Originally posted by Montechris
Thanks for all the great info. can you explain to me the difference in mig welders that have a gas hookup/need a gas hook up/ and dont have a gas hook up.

thanks again,
Chris
A flux core wire welder is just that. The flux core in the wire (same principle as flux core solder) protects the weld pool from the atmosphere. The atmosphere will contaminate the weld. A gas wire welder uses Co2 gas to shield the wire from the atmosphere rather than flux. The gas MIG welds cleaner because there is no flux. Flux core MIG welders can be upgraded to a gas MIG, but I would just get the gas set-up to start with if you can swing the extra cost. I have a cheap Century 135 Flux core MIG and that purchase was a mistake. I don't use it at all anymore. Wire keeps balling up after the feed wheels.

A TIG welder uses argon as a shielding gas and a non-consumable Tungsten electrode (Electrode type depends on what material you are welding). With TIG you start a weld puddle with the (torch) and feed the puddle with a filler rod. The difficult part of welding with a TIG set-up is you run the torch with one hand, a filler rod with the other hand, and on better models you control the amperage or heat with a foot peddle. Nice thing about TIG is there is little or no smoke, sparks, noise and you can make some great looking welds with a little practice.