Hobart 500553 Handler 210 MVP MIG Welder - Empower Your Welding with Precision and Power Small

This is a nice "concentrated" type of compact welder..... that is a good thing for most folks. It is not a light weight unit with little going on inside of it. The one question that I personally wondered about was if the dual voltage would be worth the extra money over just buying the lighter single voltage unit. Now that I am using it, I think that I will indeed get some use out of the convenience of the 120VAC input. But do be aware, and know, that when using the 120VAC input you will NOT be able to do any heavier welding or aluminum welding unless it is paper thin materials. Aluminum sucks all the heat away so fast that much higher currents and voltages are required than with steel. I put it up on voltage levels 6 & 7 and ran two beads of about 1.5 inches long at 30% wire feed speed..... it tripped a 20 amp single pole Square D breaker immediately. Biut, that is exactly what one should expect to happen, right? Also, Square D is one of the best made and most sensitive breakers on the market so if you have an old GE panel or a Cuttler you may get away with more. (Just a not from a Journeyman Electrician for over 30 years now: the breaker protects the wiring within your walls.... prevents fires, so if it trips there is a reason and do not merely reset and go on. These are thermally triggered so need time to cool down or a wiring fire might result.) This machine has some great engineering in merely the packaging, let alone the rest of the machine! It is well packed and should get to you without any problem. The assembly of it is easier than many and should present ZERO trouble for anyone..... the instructions are excellent.... but what else would one expect from a USA made machine?? To say it is "Made in USA" at least the majority of the unit must be assembled from USA made parts as well as labor - I was glad to buy USA and support my fellow workers. This machine has a novel way of swapping the wire drive wheels too! Just push it in, turn 90* and slip it out, turn it over and slip it back in and it is ready to go: no screws or tools needed at all. The stinger is quite good for the size and price of the machine..... oh yeh, like some commented, the trigger is pretty easily tripped, but most of us do not use the big heavy leather guanlets with a buz box because they are not as hot and do not present such problems to require such heavy gloves. I just used some good medium duty leather gloves and the switch was ZERO problems at all.... at least it was zero for me. Would I buy this again? Yes I would, and I think that if you want a slightly larger/heavier unit with greater capacity than the smaller units, this might be just what you are looking for. Hobart has a very good warrantee, and that too is a bonus. Buy with confidence. Enjoy.

This is my favorite MIG welder. There are no issues and the users diagram keeps you from guessing as to the proper settings. I absolutely love this welder. I use it 85% and is the heart of my operation.

MVP, not Most Valuable Player, but Multi Voltage Plug! This allows you to weld utilizing a 240V outlet in your workshop, or the standard 120V outlet found almost anywhere else! I am only aware of Miller Welders that have this feature as well. I upgraded from a Hobart Handler 187 up to this unit because of the higher capacity, MVP, and the SpoolRunner. The Handler 187 can use a spool gun (to weld aluminum), but you need to purchase the expensive Miller spool gun controller and the spool gun itself (need to spend at least $500 to weld aluminum), whereas this unit already has the spool gun controller built in. The SpoolRunner 100 costs about $200. This unit is very heavy. About 70-80 lbs, so being portable is a frame of reference. It could be light for some people, but heavy for others. You need a good welding cart to hold this puppy! The MVP is super easy to use! No switches to fumble up. Just replace the plug on the end of the cord and you're ready to weld at whichever voltage you choose. There are 7 different voltage settings, and an infinite wire-speed control. There is a welding chart on the inside of the door (to change the welding wire), so you can easily set the voltage and wire-speed. It has a super powerful fan in the unit to help cool it down as you weld. Sometimes the loud noise gets annoying. But it's understandable, as the welding process produces a lot of heat within the transformer in the unit. My only complaint with this welder (along with my Handler 187) is the trigger for the MIG gun is too soft. If you have the welder on and you bump the trigger, the MIG wire will feed. It gets annoying after a while. I think I will need to figure out how to put a stiffer spring in the MIG gun. But, still, I will rate this product with 5 stars.

Very nice decent priced MIG for general light to medium use! Straightforward settings, so far everything works nice. Personally found the flux core wire close to useless, getting a gas tank is almost a must for anything a tad more demanding work. 110V - 220V option is great, for my use I went directly into shield gas and 220V but for light work 110V could likely work nice. Used to weld big excavator bucket lips with a really powerful MIG, would not use this for that but something like patio stairs, fences etc. no problem for this, easy to recommend the product!

This welder is very powerful for home use, very adaptable with the dual voltage. easy to use with the optional spool gun to use for aluminum. works as it should and super handy when you don't have 220v available. The power switch would be my only "complaint" It is now infinitely adjustable, however it does work well. Overall I would recommend this welder even for a Med-light duty welding pro.

i just unroll with Amazon.ca,and good i did because on the first i save 1100.00 plus dollars paid 1200.00 plus tax now amazon don't have them but i see seller asking 2300.00 plus Tax,,,,,,the only thing i dislike its very heavy....but its ok tells me the quality its there.........and its MADE IN AMERICA....vivre a America and Canada...if i can avoid China i will thousand for cent.......

Only complaint ground clamp is garbage. But love the welder. Works excellent for body panels and heavier weld jobs.

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