The 5 Best Arc Welders for 2022 Reviewed

Amico’s Power is the first machine in our review, and it shows quite a lot of promise regarding performance and versatility. It’s sleek, small, and lightweight, making it ideal for daily use. What’s more, it features selectable power inputs – you can switch between 115V, 230V, and 60Hz, and its duty cycle is estimated at 60%.

Amico also provides a set of complementary features with its Power model – you’ll be able to benefit from an electrode holder, a 10-foot cable, a work clamp, and a power adapter. To top it all off, it doesn’t cost much – it belongs to the affordable price point category, and it sports a considerable value for your buck.

Read our full review and find out more.

Here’s yet another marvelous product from Amico – the Tig Welder. TIG stands for tungsten-inert gas. It’s one of the finest non-consumable electrode welding machines that money can buy, boasting 200 amps of pure power and optimized to perform flawless work in the blink of an eye.

This tool is suitable for welding stainless steel, mild steel, cast iron, copper, alloy steel, and chrome; however, if you’re looking to weld aluminum, you should look elsewhere. Just like with our previous pick, Amico provides a vast array of free features, including a 13-foot cable, an electrode holder, and a convenient little work clamp.

Next up is Forney’s Easy Weld arc welder. Sporting 120-volt performance, it’s ideal for light- to medium-duty operations.

Some of the benefits Forney’s model has over similar models within its price range are that it features a small, lightweight design, it can weld nearly all kinds of metal, and it’s TIG capable. The transformer is, however, sold separately.

This little dynamo is pretty inexpensive, easy to handle, and will get the job done, although we recommend Amico’s Power if you’re looking for more versatility.

The Hitbox ARC160A is a powerful, versatile machine – it features a 60Hz input and boasts digital control via MMA stick, VRD, or Lift TIG. Its duty cycle is measured at 60%, and its output power is rated at 160 amps, which is more than enough for medium, possibly even heavy-duty work.

You’ll get an electrode holder as well an earth clamp as complementary features, but that’s not all – even though ARC160A appears as unwieldy, it’s actually pretty small and nearly weightless. Its actual weight is 4.3 kilograms (9.5 pounds), and it’s packing size measures 317mm by 136mm by 268mm.

The last tool in our review is the Lotos Combo Welder – one of the most versatile, powerful, and valuable machines on the market today. Essentially, this is a non-touch plasma cutter with 50 amps of power combined with a TIG welding machine with selectable power in the range between 15 and 200 amps.  It’s also a Stick welder with the same amount of selectable power.

For a 3-in-1 machine, it’s only normal that the Lotos costs quite a bit. Its price is three times higher than that of the Hitbox Arc Welder, but look at the bright side – you won’t need to buy a better wending tool in your lifetime.

Most people refer to arc welding as a technique used to weld various metals using electrical heat. There are numerous types of arc welders; hence there are several types of techniques and methods to use them.

Some of the most common types are SMAW (shielded metal welding), otherwise called manual welding, and GMAW which is sometimes referred to as MIG (metal-inert gas), which further refers to semi-automatic welding. Among the less popular are FCAW (flux-cored), which is a variation of GMAW, and SAW (submerged welding).

The aforementioned technique types are labeled as consumable electrode techniques, but there are also two non-consumable electrode types – GTAW (gas-tungsten welding) and TIG (tungsten-inert gas), as well as plasma welding, which instead of using electricity relies on plasma gas. The least known techniques, which nevertheless deserve some recognition, are atomic hydrogen, carbon, electroslag, and electro gas welding.

Read more on our top rated plasma cutting options,

Normally, a person who has little or no experience with these tools would do best to ask questions about the machine itself before buying it. As we already mentioned, there are several stick welder types, each being suitable for different type of welding, so it would be easier if you narrowed down your search in accordance with your personal needs.

Secondly, you should decide on your budget – there are good models to be had under $200, but people who require heavy-duty work might need to spend $400 – $500. That being said, it’s quite easy to deduce that stick welders require a bit of an investment.

Once you’ve decided the type you need and your budget, it would be great if you had extra time to prolong your search and cross out those models that come without any accessories. Some machines come outfitted with free accessories such as electrode holders, cables, work clamps, and power adapters.

The duty cycle represents an equipment specification standard defined as a percentage of minutes for which the tool should produce the particular current. The given percentage usually refers to a maximum ten minute period. Therefore, if the machine boasts a power of 150 amps and has a set cycle of 30%, you could use it for at most three continuous minutes, after which you’ll need to let it rest for seven.

If you intend to do the welding yourself, you can imagine the machine as if it were a human being – the stick welder exerts the “muscles” over time (during the cycle), so it needs to rest, lest it overheat itself. The stress put on the machine might lead to malfunction of the mechanisms, so letting it rest for the required time is an important consideration when you plan your work.

If you are hiring a professional, either inquire about the duty cycle of your expert’s equipment or try to strike a deal that’s based on results rather than pay per hour of work.

There are two logical yet conflicting opinions on whether or not you should buy a used arc welder. The first one is positive, based on cost-effectiveness, and the second one is negative, based on the risks of injury and safety hazards.

If you are low on cash, buying a used machine could be good. Generally, these contraptions aren’t too risky to use if you know what you are doing, and it’s a fact that most high-quality models cost an arm and a leg. Employ extra care and stick to the rules of your model’s duty cycle, and you should be just fine.

On the other hand, even new machines aren’t fault-proof, which means that an accident can occur at any given time. Dabbling with electricity is dangerous, so if you aren’t too confident in your abilities, you should consider buying a brand new machine.