Customer Reviews

Hobart 500550 Auto Arc 130 Wire Feed MIG Welding Kit

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I did a little research before purchasing this welder. Turns out it is made in America by Hobart- Miller( even though neither name appears on the welder). There is little difference between the Hobart and Miller products and this one, it is apparently made on the same production line. The machine performs just as a 110 volt welder should. The included helmet is functional but you definitely need an upgrade. The cart is not optimum but with the new welder I modified it to work just fine. I received an adjustable Hobart regulator rather than the fixed one, but either will work well. This welder has an eight foot cable rather than the usual ten foot, but rather than pay the additional cost I am happy to move the welder closer. I am very happy with this machine and as long as you do not need a 220v machine this is a great one at a reasonable price.

This is an excellent deal on a quality homeowner welder. The gas kit is a good thing to have, but the helmet and especially the cart are of dubious value. The cart is just too low and dinky. The included helmet is fine for an extra, but too dark to use inside. I'll save it to allow someone who wants to observe use.
The welder itself is made by Miller/Hobart, and is made in the U.S.A. It is high-powered for a 130 amp model. I feel this is a very conservative rating. The welder comes ready to weld with fluxcore wire. The cart has space for and a safety chain for tank. I thing an 80 cu. ft. tank will fix nicely. I'll probably alter the cart and add another shelf above the two that are there. The regulator is another U.S.A. product and seems to be of great quality. It also comes with additional .030 contact tips and a nozzle. The gun is rather short at 8'. I am happy with my purchase.

My neighbor has a Lincoln welder the same size and this one blows it away. He is jealous. Everything worked straight out of the box. It came with a better regulator than the one that was advertised. The only things that I changed was I put better screws in the cart and a larger ground clamp. The one that came with was too small for 1 1/2 tubing. Tractor Supply is close by so getting parts is easy, they carry HOBART.

The cart is designed poorly - no tilt from front to rear and the wheels on the front are way too small. Solved the problem by mounting larger swivel wheels on the front, thus making it easier to move around and getting enough tilt to satisfy me. Then I drilled out all the self tapping holes in the frame and bolted the cart together because the self tapping screws strip out when you try to drive them in and even after getting a couple in, the unit was loose. Had to drill by hand as the shape of the curved bars did not let me put it on my drill press (perhaps Hobart expects us to welding together the cart as the first use of the new machine). Mounted a cord holder on the front for both cables and to give me a handle of sorts for positioning the unit. The machine slides all over the shelf because they are just plastic feet on smooth painted metal instead of medium hard rubber that would make it "stick" in place. Put down some semi sticky tool tray liner so it would stay put. The welder side door to access the wire feed and +/- posts doesn't have a latch and is capable of rattling and flapping around. Solved this with a combination of magnetic strips and a small plastic slide-latch I screwed into the side of the plastic face. Now the door will stay put. With the cables on a front holder, the bottom shelf can now hold helmet, gloves, tools, wire and a small container for for tips etc. So, a couple of $$$ & hours of modification got it right. The helmet could not be cheaper - only good for a back-up or occasional second person - really disappointed in this part of the kit. Now I am ready to weld and since this is a re-branded MillerMatic 130 (when I registered it on the Hobart WEB site it actually refers to it as a MillerMatic130)I expect no further issues. Perhaps it has been dumbed down a bit. I just hope this is not the case on the essential guts of the machine - particularly the wire feed unit. Although this machine is Miller/Hobart at heart and branded as AutoArc, they certainly built this kit with a $399.19 price point in mind, which was a considerable part of my decision to purchase it. I will post my actual work experience next and if it performs like a MillerMatic 130 I will be satisfied with my decision.

great buy for the price.hooked it up with the flux wire and works good on 1/8 inch good but not the thinner stuff.bought a bottle of gas 75-25 and wow this thing will weld anything.

I bought this from Amazon warehouse deals for $344 overnighted to my house.

A+ for amazon.

got it out of the box, immediately spent 20 minutes putting the car together.. its a cart. nothing special, but I havent had any problems it it at all. if it gets wobbly later, I will just weld it all together.

moving on to the welder its self, the unit is superbly sturdy and looks nice. the included wire is flux core which I deem the anti-christ and would only use on out-door or other not important welds. I immedeately went to my local welding supply store, got a spool of .030 alloy steel wire and a cylinder of Argon CO2 mix, popped on a new groung clamp and tested it out on some spare 1/8" steel.

the welds are BEAUTIFUL. this unit honestly does the job as well as by friend's Handler 140. the machine has plenty of power to penetrate 1/8" steel and get a nice, consistent weld.

I welded a but joint 8" and the machine, even at the highest amperage, didn't take a break. the duty cycle is how you know its a great welder, those Miller internals do the job beautifully.

the included regulator is fixed flow, but I actually prefer that, hate messing about with stuff that isn't necessary!

at any rate, the unit is superb by all accounts and is the best 110V welder I have used to date.

only tip I have is buy an auto-dimming welding helmet, best investment second to buying a good quality welder.

This welder works great. It is good for small to medium sise jobs. If you are not an experianced welder this will work great also. It is easy to setup and the settings are easy to understand.

this welder was a great buy, it is just an awesome unit. 24ga to 3/16 welds great with or without shielding gas. made in the usa by a well known manufacturer HOBART. i bought it for sheet metal work using the shielding gas its just awesome, i cant say enough about it top quality at just an unbelievable price. these were manufactured to compete with the imports in the same class, it just blows them away no comparison.

I bought this welding kit for my son for his birthday. He is taking welding in high school tech. He loves it, it a great starter kit at a great price. The first thing he did was weld the cart together, there are acouple projects around the house that he is looking forward to doing. he is now able to practice his welding at home and improve his skills in mig and flux core. I consider it a great investment.

This is a great little 110 volt welder. it is very easy to set up and the guide chart on the in side of the cover is simple and easy to follow. I had this little unit up and running with in 15 minuets after opening it and assembling the cart. I also bought a spool adapter so now I can use a 10 lb spool of wire. I have welded everything from 24 ga sheet metal, exhaust pipe, to 1/2" plate. I haven't tried stainless yet. This welder has saved me a lot of money and has performed flawlessly, plus its made in the U.S.A., unfortunately the non-adjustable regulator was made in china, but has worked fine.