Migmate T135 Turbo mig welder thoughts

[mark1967]

If your new to welding the best place to look is here : http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/
Join the forum,loads of friendly advice one or two suppliers on there too.One of them has an online shop and does the Clarke range quite cheap. From personal experience and a lot of anecdotal as well I`d steer clear of anything with SIP written on it. The Clarke 150 turbo is a popular choice but the smaller ones are OK too for oddjobs.One of the things you should be looking at is the lowest current setting,you want 25 -30 amps max for doing bodywork.The screwfix link had a minimum 60 amp which would blow a lot of holes in a 20 odd yr old van The best tip is to get one better than you think you will need as once you have learnt to stick bits of steel together you`ll be up to allsorts

[Plasticman]

Good spot Mark, never noticed that at the time.
m

[HarryMann]

From personal experience and a lot of anecdotal as well I`d steer clear of anything with SIP written on it. The Clarke 150 turbo is a popular choice but the smaller ones are OK too for oddjobs.

Agree, my Clarke 151 TE has been all I could have hoped for (up to 4 mm I reckon, about the max off a normal 13 Amp supply). Nice wire feed motor (slight mod to spool munting to make it smoother), keep it clean and serviced, learn the art (settings mainly, by test strips), took me ages, should have done a course...

and yes, Pro machines are much easier to learn on, as they are more tolerant.
and yes, a good Auto-Darkening helmet worth its weight in gold (but not a real cheapy)
and always have tons of LIGHT flooding the job, even under the car, block out light strong back-light.

Nothing wrong with 'hobby' gas bottles, much easier to hump around and don't run out as fast as people think... you are not welding yards and yards daily.

[Plasticman]

Agreed, I think this is a really useful thread, its a subjective thing, none of us are on the make and I suppose I try to think its my money Im spending and what would I buy?
That comes to absolute max price I can go to and get the best I can for what I want to do, and we all hate the feeling of being ripped or paying over the odds,
future use should be considered but the here and now is what matters this is a decent unit http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/shop/mig-welders.htm and the forum is good,
Either way your fun is going to start when those plucking pinkies get as dexterous with the mig trigger as the plectum.
mike

[PeteIOM]

Well taking all the above into account and the fact that mig-welding.co.uk list the Isle of Man as a delivery service (pretty fair price too!) I'm leaning towards towards the Clarke 160TM.. Which is a little more than I was going to spend originally but not alot.

[Nicola&Tony]

Well taking all the above into account and the fact that mig-welding.co.uk list the Isle of Man as a delivery service (pretty fair price too!) I'm leaning towards towards the Clarke 160TM.. Which is a little more than I was going to spend originally but not alot.

A wise decision imho. I've used that mig welding forum a number of times since I bought a welder. The consensus on there for diy welders is the Clarke machines and avoid Sip because they are notorious for erratic wire speed (but not impossible to weld with, as others on here will testify, including me). Weldequip's shop on there (which metalmick8y linked to) is also excellent, he's a really helpful bloke.

I bought a cheap-ish welder (I hadn't heard about the mig welding forum back then), it was a false economy and I want summat better now.

Tony

[syncrosimon]

That Clarke 160 looks a fantastic welder. My only reservation about it would be that it only takes 5kg of wire, which if you are only doing bits and pieces of welding would last years. I use 0.7kg reels, and find that the reels go rusty if left without use. I have found that welding with rusty wire does not work.

I am only a hobby welder, and use my Sip only occasionally, and for this it has been excellent. I dearly wish it was more powerful though.

You can spool off the rusty bits of wire, but it is something I have found that effects me as a hobby welder.

Just being able to fix things with a simple weld yourself is pure joy. I just mended a cherished box spanner by welding up a crack on it, so much more satisfying than going out and buying a new one.

I love welding, and the hearty bacon and eggs crackle of a good weld is music to your ears, again to me as a novice I can tell just as much by listening to the weld as by looking at it, and in awkward spaces this is very useful.

[Plasticman]

Think it takes 15kg as well! can you get adaptors to run .07 on the full size spooldrives? either way 5kg is quite cheap,and if its been stood a while have a look and wind some off, (not through the torch as all the carp will be in there) just dont ever buy elcheapo wire,
mike

[HarryMann]

None of you will be welding enough to worry about 0.7, 5 or 15 kg reels...

Seriously , priorities, who cares about changing a reel or paying a dollar or two more per Kg.. ????

What matters is that wire is fresh, un-corroded wire.

So 0.7 KG is just fine.. as is 5Kg, 15 kg is really academic?

I ran out yesterday after months of welding, 5 miles to a Halfords, another (0.7kg) reel of mild 0.6, (have a 0.8 stainless in stock) and bought another bottle of gas so I've a spare.

What matters more is what everyone is saying they have found (often from bitter experience, me too) that the welder is a good model that feeds smoothly and accurately and has very good amperage control at low voltages, and plenty of current at high settings, not whether you can fork-lift load a ton of wire into it

NB. I notice the advert for the 160 TM says non-refillable bottles run out in minutes. That's a bit of a stretch, and not true (of course minutes, but lots of them)
I was initially convinced I needed pub gas or a refillable bottle, quite a commitment. I sorted the regulator and a pub bottle but have never used it, preferring the portability (a 25 yard drag over rough surface from shed to vehicle) of a welder with a hobby bottle...

Maybe my C02 regulator is duff and doesn't consume much gas, but I don't think so...

* My first was a MigMate, sold within months as the wire-feed was knackered , but as an eBay package, it came with a good auto-helmet and a range of regulators. So sometimes the extras are worth more than the main item

[HarryMann]

Ok, so some MIG MODS to make a good welder even better IMHO

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ge ... ifications

[HarryMann]

.. and some ideas for improvised/DIY deep drop or deep reach welding clamps:

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ge ... Improvised

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ge ... _Home-made

[PeteIOM]

dang!! mig welder.co.uk is on hols til 3rd august ;(

[Plasticman]

mike

[Nicola&Tony]

dang!! mig welder.co.uk is on hols til 3rd august ;(

That gives you plenty of time to think about all the extras that your gonna need (including the h&s stuff), time to study the tutorials on the migwelding forum and to hunt around for lots of scrap bits of thin steel to practice on. There's a fair old shopping list that you need to get you set-up from scratch.

Tony

[PeteIOM]

For sure.. must of it will be ordered at the same time.