Hobart Handler 140 MIG welder review

Received the Hobart Handler 140 MIG welder for Christmas, and have recently had the time and the projects to begin to use it.

First a little history on why I chose this welder.  I looked around through a lot of different products and for a home welder I was really looking for a couple of things.  1) MIG Welder,  2) Small, portable,  3) powers off 110V plug  4) was probably going to do more sheet metal type welding than building a skyscraper type construction, so lower voltage and amperage was better for me

I really narrowed the list down to the Miller 140 welder.  It fit all the requirements and of the units I have used before  (none of them my own) I liked the Miller products.  Problem is it was not that cheap in the grand scheme of things and since I am starting up here, I have a lot of accessories to buy.  Gas Tank, helmet, clamps, supplies etc

After some research I come across the fact that Hobart and Miller were the same company and that Hobart was just more of a lower end line than Miller.  I spent time looking at owners manuals and comparing the two units and while there are some features I loose with the Hobart, for a reasonably priced welder for a home shop I thought it fit the bill perfect.

This is not the first welder I have ever used, but it was the first one I have ever taken out of the box from scratch and put together.  The instructions weren't bad, not like a harbor freight product or anything, but there were some things I had to deduce what it is that they wanted me to do in order to make it all happen.  But all the pieces came together well.  The unit was packed well in the box and I was able to assemble the rolling stand, unit, gun, etc in about an hour.  Not bad in my book

I have done both flux wire (gas-less) and solid wire (gas) welding with it and I think it has done well.  The welding issues I had were all between the keyboard and the chair.  The chart in the manual that gives you initial settings for the Voltage and Wire Speed adjustments gave me a good place to start and I was able to adjust from there.

I had no trouble putting the unit in my truck and taking it to work to do the work I needed to do there and bringing it back home.  Also had no issues with the power since it runs on a regular 110V plug.

I give the product itself 4 stars and would recommend it to any home welder

DD