Testing and giving my thoughts on the very inexpensive, Amico ARC140 stick welder. This welder is only $100 new, and if it works well it could represent a great value.
Thanks for posting this video! I bought this welder and wasn't all that impressed with it so I set it aside and didn't mess with it. After watching your video I went out and swapped the electrodes and it performed better than initially expected. Yes, it a great little machine when wired right.
I thought about making a second video just telling people about that issue so they could get better performance out of this little welder. Glad it helped you out.
Good to know. I was looking into this as a hobby welder, and after watching the review, I wondered if the polarity issue was a one off. Guess not. Knowing that, for the price, I can live with it. Thank you both.
Looks same as one i just got epsept mine is blue and says static ark on the side with CE marks all over it. And to be honest its a quite good little dc welder i repaired my bike exhaust with it yesterday and my rear swing arm just had it dialed down to 30amps and was fine not like the Ac stick welder i have that anything i go near thin mental it just blows holes in but this new dc one is brilliant
My neighbor has a couple different machines in his shop made by that same company and he cant stop bragging about how well they all work for the money . Ive also watched him burn miles of steel without any cus or spit just big smiles after hes done gluing steel together fabricating parts for food trucks.
Thanks for the review! I want to do some basic welding, angle iron, small steel tubing for a trailer and garden tractor adaptors. Will this do the job? Or maybe the cheap harbor freight? Thanks.
This would probably work, just bear in mind the possible issues based on what I found. If you decide to go with something from Harbor Freight, the Titanium Flux 125 is pretty good. The Chicago Electric 90 and 125A flux core welders have AC output and are much more limited.
I didn't contact them about it. I probably should have to see what they would say. I didn't because I have other cables, so it didn't matter much to me. So you know, that same brand of cable has come with several different Chinese welders I've checked out and this was the only one with that issue. Still seems like some crappy quality control practices, but I don't think most will be like that.
I guess for some Q.C. stands for "quickly constructed", and with little to no inspection or testing. Caveat emptor. You didn't say what the current draw was on 120 for this machine. All the cheap stick welders I have tried pop breakers too easily.
Amico has been around long time. I used these in the shipyards back in early 80's. They were top notch back then. Guess they got bought out by cheapskates.
It could be. My first experience with them was $200-ish TIG machine I got from Amazon that had a lot of odd issues. It's a shame when companies go under and the names end up slapped on cheap stuff.
If the welder just has a standard plug on it, then you wouldn't need to use your dryer plug, just a standard plug. Not likely to work off a power strip. Power strips aren't designed for that much power draw.
Yeah it has stander wall plug but won’t run of the wall plug so what would I need to do about that what hook up and cords would I need it’s 110 volt welder
I guess it works some, after you putz with it... but wtf for 100$ whose better? At this range. Get what you pay for. Leads cross labeled, wtf. Smh. Wonder if 200-300 could get you a decent one that runs on 120?
Did you delete your other comment/question? I only ask because I've been having lots of comments lately that show up in my notifications, but don't seem to be there when I try to check. To answer the previous question that only shows up in my notifications, I didn't change anything inside the welder. I simply plugged the work clamp into the dinse connector that is labeled positive, and the stinger cable into the connector labeled negative. This gave me electrode positive, despite the labels on the welder. It's very possible that spending a bit more will get better quality, but it's hard to say for sure. The other Amico I tested did stick weld just a tiny bit better than this one, and it also has specific TIG functions. That one is closer to $300, but it had its share of quirks as well, particularly with TIG. The ESAB 161LTS is far nicer than either of the Amico welders I've tried. Build quality and included accessories are better, and it works and welds fantastic. But that welder is around $500, depending on where you get it. Everlast used to have a couple welders in the $300 range, but I haven't looked at their selection recently. I have another $100-ish welder direct from China to review (it was a bit unique, so I decided to try it out) so we'll see if that's any better. I also have another video I'm working on with this Amico welder, but I've been super busy with work and family lately, so it may take me a while to get that, or any other welding videos done.
@@bigtb1717 thank you so much for the reply and all the info.! I didn't delete anything only changed/corrected some of my spelling issues. I'm looking at a few different machines to get for light repair wor, hobbies, and metal sculpture. I went to school for welding in the 80s, even got certified in arc welding. Anyway, thanks again.
Many of these cheap machines do smell terrible. Something about the plastic/rubber they use, particularly on the welding cables, that just smells awful.
that is NOT H01N2-D. the TÜV label is fake I guess. real TÜV labelled H01N2-D is good quality, the cable shown is really bad, never seen something like that. eww
That's very interesting. I didn't realize that brand of cable was supposed to be something decent. Those identical markings have been on the cables I've gotten with every Amico welder, and one other Chinese welder. This one was the worst quality with the major defect that was simply insulated over, but all of them have insulation that gets soft, deforms and gets loose on the conductor when they warm up. I tested in another video and the insulation melts completely at a fairly low temperature. For an extension cord, whatever. For a welding cable, that's kinda lame.
@@bigtb1717 it is not a specific brand. H01N2-D is just a combination to determine the insulation material, flexibility and usecase for this cable. TÜV is the german Technical Inspection Agency. with a labelling like that the cable SHOULD be more than decent. but everything can and will be faked.
I was hoping the testing was done in front of the camera not off camera. The whole reason I watched the video was to see it in action.
Thanks for sticking with it...helpful outcome
Thanks for posting this video! I bought this welder and wasn't all that impressed with it so I set it aside and didn't mess with it. After watching your video I went out and swapped the electrodes and it performed better than initially expected. Yes, it a great little machine when wired right.
I thought about making a second video just telling people about that issue so they could get better performance out of this little welder. Glad it helped you out.
Good to know. I was looking into this as a hobby welder, and after watching the review, I wondered if the polarity issue was a one off. Guess not. Knowing that, for the price, I can live with it. Thank you both.
My thoughts exactly recycled wire. Lol. My welder is probably the same way. Good thing I use my other cable set up. Good review thanks .👍
Looks same as one i just got epsept mine is blue and says static ark on the side with CE marks all over it. And to be honest its a quite good little dc welder i repaired my bike exhaust with it yesterday and my rear swing arm just had it dialed down to 30amps and was fine not like the Ac stick welder i have that anything i go near thin mental it just blows holes in but this new dc one is brilliant
how did you measure the difference between the display amps and the actual amps output?
interesting quality control i guess lol. i’ve had one for years and it’s been quite the reliable champ for a $99
At least if you buy this unit there are things you need to know. Nice 👍
My neighbor has a couple different machines in his shop made by that same company and he cant stop bragging about how well they all work for the money . Ive also watched him burn miles of steel without any cus or spit just big smiles after hes done gluing steel together fabricating parts for food trucks.
Thanks for the review! I want to do some basic welding, angle iron, small steel tubing for a trailer and garden tractor adaptors. Will this do the job? Or maybe the cheap harbor freight? Thanks.
This would probably work, just bear in mind the possible issues based on what I found. If you decide to go with something from Harbor Freight, the Titanium Flux 125 is pretty good. The Chicago Electric 90 and 125A flux core welders have AC output and are much more limited.
Decent smooth arc quality?
The one I got is stick only handles1/8in rods welds up 1 /4 in just fine
Thanks for the video. Looks like they changed the color to black and corrected the +/- label issue.
Price at HomeDepot now is $111.49
I just bought one and it was that price out the door with a 2 year warranty
Nice video
Thanks bigtb1717 :-)
I got something similar to that Chinese made but it runs on dual volts 110 or 220
Sunglasses build around a beer bottle opener. Nice :)
WOW. I wanted one until I saw the wiring. I'd be curious to know if you contacted Amico about it and if they responded , what they had to say.
I didn't contact them about it. I probably should have to see what they would say. I didn't because I have other cables, so it didn't matter much to me. So you know, that same brand of cable has come with several different Chinese welders I've checked out and this was the only one with that issue. Still seems like some crappy quality control practices, but I don't think most will be like that.
@@bigtb1717 Thanks. Hopefully they made changes since then. I see the current line LOOKS different.-John
I guess for some Q.C. stands for "quickly constructed", and with little to no inspection or testing. Caveat emptor. You didn't say what the current draw was on 120 for this machine. All the cheap stick welders I have tried pop breakers too easily.
Amico has been around long time. I used these in the shipyards back in early 80's. They were top notch back then. Guess they got bought out by cheapskates.
It could be. My first experience with them was $200-ish TIG machine I got from Amazon that had a lot of odd issues. It's a shame when companies go under and the names end up slapped on cheap stuff.
Amico is based in America but made in china. Great little welders
Can you change the welding lead out
Yes, you could get different leads.
When a company doesn't have a quality control agent working they can sell you their product for supper cheap.
Yeah I have questions what kind extension core do I need for my welder it only has regular house plug on it and don’t work on house plugs out side
You just want a large gauge cord. I'd recommend a 12AWG cord and use the shortest one you can. Longer cords will result in more voltage drop.
Ok well I only have only dryer hook up in my house that do I still need get 50 volt core and make it fit the dryer plug or what
Or would it work off power strip
If the welder just has a standard plug on it, then you wouldn't need to use your dryer plug, just a standard plug. Not likely to work off a power strip. Power strips aren't designed for that much power draw.
Yeah it has stander wall plug but won’t run of the wall plug so what would I need to do about that what hook up and cords would I need it’s 110 volt welder
My work clamp cable did not have a hump in it
I'm sure they aren't all like this. I was just surprised by what they will allow through the manufacturing process of these cables.
can a tig torch be added to this welder
Yes but it will be scratch start
Wym by a scratch start?
I guess it works some, after you putz with it... but wtf for 100$ whose better? At this range. Get what you pay for. Leads cross labeled, wtf. Smh.
Wonder if 200-300 could get you a decent one that runs on 120?
Did you delete your other comment/question? I only ask because I've been having lots of comments lately that show up in my notifications, but don't seem to be there when I try to check. To answer the previous question that only shows up in my notifications, I didn't change anything inside the welder. I simply plugged the work clamp into the dinse connector that is labeled positive, and the stinger cable into the connector labeled negative. This gave me electrode positive, despite the labels on the welder.
It's very possible that spending a bit more will get better quality, but it's hard to say for sure. The other Amico I tested did stick weld just a tiny bit better than this one, and it also has specific TIG functions. That one is closer to $300, but it had its share of quirks as well, particularly with TIG.
The ESAB 161LTS is far nicer than either of the Amico welders I've tried. Build quality and included accessories are better, and it works and welds fantastic. But that welder is around $500, depending on where you get it.
Everlast used to have a couple welders in the $300 range, but I haven't looked at their selection recently.
I have another $100-ish welder direct from China to review (it was a bit unique, so I decided to try it out) so we'll see if that's any better. I also have another video I'm working on with this Amico welder, but I've been super busy with work and family lately, so it may take me a while to get that, or any other welding videos done.
@@bigtb1717 thank you so much for the reply and all the info.! I didn't delete anything only changed/corrected some of my spelling issues. I'm looking at a few different machines to get for light repair wor, hobbies, and metal sculpture. I went to school for welding in the 80s, even got certified in arc welding. Anyway, thanks again.
Did it smell like a turd?
Many of these cheap machines do smell terrible. Something about the plastic/rubber they use, particularly on the welding cables, that just smells awful.
Just be careful pal some of these Chinese welders dont have a earth' with them so what ive heard on here anyway
my god, what a mess!
Yes gotter have quality electrodes with them not the cheap ones otherwise your welds will look like pigeon shit lol
that is NOT H01N2-D. the TÜV label is fake I guess. real TÜV labelled H01N2-D is good quality, the cable shown is really bad, never seen something like that. eww
That's very interesting. I didn't realize that brand of cable was supposed to be something decent. Those identical markings have been on the cables I've gotten with every Amico welder, and one other Chinese welder. This one was the worst quality with the major defect that was simply insulated over, but all of them have insulation that gets soft, deforms and gets loose on the conductor when they warm up. I tested in another video and the insulation melts completely at a fairly low temperature. For an extension cord, whatever. For a welding cable, that's kinda lame.
@@bigtb1717 it is not a specific brand. H01N2-D is just a combination to determine the insulation material, flexibility and usecase for this cable. TÜV is the german Technical Inspection Agency. with a labelling like that the cable SHOULD be more than decent. but everything can and will be faked.
Not a $100 anymore