utilizing a 240V outlet in your workshop, or the standard 120V outlet found almost anywhere else!I am only aware of Miller Welders that have this feature as well. I upgraded from a Hobart Handler 187 up to this unit because of the higher capacity, MVP, and the SpoolRunner. The Handler 187 can use a spool gun (to weld aluminum), but you need to purchase the expensive Miller spool gun controller and the spool gun itself (need to spend at least $500 to weld aluminum), whereas this unit already has the spool gun controller built in. The SpoolRunner 100 costs about $200.This unit is very heavy. About 70-80 lbs, so being portable is a frame of reference. It could be light for some people, but heavy for others. You need a good welding cart to hold this puppy!The MVP is super easy to use! No switches to fumble up. Just replace the plug on the end of the cord and you're ready to weld at whichever voltage you choose.There are 7 different voltage settings, and an infinite wire-speed control. There is a welding chart on the inside of the door (to change the welding wire), so you can easily set the voltage and wire-speed.It has a super powerful fan in the unit to help cool it down as you weld. Sometimes the loud noise gets annoying. But it's understandable, as the welding process produces a lot of heat within the transformer in the unit.My only complaint with this welder (along with my Handler 187) is the trigger for the MIG gun is too soft. If you have the welder on and you bump the trigger, the MIG wire will feed. It gets annoying after a while. I think I will need to figure out how to put a stiffer spring in the MIG gun. But, still, I will rate this product with 5 stars.

I usually TIG weld aluminum, but I wanted to weld thicker/larger pieces faster. To MIG weld aluminum requires spray transfer, and 200 amps is about the bottom end for thicker pieces. The Hobart 210 MVP with the addition of the SpoolRunner 100 spool gun welds 1/4 inch aluminum like lightning! I can weld in a 1/4 of the time of TIG. No stack of dimes look, but nice smooth fully penetrated welds.The MVP 110/220v feature makes this a good light duty flux-core field welder also (although it does weigh 75 lbs, so I wouldn't want to hand-carry it daily). For occational field welding, I throw it in the truck and go! (140 amps at 110v, 210 amps at 220v).Now I can use my TIG for what it's best at, heat control on thin material.I also contemplated buying the Miller 211 MVP with Autoset. I tried the Autoset feature at the local college on two seperate Miller 210's, and was unimpressed. Ended up just simply setting the volts and wire-speed manually. The Miller does have the better continuously variable voltage select vs the Hobart 7 position voltage tap switch. Not a problem for me as 7 taps is more than enough to dial in the sweet spot. They both are quality american made machines. The main pluses for me are the Hobart is somewhat smaller and less expensive. I purchased a new cart and a 125cf cylinder with the cost difference and still had change left over.BTW, If your looking for an indstrial/commercial welder with a long duty cycle, look elswhere. Both the miller 211 and Hobart 210 have limited duty cycles. But for their intended purpose and for their price, they are both top notch.UPDATE: Its been over a year now, and this thing is a dream to use. It welds with a smooth frying bacon sound and it lays perfect beads on steel. I actually now prefer the 7 voltage taps vs the continuously variable voltage control on other MIG's because I seem to find the sweet spot quicker.Highly recommended