WELDER, Which one??

[Grifter]

Right, i'm goona bite the bullet and buy myself a welder, What would be a good one to buy that would be up to the job of welding panels and making repairs, I've been looking at the Clarke gas migs but dont know anything about welders so i'm looking for some advice?

Cheers,

Rick

[CovKid]

Running time is the deciding factor. Most cheaper MIGs seem to have a working period before their thermal overload kicks in and it takes a well earned break. There are a few factors but that may be your starting point. Mines about ten mins solid welding but I can live with that.

I figure a fan might give me an extra 5

[Nicola&Tony]

The Clarke machines seem to be very popluar amongst the folk on the mig welding forum:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some very good tutorials and videos on there as well. Don't get carried away with looking for something that can provide lots of amps for welding thick steel if it's bodywork and other thin stuff that you're mainly going to use it for. Look to see how low the minimum power settings can go, when looking for a machine to do bodywork repairs imho.

Tony

[Grifter]

Right then, thats all as clear as mud! lol whats a good ampage to weld panels, bearing in mind i'm not planning on doing ang chassis repairs?

[lambrettalee]

got a snap on gas mig myself , had it for 10 yrs with no issues at all, you get what you pay for ....

[Damien]

When welding body panels you should get a fair amount of use before it cuts out if at all, i used to use a sip migmate 130 turbo, it never cut out on settings 1 and 2. They get a slating on the mig forum but i never had a problem with mine You'll be needing a low setting of about 30-40amps for welding the thin stuff, some cheapo migs lowest setting is 60 which will blow holes rather than welding. The sip i had had 6 power settings where as most of the clarkes have 4.

For what you need a clarke 110e is probably good enough (get these for about £200). But have a look on mig forum classified section or the bay of theives.

I got my current MIG (sealey mightymig 160) with a full bottle of argoshield for £200, had very little use until i got it.

[Rozzo]

i got mine off jamesc76 for a bargain price but i cant remember what its called. its ace tho and i use it gasless. welded up the trailing arms with it no trouble. gonna do the passenger side step next i reckon.
i'm sure jim will be along shortly to tell us what it is but i do know its a workshop model and never cuts out at all.

[fix]

Talk to weldore on the welding forum he will advise on what welder to buy and can supply them.

IIRC the brand new clarke welders are meant to have poor build qualities,weldore will confirm.

I have an old Clarke 100 welder (90amp) that works ok to say it is quite old, its ok for thin stuff but if i was buying another id want abit more power

[Nicola&Tony]

Talk to weldore on the welding forum he will advise on what welder to buy and can supply them.

If I'm thinking about the same bloke as you, I think his username on the mig forum is weldequip.

Tony

[bennwedge]

I use a sealey supermig 185 which I picked up 2nd hand for £350 . It's brilliant

[talkingwhippet]

Hi.
I'm using an old Sealey 180/1 Supermig. Paid about £160 with 2 bottles of CO2 and a Speedglas mask thrown in. Looks rough but works really well. I use an Argon/CO2 mix because works better for thin stuff - especially if you're a beginner like me. I've never done gasless - just looks too messy!

You may want to think about quality of wire-feed mechanism & torch at this price-range. Mine has a Euro-torch fitting, which makes replacements easier & cheaper. Also good to have something in reserve in terms of amps - ended up welding stuff on my trailer & other things in garden, so extra power useful!!

Best advice I think is to go on mig forum using link in post above - loads of good stuff on here - do lots of research and take your time. Possible to get decent second-hand machines if you hunt around.

I also did a Mig course at local tech college - that helped me a lot.
Good luck,
David

[asahartz]

I've had a Clarke, when it died I replaced it with a SIP Migmate 130. Both have taught me something.

People will tell you SIPs have wire feed problems. However there is a £5 mod kit available, and I've had no trouble since.

I found the SIP to be a nicer welder than the Clarke - neater results. However the Clarke has spares for the gun, while the SIP needs a whole new gun when the swan-neck gets damaged! At this point I fitted a Eurotorch conversion as it cost only a little more than a new gun assembly, and again spares are available and cheap. That was a revelation! Much, much better to weld with than the cheaper built-in guns, plus a 4 metre hose so I don't have to keep dragging the welder round the car.

So my advice would be, whatever you get, try to go for one with a Eurotorch fitting. It will be well worth the slight extra cost.

Don't worry too much about current (amps) ratings for car bodies - you don't need much. My SIP (130 amp) will weld anything I need - from car bodies to trailer chassis.

One other tip - treat yourself to an automatic welding mask. For £40 for the cheapest, they just make the job so much easier.

[pockets]

I did my first welding pratice the other week using a Clarke 135TE turbo, it was a mates who had been on a well respected welding course at the local collage and the tutors recommended that model, matey bought it cheaper from lawsonhis website instead of machine mart.

[fix]

Talk to weldore on the welding forum he will advise on what welder to buy and can supply them.

If I'm thinking about the same bloke as you, I think his username on the mig forum is weldequip.

Tony

What a numpty i am yes i meant weldequip not weldore from here!