so ive decided im going to buy a welder try patch up some scabby bits well in time for the MOT and save some money on getting someone else todo it

asked a mate if i bought one would he show me the basics, then got talking he said 400amp minimum then after some talking 200 might sufice (he makes engine mounts and all sorts)

anyway for basic arch repair and sill stuff whats wrong with 100odd amps?

next question arc or mig.........im no expert but arc is the rod and mig is the wire feed ??

anyway been browsing ebay still not found anything i really like but both machin mart and screw fix do 100 amp arc welder starter kits would something like this suit a pure novice then ill have to get something more substantial when i want to start propper fabrication and so on

 

Dont buy a stick mate as if you are not use to welding it will be hard work you want a 150amp mig welder that will be fine with the 0.6 or 0.8 wire

 

Gas mig...

 

Got a 160 amp works a treat and welds up to 7mm use the proper gas it makes all the difference

 

Yes as said dont buy a gasless mig there rubbish

 

As with all these things buy the best you can afford. The difference in welding with a cheap set and then going to a mid range or semi-proffesional is very noticeable. I'm not an expert but have done enough to know that buying cheap is a waste of time. At least get one that will take a half sized bottle. Dont fuck about with the mini-sodastream sized bottles. Get an account with BOC and get a proper bottle. Once you have a welder you will find all sorts of shit to weld

 

okay cheers for the advice are the ones with the Co2 bottle about the size of a 2litre coke bottle any good, i know my stepdad has a 150-200 amp thing that does all the welding on the transit van

 

stay away from silly bottles of coke

 

400 AMPS!!! There is nothing on an average car body that cannot be welded with 100 amps. 400amps is just a plain silly thing to be said by your mate. In fact I would be amazed if you could even buy a single phase 400 amp welder. 400 amps is enough to weld mild steel @ around 20mm thick, thickest you'll find on most cars is 3mm for box section chassis, arches will be about 1mm thick.


My personal preference would always be with a TiG welder as I pretty much hate MiG (in most cases it's actually MAG welding rather than MiG) welding, however most people will be better off with a MiG welder, as already said for that type of work avoid arc welders and avoid those stupid little bottles of C02 / C02/Argon mix - they'll cost you a fortune compared with a BOC cylinder.

Go get yourself a MiG welder around the 150amp range, go open an account with BOC and get the smallest cylinder of C02 that they do. I guarantee if anything the problem you'll have when learning will too many amps rather than too few.

I would use 0.6mm wire on those arches too.