Recommend me a mig welder

[adidat]

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

 

[Wuffles]

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

 

[n0legs]

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

 

[finish_that]

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

there is a buying a welder forum

 

[Wuffles]

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.

 

[adidat]

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

 

[Wuffles]

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?

 

[adidat]

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

 

[Wuffles]

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.

 

[Wuffles]

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.

 

[adidat]

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

 

[Wuffles]

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.

 

[Hitch]

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.

 

[adidat]

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

 

[graduate_owner]

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

 

[dickm]

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?

 

[adidat]

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

 

[Stu_2]

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

 

[adidat]

making a trolley can be my first job!

adidat

 

[Hitch]

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.