We went out and bought a new Lincoln 330MPX and this is what we found out.
Long gone are the days of 1,000 pound gas welders that would make even the mightiest heavy duty trucks squat. Behold the new 330MPX Lincoln Electric gas powered welder/generator available from most online retailers at an MSRP of $7,589.00. This machine was released in late 2021 but due to the slow supply of components it seems that it's barely becoming widely available for everyone to actually go out and purchase one. We bought this machine a couple of months ago and I feel that after having used it a few times for an array of jobs it's time to write a bit about it and let you decide if this machine is the future.
At a glance:
This gas powered welder - generator is a lot smaller than the previous popular Lincoln Electric models such as the Eagle 10,000 or the popular Ranger 250. Lincoln claims that this machine is 25% lighter and 20% quieter than it's older counterparts. Making it a highly attractive option if your work truck is already overloaded with tools. The machine being quieter means you MAY even have to actually listen to your welder helper complain about how heavy the welding rods feel in his hand though. The design is slick and a lot more futuristic looking, the bright red of the Lincoln color trademark shines on even the darkest rain out. The new digital screen makes adjusting amperage and wire feed speeds a lot easier, and because it comes with the new digital boards that have become so popular in welding equipment lately, you can even let the machine adjust your settings by just giving it simple information such as what kind of welding rod you plan to use or the diameter of the wire you will be using.
How did we put it to the test?
The machine is able to burn rods as big as 1/4 without any hiccups although it's probably not the best idea to push it to those limits on a daily. With that being said though, it should be able to weld even 3/16th welding rod without faltering. We really enjoyed the seamless startup and transition into selecting our welding process, rod diameter and letting the machine give us an approximate amperage range. The bright screen is really helpful for the night shift as well. The AC power coming out of the machine was cleaner than on most generators and it was able to power all of our power tools easily. We did notice that this machine is a lot quieter even during high idle be it during welding or while powering a tool.
Will it really replace the usual heavy duty machines on the market?
From a heavy duty standpoint, we believe that this machine is a huge upgrade from the previous models released by Lincoln and from Miller's Bobcats which is it's closest competitor, but it is still sort of a niche machine to be used for maintenance projects and powering secondary equipment. It's biggest downfall is it's air cooled engine which we can see having issues if the work demand becomes too great. In the end, it is still a huge upgrade and if you like keeping up with the newest technology and equipment, it is well worth the price. You decide.
If you enjoyed this post please check out my other blog posts, there is something to be learned from every one of them.