cheap mig welder

[brindle]

Hi,

I ned to do a spot of welding and its been a few years since I did any, I spotted this - seems a pretty good deal and its just to do general weding for the westy and stuff so as far as I can see is good enough.

what do you guys reckon?

click me!!!

[John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison]

I would look for something else. For box section steel you will need around 130 amps min (150 ideal) and from the model number I would say that is only 90 amps (could be wrong but I doubt it). It also only has 2 settings and only takes 0.7 wire. More power and adjustability are required IMO. Machine Mart sell the Clarke range for not a lot more plus there are usually some good ones on ebay (Clarke, SIP or Sealey) for around this money

[RichP]

Have a root around on here for some tips

SIP welders get a bit of a slating - as John says Clarke are better thought of. There's a link at the top to the "Weldequip" forum shop if useful.

[brindle]

I would look for something else. For box section steel you will need around 130 amps min (150 ideal) and from the model number I would say that is only 90 amps (could be wrong but I doubt it). It also only has 2 settings and only takes 0.7 wire. More power and adjustability are required IMO. Machine Mart sell the Clarke range for not a lot more plus there are usually some good ones on ebay (Clarke, SIP or Sealey) for around this money

Thanks John,

I guess the 'will weld steel up to 4mm thick' is like the 'battery life of up to 240,000,000 hours' of mobile phones brochures!!

First job is welding 3mm steel - I guess this would have no chance then.  I could get a cheaper more powerful ARC welder, but my experience of them is not great!!

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

On paper it's 90 Amp, but in practice, you probably won't get that much. Doesn't look to be fan cooled either, so the duty cycle will probably be pants. Also looks like a permanently live torch, which is usually a big put-off for most people.

I suspect the 4mm max thickness claim, will be with all the "help" techniques. (Bevelling the joint, pre-heating etc).

[stewart pickles]

i used to have a clarke 150 amp but they have shot up in price now to a level where you are better off getting a really good welder.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop....welders

the clarke is no where near as good as the kit i use now,a kemppi miniarc adaptive 180 even does alloy properly    even a beginner can use it as there is an auto function on it where you tell it the material your welding,and the thickness then it tells you the wire thickness to use,the gas to use and sets the volts and amps you can also set the weld profile, concave,flat and convex

http://www.rapidwelding.com/dynamic/DisplayItem.aspx?c=6108180

[Bud]

Hi Dan

I've got one of these 151TE its a good DIY welder - i've welded most of my landrover chassis and the thinner bulkhead and footwell panels without any problems. Slightly more expensive but worth it over the sip. The kempi is in a different league and may be overkill unless you're planning on doing alot of welding.

Bud

[dhutch]

The 135te, 151te, 205te are all very good welders.

[scruffythefirst]

I've got a 150 t Clark job, but they definately have gone up, I paid just over half the current price

Much better than the SIP i'd used before.

[John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison]

I go my Clarke 151 off ebay for £90 second hand but not that you could tell. Admittedly the Clarke prices have rocketed but ebay seems to be only good these days if you are selling and then the commision fees are extortionate. Not amny bargains on ebay anymore exceping items listed with spelling mistakes in their title  

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

I have found my SIP 130 amp just about up to the job (as the others have stated it is not considered all that good if you read up about it but TBH I have found it reasonably capable) - if I was doing westy stuff it would handle most stuff with ease (chassis related) and does thicker stuff with a bit of pre heat with a gas torch

the one in the advert doesnt appear to have enough adjustment for power

all I would say is if you are going to be doing lots of welding then you would be better of getting sumtin like a portamig but they are double and a bit the price (new) or some of the clarke models (nice n easy cause you can get the bits n pieces from a local machine mart) -

things to look for are quality wire feed mechanism - a good length to torch (my SIP is hopelessly short) - and if possible a dial adjustment on the power rather than the min/max type switches which the manufacturers use to save money

For doing little bits of welding (5-10mins) at a a time on max a 130 amp would be fine, but has to be said you would be better off maybe buying secondhand and getting sumtin better for similar money as you may find the duty cycle frustrating

I would avoid anything less than 130amp, but if you do find a higher amp welder you are interested in just to see if you would need a 16amp socket fitted in your garage which will add to your costs or you will be blowing/tripping fuses etc

I would get on ebay or ask in here if anyone has one for sale (I got mine offered to me from one of the local guys) - you may well find that somebody has upgraded and has a perfectly good lower end welder not in use

oh and check out my price comparison I did on gas costs (comparing small bottles to a BOC) - it's in my Spyder rebuild thread somewhere

either way -welding is rather fun