Hobart Handler 190 Review: For Who Is It? (Intended Use)

This review takes an in-depth look into the Hobart Handler 190 MIG welder. It is among the most vied for welders on the market due to its ease of use and reliability. The Hobart Handler 190 is a more powerful version than the previous 140.

Its small frame makes it easy to use and easy to carry around. It is a low-cost option for welding aluminum with a host of useful features.

A large range of welds and a heavy power input allows the machine to be used in automotive work, construction and maintenance work, home DIY projects, light industrial work, and farm/ranch work.

Hobart Handler 190 Review: Focus on One of the Best Selling MIG Welders

Sturdy and robust, it can withstand rough usage and the travails of time.

The Hobart Handler 190 is a quality choice for those who need a powerful but not too expensive MIG welder.

It is time now to delve into reviewing the welder machine:

Hobart 500554 Handler 190 MIG Welder 230V

Any MIG welder should be able to weld mild steel, aluminum, and stainless steel.

Ideal for light industrial use – the Hobart Handler is packed with useful features like:

• Built-in spool gun control circuitry
• Seven voltage options
• Infinite wire feed speed control
• Patented built-in wire feeder technology and contractor
• Self-resetting thermal overload and motor protection
• Dual groove drive roll system
• Easily accessible polarity changeover.

For Who Is It? Intended Use

Very simple to use and intended for workshops, heavy occasional jobs, and also for beginners, in order to understand whether the Hobart 190 welder machine is the MIG welder for you, you will need to take a deeper look at the product.

It’s a welding machine ideal for:

• Building construction
• Car body repair
• Maintenance works
• DIY projects / hobbies
• Not suitable for heavy and intensive industrial work

Description

The Hobart Handler is a quality welder machine that can be used to weld steel and aluminum.

The product offers maximum ease of portability, weighing only 68 pounds.

It can be powered by generators making it more versatile than other MIG welders in the market.

The Hobart 190 features a seven-position voltage switch and expansive wire feed speed control. It deftly matches the thickness of the metal with wire diameter.

The minimal post-weld clean-up, professional bead appearance, great penetration, and less spatter make it starkly different from its competitors.

Functioning on 230V input power, users can weld materials as thin as 24 gauge and as thick as 5/16 inch.

The welder’s built-in spool gun control circuitry can be used with soft aluminum wires and stainless steel wires.

Motor protection and self-resetting thermal overload are other useful features to boast of. You can also switch the wire size with ease because of the dual groove drive roll system. Additionally, users can access polarity changeover incredibly conveniently.

Next, it’s time to look over the specifications.

Features/Specs

Handler 190 And H100S4-10 Gun Owner’s Manual

Here are the specifications for the Hobart Handler 190 welding machine:

• It can weld up to 24 ga. which means, up to 5/16 in mild steel in a single pass
• It operates off 230V input power
• Comfortable H100S4-10 10ft MIG gun and liner, built-in gas valve, 10ft work cable with clamp, dual gauge regulator and gas hose, power cord and plug, an excess of .030 in contact tips, sample spool of .030 welding wire flux-cored and spool shaft that can accommodate 4/8in spools.
• It provides the user with seven voltage settings for better control and better arc performance.
• Duty cycle is 30% @ 130 Amps.
• Output Amperage 25-190A
• Strong feed-head with quick-release drive roll lever, i.e. accessible to thread new wire.
• Thermal overload protection system that ensures long-lasting usage.
• There is a built-in contactor which is a great safety measure that cuts off electricity when not welding.
• The dimensions of the machine are: Height: 12 – 3/8 in, Width: 10 – 5/8 in and Length: 19 – 1/2 in.
• The wire speed feed range is 40-700 IPM.

Hobart 100 Spool Gun with Welding Wire & Nozzle Gel

The Hobart Handler 190 is spool gun-ready. The selector makes switching the gun on and off easy. A complete wire welding package that is easy to set and adjust for different materials, thicknesses and wires, gives an industrial performance. The spool gun is also sold separately.

SpoolRunner 100 Owner’s Manual

Pros & Cons

The Hobart Handler 190 is without a doubt a quality MIG welding machine. But as always, there are pros and cons to be evaluated:

Pros

• The Hobart Handler 190 gives you free rein over wire feed speed.
• You can select the highest quality arc on a range of thickness thanks to its 7-position voltage control selector.
• Easy changeovers are made possible by its quick release tension.
• The welder, in particular, is very beginner-friendly. A manual is provided for easy reference and the entire thing takes only a couple minutes to set up.
• The device has a range of built-in safety features like motor protection and self-resetting thermal overload which adds to the longevity of the device’s lifetime.

Cons

• Although powerful, the Hobart Handler 190 is not suitable for heavy industrial welding jobs.
• It can turn out to be more expensive in comparison to other brands making it unsuitable for people only casually looking around for a welder for that occasional welding job.
• The welder isn’t suitable for your commonplace average power supply as it requires 220V outlet. However, it can be used with generators, i.e. 7000 watts.

When the pros and cons of buying a Hobart Handler 190 is concerned, the pros win out. There are far too many advantages in picking this as your MIG welding device of choice than others.

MIG Welder Best Brands: Hobart Welding Tools

The Hobart Brothers company was started by Charles Clarence Hobart and his wife, Lou Ella with kids Edward, Charles, and William. It came up with its very first welder in 1925.

Little did they know that this would go on to give the company much fame and adulation over the years. Other than manufacturing welders, it also spread welding education with the establishment of the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in 1930.

They began manufacturing solid and tubular wires around the mid-60s.

In 1986, it added the development of metal-cored wires to its repertoire, then it started providing hard surfacing and stainless steel filler metal. Finally, it also began offering aluminum filler metals.

The Hobart brand has come to be known for its innovation, collaboration, expertise. It continues to provide only the highest quality products to improve productivity and reduce operational costs.

Based in Ohio, this company is now one of the leading welding machine manufacturers in the world. The welding machines they sell have been researched and designed and improved over and over from their year of inception to ensure optimal user benefit.

FAQs

Find listed below some of the more common queries that crop up when looking for information about the Hobart Handler 190.

What does the Hobart Handler 190 Box contain?

The Hobart Handler 190 Box contains a built-in gas valve, dual gauge regulator and gas hose, 10ft MIG gun, 10ft work cable and clamp, 10ft power cord, owner’s manual, set-up guide, .030 contact tips, 8 in spool adapter and a sample pool of .030 flux-cored wire.

When should you use the Hobart Handler 190?

The Hobart Handler 190 should be put to use for products that require more power such as welding auto body panels, mower decks, tool carts, lawn, and garden equipment, farm equipment, fences, metal sculpture, trailer frames and hitches, gun/bow racks, exhaust systems, and more.

How to use the spool gun?

You are provided an optional SpoolRunner 100 spool gun in the box which you can directly plug into the machine to cut out the feeding problems which are associated with aluminum wire welding. There is no need for any control box or adapter to connect the SpoolRunner 100. A selector switch for the same makes switching guns easier.

Review Summary and Alternative

The Hobart Handler 190 is most definitely one of the better MIG welding devices in the market at the moment.

It is recommended for its ease of use, the control over its features that it allows, and all of the built-in safety measures that protect the device from harm.

Reasons you could possibly reconsider buying are:

• It requires 220V outlet which is quite taxing for regular home
• It can be quite expensive when put in context with welders offered by other brands.

The Alternative

Other than the Hobart Handler 190, the Lincoln EasyMig 180 and the Forney 318 190-Amp MIG Welder are both welding machines options that won’t let you down. They share many features in common and run on the same power outage.

Lincoln Electric Easy MIG 180 Flux-Core/MIG Welder

While Hobart is able to weld up to 5/16 inch thick metals, Lincoln EasyMig can weld up to 3/16 inch thick and Forney can weld as much as 3/8 inch thick materials.

Forney 318 190-Amp MIG Welder, 230-Volt

Out of the three, the Lincoln has the least penetrative capability.

But if you don’t want to buy the Hobart for some reason, choose the Lincoln 180 for its duty cycle, simply because the Forney 318 is much lesser in comparison.

In conclusion, the Lincoln and the Forney model both have their pros and cons – but if not Hobart, it’s safe to say that you can choose from either to solve your welding woes.