# inverter welder



## doctor Bob (10 May 2017)

Hi Chaps,

Will this be a load of rubbish?

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offers.htm?articleId=2890


----------



## flh801978 (10 May 2017)

Its lightweight...big bonus
It will work well within its current rating..
I use one for on site welding (not parkside though ,an esab that was £400)
If i didn't have that id have the parkside one
If you don't like it take it back
Get a new face mask autodarkening if you don't have one
And be careful doing galvanised material as suggested
You can do stainless mild steel and cast iron but not alloys

Ian


----------



## pcb1962 (10 May 2017)

doctor Bob":3o1c2o96 said:


> Hi Chaps,
> 
> Will this be a load of rubbish?
> 
> https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offers.htm?articleId=2890


It will be way easier to use than a transformer welder for the same price, much easier to strike and maintain an arc. Probably won't last as long as there's lots more electronics to fail, but if it lasts till the warranty runs out then it's still good value.


----------



## cedarwood (11 May 2017)

you would also be pushing it to the limit to weld anything thicker than 10 gauge and max rod size of 2.5mm


----------



## novocaine (11 May 2017)

wow, they actually say galvanised metal. just wow. always good to see a tool being sold by someone who has no idea about it.

edit: even better, I've just jumped to the contents page. there's a wonderfully handsome chap there welding happily with it, on an alloy stem of a push bike. 

with that hand held face shield too. about a foot from his face, so he's now blind obviously.


----------



## flh801978 (11 May 2017)

I forgot to mention that with the addition of a torch set and some gas you can do tig process easily with this


----------



## Cordy (11 May 2017)

Interesting....
I've just sold my 160 amp Cebora mig melder because it took up too much valuable space

Occasionally I may need to weld the odd bit; nothing more than 6 mm mild steel

How do these

rate against the Lidl model -- space being of the essence


----------



## Alexfn (12 May 2017)

Im also interested in the inverter welders on amazon.

The one from lidl seemed a little underpowered. Can anyone recommend one of those machines. Id like to progress to tig welding.

I havent done any arc welding for near 20 years. Back then i learned with a rubbish machine where the rods would stick if you looked at em funny. Eventually i did get the hang of it though.

The sungold power ones seem very good value but cant see any mention of duty cycle. Im tempted by the tig one they have for £220 but is it too cheap for a tig machine?

The gys machines are highly rated and said to be made in france but mma only?

Any advice for someone just getting back into welding much appreciated!


----------



## novocaine (12 May 2017)

no point getting a machine for TIG if it's AC only. 
if you want to join the bandwagon for the latest thing in welding then spend the money and get a decent set, it won't be cheap, but welding rarely is.


----------



## cedarwood (12 May 2017)

I have the stahlwerk 200 amp mma and tig inverter welder and so far it has done all I have asked of it, only last week I used it to weld 75mm angle onto rsj barn uprights to sit concrete panels on, I use it mobile plugged into a 9 kva genny. So far I have not had the need to use the tig function so cannot comment on that but any inverter welder of around 200 amps should be able to do the job.


----------



## flh801978 (12 May 2017)

Novacaine

Why not tig if only ac?
The inverter drive welders are dc
You only need ac for alluminium surely


----------



## novocaine (12 May 2017)

it was early, I got it the wrong way round. still want AC/DC for a TIG setup though, whats the point in using TIG if you can't do aluminium. you can do pretty much everything TIG does on steel with MIG. having said that you can do pretty much everything mig does with an arc welder. 

unless the only reason your going with TIG is to make pretty stacks of coins that is.


----------



## Alexfn (12 May 2017)

my reason for tig is in the hope of working with copper. i have pulled a few copper tanks out of this old house and wanted to upcycle them, first off to make a sink.

i also thought tig would give me more options going down the line? so whats peoples opinions? forget the tig for now? 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Welding-Equi ... ter+welder

i thought about this machine? thanks for the input so far


----------



## novocaine (12 May 2017)

not all copper is created equal and not all can be welded. have you thought about solder instead? 
200 amp is going to be pretty close to flat out on copper too if it will do it at all, needs lots of amps because it sucks the heat away. 

by all means have a crack at it though.


----------



## Alexfn (12 May 2017)

yeah thats what i gathered from reading up, id need the full 200 amps, another suggestion was to use helium. it is thin copper at about 2mm id guess. i hadnt really considered solder because my intention was to buy a welder anyway as ive decided to start mixing wood and metal in the furniture im making 

whats you opinion on the above welder? have any experience with this type of machine, im a noob when it comes with these inverter welders and worried about getting stung with something thats not fit for propose. im thinking to hone my skills in stick welding again have a bash at tig and maybe get a mig later

thanks

alex


----------



## novocaine (12 May 2017)

I had a cheap inverter for a while, rarely got used and was picky about input, it went to a friend, I've got my aged transformer for arc and that's more than I need, I have no really issues with using it and get more than adequate welds with it, can chuck it in the van and work in the middle of a field with it off a generator and it won't bat an eye. have a couple of mig units (kennedy and Kemppi) both are a pleasure to use but both are workshop only with occasional work on cars just outside. 
Unless you are going to drop a further 300-600 quid you'll be scratch tig with it most likely which is an introduction but not really great in the long run and you'll end up spending 3-4 times that to get a unit that will do what you want. 
for me, I'd spend pennies on a second hand transformer unit (because everyone wants rid), learn to weld with that then pass it on and get something better, but then, this is how I learned although I had access to some rather good kit, it was better to learn with what is now considered hard kit, made everything else seem easy. Maybe I'm biased. you are going the wrong way round from the norm too, most people start with arc, move to mig then on to tig. don't need to do it this way though, just the way it seems to go.

oh and they are off the peg, retailer picks his brand by the colour type of kit, so look around, if you want an invertor you'll find it cheap in other places depending on your desired colour. 

someone will be along shortly to tell you I'm wrong and don't bother with the buzzbox it's to hard to do.


----------



## LJM (14 May 2017)

I'm reluctant to join the through away culture, so I opted to buy my inverter welder second hand. I found a Newarc (British made, parts available), industrial machine. It's not pretty but works well. If something goes wrong, I can fix it or the remaining parts will be of use to another Newarc owner.

I'm not a pro welder but am a welding inspector, so appreciate the ease of use of a decent set.


----------

