YESWELDER MIG-250 PRO Aluminum MIG Welder, 250Amp 220V Advanced Digital Display, MIG/Pulsed MIG/Flux Core/Spool Gun MIG/Lift TIG/Stick 6-In-1 Multiprocess Welding Machine, Spool Gun Compatible

I am no professional welder, but I am an experienced engineer. Some decades ago I used a cheap stick welder on cars. Now with the 135 amp FCAW or "MIG" welder it is much easier on thin metal. The machine is much smaller and not as heavy, which I do also appreciate. I checked the output voltage and all looked fine. Then I tried it on a small piece of a metal stand for a fan - see picture after I painted it. It worked pretty good. Now it is stable to carry the fan. So the machine paid itself already half off because we do not need to buy a new fan.Here's a trick for thin metal sheets less than 1 mm: To only do sort of a spot weld and not burning holes into the thin metal the wire feed is way too fast. So to spot weld just leave the wire hang out of the nozzle long enough for a few spots and disengage the wire feeder by pulling off the wheel on top of the feeder. That way it won't feed when you press the gun button but it will weld when you hit the work piece with the wire hanging out of the gun. If you need more wire you can either engage the feed again or do it by hand until you get more wire out of the nozzle.Another option is to clamp a piece of wire with the stick welding clamp and use that instead of a welding stick. Just make sure it has the right polarity for MIG welding. Or you could even try to reverse polarity if that works better.The welding machine works fine and I do also like that it has a protection cover over the display and control knobs. Because sooner or later some sparks will hit the machine. What I usually do before I put it back to storage is to pull the wire back by hand into the machine. That way I have no loss of wire and I can disconnect the MIG gun and store it safely.The manual is pretty good, too. Not always the case with those cheap Eastern tools.What I did not test yet is the stick welding and the TIG welding. Stick welding should be fine though. It's much more simple than the FCAW welding and needs no feed. I am not sure if I will ever use TIG welding. I do only small DIY jobs around our home, nothing fancy or huge. A broken leg here and there or a frame part of a generator, swing, etc.Time will tell if the machine is reliable and should I run into problems I'll update my review.Update 9/29/2023:Now I welded a broken frame part of a canopy of a swing. It came apart after wind damage. First kinda "spot" welded then doing the "mig" flux core with the feed over it. Worked out just fine again. Although it was difficult to weld around the holes where the screw goes through. See pics before and after painting. It's also very thin metal. A little less than 1 mm. When using the MIG with about 40 amps and feed there was a lot of build up of metal, so I had to grind that off. Still stable and sturdy, so it has penetrated the frame enough.No issues with the welding machine so far. Did not check the higher amps over 90 yet, but I will probably not need it anyway. Those higher amps are for thicker material like 1/4 an inch or so. I have not many things here which are that thick and need to be welded. It would probably trip my 20 amp breaker anyways after some time. It says on the machine it needs 54 amps for that high of a setting.What I checked was the stick welding, just with the flux wire clamped in and two wires in parallel. That worked as well for the "spot" welding and clamping those 2 pieces of the frame together.In regards to suggest what welder to buy for just DIY small projects people: Forget the higher amps welders. They are more expensive, but not necessarily better for tiny jobs. Higher amps are for very thick metal. Good for pipeline welders or other professional jobs with HD jobs. But for tiny projects it's overkill. All you probably need is 100 amps max and for the most part with thin sheet metal 30-60 amps. Even then it needs some tricks to not burn holes into it. You can also try to use the mig wire to cut off a piece and hold it over small gaps and then weld it with the mig mode. That way you've got a thicker piece together to weld and the gap may be welded over easier. It's no rocket science, it's just hot metal melting and trying to get it back melted together. Whatever works, works!Quick Update 7/12/2024:Regarding the welds above they are still holding strong - no bending or weakness after almost a year. The swing frame outside and also the fan stand.

The media could not be loaded. This little welder is a powerhouse man... I'm using it in flux core flavor at the moment as I don't own any argon tanks... Yet. And with just the Flux core wire this thing beats my old harbor freight unit out of the water. Not even halfway turned up. Running on 110 volt. This thing will burn a bead into a 3/16 plate like nothing. I could only imagine what this thing would do if I hooked it up to 220 volts... It also came with an extra liner for the mig gun so that you can run aluminum wire through the mig gun assuming you have your argon tank hooked up. It did also come with the gas line and the stick welder attachment. The duty cycle isn't as high as a millermatic would be, but that's to be expected at the price difference. So my best practice is to turn it on weld for a couple minutes. Let it run for the equal amount of time with no welding. Just the fan going. But I will tell you the fam that is in this thing pulls some serious airflow so I don't think it'll ever overheat itself with homeowner use. I don't know that I would use this in an industrial setting unless you were going to be stitch welding with it. Using it is really easy. It comes with a nice sheet that helps newer welders understand the voltage and speed of wire feed for a given thickness of material. It seems to weld very quickly and it's small enough that you could carry it around the shop if you don't have a welding cart. The ground clamp that it comes with is a little on the small side, but both sides of the clamp do have ground which is very nice and something you don't often see in the lower priced machines. The mig torch itself feels of good quality. Obviously nowhere near a Snap-On or millermatic but much much better than anything you would get from harbor freight excluding maybe their new higher end line. With the right settings and the right technique, it lays down. Very nice beads and even when I have my friends that have no welding experience use the machine they can also put down. Not terrible beads. LOL I also oddly enough. Really like the clear cover that covers the controls. I didn't think I would really care for that, but it is a much appreciated little detail that they put on the welder. Overall, for the cost, it's a fantastic welder and you can't go wrong. And while I haven't done any very extensive welding with it, I am 100% confident that it can handle everything. I will throw at it and the foreseeable future.

Verry happy with my purchase. This is my third Yes welder product. Previously I got a less powerful mig and one of there plasma cutters. This unit has been worth every penny. I make my living creating steel sculptures out of reclaimed material. Nothing really big. Yet.... I mention this because in this type of work the synergistic setting is a load off my shoulders. My only two tiny issues are. The display is awesome, in the shop. Out side in the sun after being under a welding hood. It's difficult to see. Second the fan runs constantly I get it, heat is not our friend. But it is quite loud. .. It's not until I kill the power that i realize iv been yelling out loud to my self. Not a good look with my neighbor. All in all top marks. If your in to small to medium sized jobs. Automotive ect. Pull the trigger. Solid unit. My old one has been through some regrettable abuse. still works fine. Just needed a little more power so I got thus one.