# Recommend me a mig welder



## adidat (18 Mar 2016)

hi guys 

Looking for a 13 Or 16 amp mig welder with a budget of about 350 don't have any ship hulls to weld or anything just 5mm maximum. I have had quite a lot of experience with a large professional mig, but I just can't get on with arc hence the mig choice.

Adidat


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## Wuffles (18 Mar 2016)

I bought a Portamig second hand, drove a long way to get it as they're supposedly good - I knew nothing about any of it. Also worth looking at are Oxford? Could be wrong.

I think the link below might help you find something unless others know of anything better.

http://www.weldequip.com/mig-welders.htm


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## n0legs (18 Mar 2016)

GYS Smart Mig.
Tested one recently. Control panel looks complicated but isn't. Performed very well, I was quite impressed.


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## finish_that (18 Mar 2016)

you should ask here http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/

there is a buying a welder forum


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## Wuffles (19 Mar 2016)

finish_that":9m8mpzyd said:


> you should ask here http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/
> 
> there is a buying a welder forum



To recap, the link I posted is the one that will be recommended from the link above as they are the main sponsor of the forum, and the first one on the page linked is the MIG that n0legs recommended - bingo.

That forum is where I asked for help by the way when I was starting out - which you're not exactly, but you know what I mean - and they pointed me to weldequip, only I wanted posher than my budget would allow hence the second hand one I got.


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## adidat (19 Mar 2016)

I like the look of the smart mig and will probably be the way i go. Will this struggle to do spot welds on thin sheet metal?

Adidat


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## Wuffles (19 Mar 2016)

adidat":3plfh8lb said:


> I like the look of the smart mig and will probably be the way i go. Will this struggle to do spot welds on thin sheet metal?
> 
> Adidat



Struggle as in burn through it?


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## adidat (19 Mar 2016)

Yeah, just for the record im quite confident buying machinery 2nd hand. I would be weary buying a welder though as there could be a burnt out chip that would only show itself after 10 mins of use etc. So i like the idea of a brand new unit with a waranty.

Adidat


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## Wuffles (19 Mar 2016)

Who's suggesting you buy anything second hand?

In answer to your question, if you get the power right it should be fine, I burn through all sorts of things though.


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## Wuffles (19 Mar 2016)

Oh you meant my second hand purchase. I wasn't worried. The guy I bought it from had it delivered, planned to use it and never even put a plug on it. It had sat in his living room becoming part of the furniture for about 12 months before his wife made him sell it. Not exactly second hand but you know, technically it was. Saved about £300 but there's no way I would have gone proper second hand on my first one, unless it came from someone I knew.


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## adidat (19 Mar 2016)

Sounds like a great baragain. Had my fingers burnt recentley bought a large compressor, on demonstration was making a slight knocking. Got it home to find the prop shaft seriousley bent and all the bearings worn to a nub! 

Adidat


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## Wuffles (19 Mar 2016)

adidat":3m7ak7di said:


> Sounds like a great baragain. Had my fingers burnt recentley bought a large compressor, on demonstration was making a slight knocking. Got it home to find the prop shaft seriousley bent and all the bearings worn to a nub!
> 
> Adidat



Yes, some devious people out there. They are really helpful on that other forum for metalworking. I was asking questions on there and within days I had one of the members pop by my workshop for a chat about what I wanted to do, he brought over his mig and we had a play with it and that's what got me hooked. We've remained friends, which is quite an achievement with me.


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## Hitch (19 Mar 2016)

Its a shame you didn't ask a week or so sooner!
Just sold my home set, let the guy have play with it for half an hour or so first, so we were both confident it was working fine.

Anyway, thats a fairly low budget.... have you budgeted some for gas etc...?

Redline machines might be worth a look, http://www.wellyweld.com/categories/Red ... 66508.aspx
Not used one personally, but our Wellington rep says they seem popular with hobby users.


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## adidat (19 Mar 2016)

Ah shame i will be driving through wincanton in a few hours!!

That price was just for the welder unit. Its not something i will be using every week so cant really justify any more than that. I like the look of the one from your link 2 years waranty aswell!

Adidat


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## graduate_owner (19 Mar 2016)

Well I am only a hobby user but I decided to upgrade from my old buzz box stick welder to a mig. Did a lot of reading and decided Clarke had decent reviews for their kit ( they are Telwin, made in Italy, not far east imports). So I waited until they had a VAT free period ( they have one now !!!) and bought a 160TM which is the cheapest of the ones that are designed for large gas cylinders. It was £289, £346 if you have to pay VAT. I took the opportunity of no VAT to get a reel of wire and some spare tips and shroud. A rent free bottle of argon mix cost me about £95 inc returnable deposit.

I have tried it for several weeks now and it works fine. I have been welding 3mm box section mild steel, no cutting out because of overheating, no issues at all.

Like I said I am only a hobby user so no experience with other kit, and I know there are big name welders available but I could not justify spending £400+ and then spend out on gas etc so I did not have a great deal of choice. However I am very pleased with my purchase.

K


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## dickm (19 Mar 2016)

Can't justify a new mig, as my 20 year old secondhand SiP Turboweld does everything within my capabilities, but are the new inverter welders vastly better than that old beast?


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## adidat (1 Apr 2016)

probably going to get this one, like the fact it offers all three types in one unit. arc will probably come in handy when i start getting agricultural!

http://www.weldequip.com/ifl-170-mig.htm

any opinions? Hitch?


adidat


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## Stu_2 (1 Apr 2016)

Looks good. This wasn't around when I got my SmartMIG 162 from Weldequip. The 162 is good, but the downside is its fixed earth lead, which is way too short. I ended up converting it to a standard Dinse socket, and making a longer lead.

The only downside I can see with the IFL, unless I've missed something, is that it doesn't appear to be mobile, and therefore won't carry the gas bottle. You might get the hump shifting that lot about  Easy enough to make a trolley, though.

I can recommend Adams Hobby Gas for rental-free gas.

Cheers
Stu


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## adidat (1 Apr 2016)

making a trolley can be my first job! 

adidat


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## Hitch (2 Apr 2016)

Do you need the extra capability of the TIG?

Bearing in mind its only DC Lift TIG...you need to get a TIG torch and different gas before you could go playing...

I see there is a Jasic, MIG/MMA with 5 yr warranty for only £30 more... fractionally lower Max output.
We bought 2 Jasic machines at work last month, one DC TIG, and one AC/DC Tig... ive been impressed with both, especially the AC/DC set. 

No real experience of IFL gear, bar a 110v stick set we bought for a particular job, and has sat in the store room for about 10 years unused since that job....BUT, the IFL has a british build, although shorter warranty...

Difficult decision! 
Think i'd go with the Jasic, mainly for the warranty... and if i decided i wanted to do TIG, buy a machine with HF start instead of lift later.

One thing i would say, if you pick one from Weldequip, is make sure the machine you pick is in stock, unless you want a long wait... The guys name is Steve, not many have a bad word against him on the welding forum.


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## adidat (2 Apr 2016)

Thanks for that hitch i have ordered one already should be here in the next few days. So hopefully it will be ok.

Could you hive me a basic outline about what, dc lift tig is? 

Picked up the gas today 20l 5% argon co2 mix. bottle about £150 all in but i get 80 quid when i take the bottle back.

Adidat


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## Wuffles (2 Apr 2016)

I'm cheap. £20 co2 with no rental. You got a reg?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## adidat (2 Apr 2016)

Yeah. Thats for a large tank must weigh 40kgs bloomin heavy!

Adidat


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## Hitch (3 Apr 2016)

Are you familiar with the TIG process?

Basically, on a higher spec machine there is High Frequency circuitry to initiate a spark, when you pres the trigger a small HF spark jumps the gaps and starts the actual welding current arc. The trigger also controls the gas flow through a solenoid, as it would the MIG.

On Lift Tig, you have to touch the tungsten electrode on the workpiece to initiate the welding arc then lift away sligthly to get the required arc gap. Works okay, but can be a pain suddenly stopping the arc whilst maintaining post weld gas coverage/preventing holes in the end of the weld.
Gas wise, cant remember, i think some have a manual control, some have a solenoid which opens when the tungsten is initially touched.

Scratch start, you used to have to sort of rub the tungsten across the job to get it to start, a bit like one of them cheap old fasioned arc welders. Pretty much useless for anything delicate. Gas control is usually a manual valve on the torch. Havnt seen a scratch start machine for sometime now.


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## adidat (19 Apr 2016)

So after Hitches post about the tig welder being some what basic I decided I didn't have much use for one at the moment so managed to cancel the order and decided on the GYS smartmig 162 a fair bit cheaper and seemed to offer everything I needed, did a quick search on the bay and found one for £50 less and contacted the seller and he said he would throw in a roll of wire and a pair of gloves without me even asking so I was very pleased.

If you look at the weldequip page for this welder you need to buy the regulator to make it work with the large tanks, I asked the seller if it was included with the one he was selling he rang me back and told me he had spoke to the gys rep and I did not require it. Turns out I did the rep doesn't seem to know his own products!

The regulator arrived today so I got to play with it properly this evening, couldn't find any jubilee clips to attach the hose to the welder so kept the pressure down and a watchful eye on it so I didn't gas myself!





As you can see its a rather compact unit but very heavy! but so far I am very pleased, within minutes of getting it all working I was producing beads that I was happy with considering I haven't welded for about 4 years.





my first good weld sanded down with no clear joins or cracks. This was just on some clothes shop racking I found on the pavement, sanded the plate off first and no clamps or jigs hence the difference in levels.





In the word of George Foreman "I'm so proud of it, I put my name on it!) :lol: :lol: 

any questions please fire away!

Adidat


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## ciderman (19 May 2016)

Clarke 150 t or te. 
Cracking machine- I have 3!
good parts back-up on them.
thanks


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## Castlewood (24 Jul 2016)

Hi Adidat, for your price range and the sort of metal you are going to be welding I would highly recommend a invertor. BOC (British oxygen company) do a great little multi process machine, which has 3 functions - mig, arc and tig. It is supplied with a (decent) euro mig lance, arc tongs,, earth lead and argon gas regulator. It's 16 amp but can be run on a decent quality 13amp plug on a slightly lower power output. It has a tig function but does not come with a tig torch, but you can pick them up for £40 off the Internet. The make of this unit is Ryval which is a boc verified brand. It retails for about £400-£500 but if you go into a boc store and ask for there best price you can get it for just under £400. Hope this helps. Louis


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## karlpolly10 (25 Jul 2016)

Hi don't know if you have got fixed up yet, you should try Rtec welding I bought a machine from them good company and good prices. Most of their machines are dual purpose. Regards karl


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## Wuffles (25 Jul 2016)

Three posts back (in April) he bought one.


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