How sure are you? Sounds unlikely.

Every home has 220. He must mean that he does not have it wired in a convenient location.

George

mb911,
Thanks. I understand now. I didn't know that before.

dad911,
thanks dad911. So my comments are only correct with Harbor Freight' srules than.

aigel,
Yes I got a lot of bubbles and little metal balls around the area. Actually, I offered to create a fence for my dad's front yard but after looking at my welding results, he said "no, thanks".
The Lincoln weld pack 100 was the one I looked at Home Depot yesterday. I didn't think I will buy another similar welder again so I just looked and walked.
Are you saying the Lincoln weld pack 100 is simply better? The problem I have with this Chicago MIG 100 welder is that the weld could sometimes melt nicely at some points, but not at other points. Meaning sometimes it comes out nice, sometimes it doesn't. Will I experience this with all flux core welders, or is it because this machine is a BOS and the Lincoln weld pack 100 won'tdo that? I know it'll be "supper" with gas but will the Lincohn 100 be acceptable with flux core, knowing the MIG100 is a BOS.

PBH,
umm... If you ask me have I tried all the outlets at home. Yes, I know all the outlets in the house. But if I have to do some wiring, etc, then no I am not sure.

If you've got an electric dryer, it runs off 220V.

If you don't have a 220V outlet, you'd have to add a breaker in your panel and run wiring.

Even if you have all gas appliances, most homes still have a receptacle behind the range as an option.

note: you would have to downsize the breaker in the panel from the 40/50 amp breaker to a 30 amp breaker. The wiring would be oversized for the load but would be fine.

Thanks all for opinion and point me to the right direction. Fianlly I had to return the MIG100 even though the price is so good, much cheaper than the Lincoln weld Pak 100.

aigel,
I finally bought a Lincoln Weld Pak 100, and some kit for gas now I gotta figure out how to put them together. I also bought a small tank with full Argon from this guy and he said that Argon is for aluminum only. Now, I found that there are many types of gas: Argon, CO2, CO5, etc for different types of metal. At the beginning, I keep saying gas because I thought there is only one type of gas to hook into the MIG machine to make the weld smoother/nicer. Now I have to reseach some more to understand what type of gas I need and how to put things together :(

you need 75% argon 25% co2 this works best for your needs

I agree. I also have a Lincoln 100 and this setup with .030 or .023 wire will do what you need. I don't think I would try to weld 1/4" or over though.

mb911, wrecktech,
Thank you for the info. I will ask several more questions. Hopefully they are not too annoyed.
1- What kind of metal do this mixture (75% argon 25% co2) work for or is it for all kinds of metal, either mild steel, steel, or aluminum? Or do I need different type of gas for different type of metal?

2- I have a bottle of "Argon compressed". I guess it is Argon concentraded. What can I use it for? The seller told me it is for aluminum only. Is it true?

3- After I converted to gas (I have not installed the gas kit yet), if I want to weld without gas, do I have to convert it back, or can I just turn off the gas bottle? Will the weld quality the same as now (before convert). The reason I ask this question is because if I weld something simple for home use, I would want to spend $$ on the gas. Without gas, it look ok (I tried it today). The bottle I bought is only around a gallon only and the seller told me it cost $85 buck to refill with Argon. I know the bottle alone cost over $100+ bucks.

I made several welds today and wow, the world diferent. The Lincoln 100 gave me much much better welds compare to the Chicago MIG 100, much easier to weld too, even though the 2 machines are having the same specifications.

Again, thanks all for "pushing" me toward the Lincoln.

1/2. You need the pure Argon for Aluminum, there are a lot of different gasses for welding steel from CO2 to Argon/CO2 mixes. 75/25 will be fine for you.

3. With flux core wire you just leave the gas bottle turned off. But read the wire specs, some wires can be used with or without gas, and you might get better results leaving the gas on.