dhutch
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| posted on 19/10/10 at 10:16 PM |
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Which MIG welder?
I need a welder.
It will be used in the main for mixed DIY type chores, projects, trailer repair, odd brackets for this and that. Untalented point and squirt.
However it would be nice if it could also weld thinner stuff down to about 1.5 box section (not idea what would be made of that....) and there is also
a strong incentive for it to be able to do some welding on our narrowboat which is made of 6 and 10mm plate. This doesnt need to be pucker good
welding or to 100% penetration, but if it could stick some odd tabs on (say 4mm thick) this would on occasion be very useful indeed.
I know thats a fair bit to ask of any welder, and comments like 'get small mig, and a arcwelder for the boat' have been made but the fact
is i cant stickweld. Let alone lying upside down in the bilge welding vertically and trying to learn on the job!
Budget it some what flexible as i just started a new job (woo) and as last time the boat went onto drydock we ended up forking out £500 for and
engineering shop to come out and do the job because other arrangements fell short at the last minute.
So far ive considered or been suggested.
- A clarke 135/151/205TE all of which ive used in the past.
- A Portamig 215 which gets a lot of attention on the mig-welding forum and looks pukka.
- And the ESAB Caddy which is a very portable inverter based unit (thats not cheap)
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/shop/portamig-mig-welders.htm
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/shop/esab-caddy-c160i.htm
Thoughts?
Daniel
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NigeEss
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| posted on 19/10/10 at 10:34 PM |
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Last year I replaced my trusty old Clarke 120e with a Clarke 160TM and it's so far been very good.
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.................Douglas Adams.
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Peteff
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| posted on 19/10/10 at 10:50 PM |
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If you don't need portability the Portamig will easily cope with 4mm. If you need to run from a generator of 5.5kva or higher then you could
look at the Esab or Kemppi Minarcmig 170.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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orton1966
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 06:03 AM |
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try migtigark
I got my 215amp from migtigark. It carries their own name but I beleive it is the same spec as the portamig machine.
Great machine, strong wire drive, big range (easily cope with the range you want) well made and for what you get good value
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tony-devon
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 07:26 AM |
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if you dont mind what physical size it is? dont know about storage on a narrow boat, but I would look at the esab or cebora range
I have both, esab 170 is a great machine.
will do what you want with ease
I have built armoury doors from 6mm and 8mm plate with great ease, and also welded up exhaust systems for custom bikes 1.6mm 16swg wall tube, no
problems
think mine new was about £600 but that was years ago, newer model might be cheaper
personally I would go for the best second hand model you can find/afford, let someone else make the loss on it
[Edited on 20/10/10 by tony-devon]
heavy is good, heavy is reliable, and if it breaks, hit them with it
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dhutch
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 07:36 AM |
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Ok, thanks for the comments so far, hadnt look at the Kemppi so thats another name in the hat.
Im not expecting to be running it from a generator although as i may be doing a fiar bit of work from a 13amp socket that may be a bonus.
Size wise clearly a small 10kg caddy is going to be easier to lift on and off for working inside the boat, partiuarly when its on hard standing.
However the welder wont every be stored on the boat.
Stuggling to find a huge amount of second hand market having looked on the migforum and on ebay. Is there anywhere else to look?
Daniel
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907
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 07:51 AM |
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Buying a welder is no different to buying anything else, a tin top for instance.
From a car I want, well known make, capable of cruising at motorway speed,
copes with the occasional long journey in comfort, good resale value, etc etc.
(I own an '03 TDi Passat estate.)
A welders the same.
All of the above, with a good range of settings for thin to thick materials,
good duty cycle, fixable if it does go wrong, etc etc.
I own a Lincoln 210, bought second hand for £400.
Last week I had to weld 8mm thick flanges to 6" pipe (3mm wall).
It did it on voltage setting 6 (of 8) with no problem.
Its only downside is portability.
Not the sort of thing you can bung in the boot of your car and take to a mates.
Sorry for the ramble.
Cheers,
Paul G
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hughpinder
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 08:15 AM |
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In addition to the weight of the welder, dont forget the lugging back and forth of the gas cylinder! Also, there is a tremendous advantage for stick
welders when working outside on someting like a barge (I do some agricultural stuff)- I have got good welds in strong winds/wet weather and when you
can't clean the metal well- if you're welding onto 8 mm plate you can just wind the welder up and burn straight through paint and rust if
you need a repair immediately (OK you need some bare metal for the initial strike+Earth, and your weld will be a bit contaminated, but once you get
the weld pool going the paint tends to burn away in advance of the weld, and the weld has good overall strength). Also stick welders can give better
penetration, and the modern inverter DCtig/stick kits are very light indeed.
Just depends on the sorts of things you are going to weld.
Regards
Hugh
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loggyboy
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 09:15 AM |
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My Clarke 90 amp has always served me well for general repairs.
Even on a 5mm thick brake pedal that needed shortening. (I had great trust in my self and the welder for this job!!)
After years of rigerous testing it never failed.
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bonzoronnie
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 09:53 AM |
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I have just replaced my Cebora 180 Autostar with a Lincoln Powertec
Very pleased with it so far, Bit heavy for lugging on a boat though 
Why not slip into your nearest BOC Tradequip centre .... They have some cracking inverter type mig welders in there 
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dhutch
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 10:15 AM |
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quote:
Why not slip into your nearest BOC Tradequip centre .... They have some cracking inverter type mig welders in there
Is that new or
used? Serious comment?
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T66
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 02:42 PM |
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Ive previously owned a Clarke 120 mig , which I used for extensive chassis repairs on a Land Rover - coped without a problem, and was fine with the
thicker stuff too.
SIP - was pants...
Now back with a Clarke 195, powerful, and a delight to use.
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coozer
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| posted on 20/10/10 at 03:05 PM |
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I have a Portamig 185 and its fanyastic. Can handle very thin tintop metal right up to heavy whatever..
When I change the power settings it automatically changes the wire speed and it takes a full size 15kg reel of wire.
I've messed about with all sorts of other cheapo migs but this one is the bee's knee's..
I got it of weldequipe over on the mig-welding forum.
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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dhutch
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| posted on 21/10/10 at 11:33 AM |
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Its a right toss up in my book.
I like Portamig as a tranformer mig, it looks solid, low current settings, detachable euro torch. Sold. Would get a 4m torch too inplace of the 3 if i
could.
But im also temped to go the otherway round, and go with the caddy (prolly the ESAB rather than the kemmpi just on cost) hummm!!!
I guess its one of those things where if a decision is hard it probably doesn't matter!
Are there any durabilty issues with inverter MIGs if you abuse them?
Daniel
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dhutch
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| posted on 23/11/10 at 03:38 PM |
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As a followup, im not the proud owner of a ESAB Caddy160, with the regulator and plug adapter package, from weldequip.
Ive only had it 10 days so early days, but very happy so far indeed.
- Ordered it at two in the afternoon and arrived and was left with nextdoor the following day. Service.
- Its very light indeed and the longish hose with quick release allows it to be lugged around and pluged in/out of the gas.
- Took an unwanted boc 'size x' argosheild from a freind and created my own account and moved it over with ease.
- Produces as nice a weld as i ever have with anything else (only learning so far) and is very smooth when doing it.
- Single dial power setting is very simple and easy to use. Didnt even touch the 'hotter colder' (burnback?) nob yet.
- Welded 4mm to 10mm in a single pass, and with a double pass seemed perfectly happy sticking a small bracket of 10mm onto the10 also. All at the end
of a pair of 25m 2.25mm^2 leads off a 13amp fuse.
Cons
- The 'nearly full' cylinder was actaully nearly empty and i had to get it refilled. Not a bigged. £40
- As it has all captive cables (torch/earth/powerin) its a shame the cable tidy isnt better designed.
- As there is no cylinder stand with the welder you will need to make/buy one as the cylinder is very tall/narrow otherwise
- The adjustable shoulder strap is cheap and slipped/undoes. Again a minor issue as you can just tie a knot in it, but nearly wasnt when i slipped
undone when i lifted the unit up with it and was just about to carry it over a 10ft drop.
Also, as a slight aside. Welding wet paint upside in the dark is not overly clever if wearing only fleese and rigger gloves.
Daniel
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