I'm looking at getting a second hand mig welder. I'm a complete beginner and would like some advice as to good brands etc...

Just for use on steel, my dad has a rusty land rover and quite fancy an old ford to play with Obviously I need to get practised first.

From reading and talking to folks I get the impression that 180 amps with a good duty cycle is a benchmark for hobby/amateur use.

Any recommendations for or against particular brands or models?

Cheers

 

if you find a snapon 130amp turbo mig you will not go wrong will do most car stuff. there are good migatronics welder esab sip fredrial etc these would be the indrustral type thers clark sip etc at the cheaper end which you will get quite cheap new

 

Avoid sip welders like you would the plague. If you want to know anything about welding pop along over to this site here http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php
you will find a wealth of info over there and if theres owt else you need to know just ask
I myself use a murex tradesmig 191.
It goes upto 190 amps for the thick stuff but then down to 30 amps for the thinner,car body type of stuff.
The thing you need to watch out for when your buying a welder for car bodywork is to make sure the the machine will go down to at least 30 amps.
Some of the chinese cheapo machines on fleabay look good in the adverts but when you check the amperage they only go down to 60amps.
So basically not worth a toss for thin metal.

 

Sealey are superb mid range welders ive used them for years

 

not sure what the minimum current draw on mine is, but it does seem too much for thin metal as mentioned, have to have the wirespeed up stupidly high and keep it moving like fuck to stop it blowing holes in the thinner stuff.
so i agree that the min is as important as the max, will pay more attention to it next time i buy one!

 

Cannot go wrong with a SIP .. Check Ebay

Use C02 for sheet stuff ..

Dont worry about duty cycles ..

 

i got a Miller 190amp, this seems to work perfect, I used to have a clarke and was complete kak!!!
with the miller i can weld from exhausts and have also welded heady plate with it, i use co2 argon mix with mine.

 

Miller are great machines mate.The trouble people seem to have when buying a welder is the look at the highest settings and amperage they can go up to.
what they then find out is when they plug them into there 240v home supply and whack the welder up full to weld ,say 6mm steel all the fuses in the consumer unit in the house blow.
The other thing you need to look at is the wire feed set up and the wire feed motor.
its ne good having a welder that feeds wire like shite.all you will get is shitty bird pooh welds and a big birds nest of wire in your wire holder on your welder lol.
also co2 on its own is no good for thin metal.co2 is meant for thicker stuff.
Co2 gives a hotter weld pool.
You need a good co2/argon mix for thin metal(as mentioned above)co2 will do the job but you will get better results with argon mix.

Also you have just reiterated what i said about the good versus the bad as far as welders are compared,a lot of people who are starting out in welders first off buy a cheap machine then find they are having problems from word go.
Then later down the line they end up having a go with a quality machine and they never look back.
The trouble with the cheap set ups is the wire feeds to jerky and all that happens is your constantly getting either the wire stuck to the tip or the wire stuck to the job!
Then when you do get a good run going the damn thing blocks in the liner lol.
Good machines are very forgiving and even a first time welder can get a passable bead going within ten minutes.

Its a case of the old saying "buy cheap buy twice"

 

Thats funny mate as I was always told the other ..

C02 for sheet/spot weld ..

Car'gon mix for heavy steel ..

Near Pure Argon for Aluminium ..

 

Who told you that the same bloke who sold you the SIP welder lol.
Ive only been welding 27yr so maybe ive been doing it wrong eh?? lol

Pure argon for tig welding ally yeah thats about right.
I wouldn't recommend using a mig to weld ally.
You can get half right results with a spool gun but i wouldn't recommend it.
use the right tools for the right job and you will get the job done right!

Oh yeah and while we are on the subject-
Dont pay attention to the duty cycle???

The duty cycle of the machine is basically how much welding the machine can do on full power without cutting out and you then having to wait twenty minutes for the machine to cool down and reset.
So folks if you want to buy a machine with a low duty cycle and then have to wait 20 minutes between welds.................GO FOR IT lol.

Ps/ the reason theres boat loads of SIP welders on ebey is because people cant get rid of them fast enough after finding out there crap.

 

Are you finished editing before i reply ?

 

cebora. i know 2 poeple with sealy welders. my cebora knocks spots of the sealy's on the lower setting (car body work)

 

Cheers for all the help guys, seems people are having differing results using SIP welders, whatever the reason there is a lot of them for sale on Ebay!

Thanks also for the link to the mig welding forum Fred, looks like there's a lot of info on there. Think I'll do a bit more reading before investing

 

Murex puka welders!

 

I've been using a clarke 150TE turbo for nearly 15 years, rebuilt several cars, lorries etc. It goes low enough and high enough for most things. The wire feed can be temperamental though, one day it will work faultlessly all day, but occasionally, it's a total bitch. Teflon liner has helped, and always keep the wire indoors when not used for long periods, slightly rusty wire will cause feed problems. I've found CO2/argon mix gives best weld on thin stuff.

 

Depends on your usage.

For DIY and odd cars, Then for a 130-150amp Clark, Sip or similar. (these are not the best machines, but if you know how to look after them, set them up and know how to weld, they can be OK for general workshop use. (wire speed setup is the usual causes for issue's, specialy on sheet welding, but this can be minimized and usable)

Also use gas (gasless is crap) and for cars and sheet work use 0.6mm wire.



For middle to top end metal shop stuff, Go for one of the usual names - Esab, Migatronic, Miller, Kempi, Murex, Cebora, Butters etc etc.

But remember the power supply your gonna be using. 13amp house supplie will limit you to 130-150 ish amps, 16+amp cooker outlet on a 3 way blue plug will be fine till about 180-200amp roughly. (also always choose the best/shortest supplie route)


I'm a welder by trade, and have used all the above Better brands in different workshops, and also clarke and Sip's for cars to plate work.

 

Thanks again for the help guys. It will be DIY car stuff, nothing heavy industrial. I'm glad to hear people are having reasonable results from Clarke gear, some people seem to slate them, but people who actually own them seem to get on with them reasonably.

TMC225Y, I have read problems with liners can be helped using a stainless coil liner, looks like a tight spring.


Taken from http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/sip-wirefeed.htm

 

Yeah, I've seen those liners, but never tried one. To be honest, I've had my clarke so long, i've pretty much sussed out everything which can go wrong with it. I use anti spatter spray on the tip every now and then, which helps, 0.6 wire, CO2 argon gas. The machine will produce an excellent weld, I did the battery tray on my mk3 XR3i the other day, and it's a nice tidy job. It's been run over, kicked, rained on several times, filled with sand in my blasting bay, and it still works! I can't complain, it cost £220 in 1997.