Kit Car Roy
Member
- Messages
- 5
Lincoln 161C from Rapid my final Choice
I have written this thread in an attempt to assist others buying a new welder and hopefully save you mony, disappointment and research time, I speak as I find and will say it as I see it; I'm sure some will agree and others disagree; so be it. I have put my conclusion at the top of the thread and those that want to know why I made these choices can read the whole thread below if they wish.
Conclusion
Supplier Chosen [/B]- Rapid Welding
Rapid Welding are the 'Dogs Danglies' supplier in my view, communication was excellent at all times, they call you back, they have all the time in the world for you and they care in the process; I spoke to 2 chaps a few times i.e. Andy and Garry, both are experienced welders and very professional with it. Rapids' web site is also very user friendly and gives a lot of information.
Garry set up my test run and was a great guy to work with; Andy called a week after I had bought a welder to see if all was OK (nice touch). Rapid also bothered to send a proper top copy printed invoice over and above the hand written receipt I was given at that time, (another nice touch)
Spot on chaps, thanks, it doesn't get any better!
Machine Chosen - Lincoln 161C
Lincoln 161C - I bought the Lincoln in the end; my tests went about how I had expected and took the Lincoln home with me. Boy is the Lincoln wire feed a serious unit for this kind of money and the whole machine build quality is excellent. I paid £450 plus VAT; incredible value for this level of machine and pedigree and it comes with 3 years Warranty too!
Kemppi Minarc MIG - Excellent welder but I preferred the heavier Lincoln and particularly the build quality of the Lincoln wire feed unit. The Kemppi was an extremely light machine and is ideal for regular site work, although I was personally not so keen on the wire feed unit, the wire feed did work extremely well and in a controlled manner overall the Kemppi performed in a very similar way to the Lincoln. Either of the above machines would have satisfied my needs.
Site Work - I will want to test a Lincoln Power Mig 180 portable unit against the above Kemppi machine at some point during 2010 when budgets allow; my gut feeling is that the Lincoln will win; only time will tell.
Portamig - Untested
Other makes - I considered several others makes and models but discounted them because they were either not likely to do the job or simply too costly for home use.
How, Why, What and Why Not ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objective
Fed up with lugging very big heavy welding machines home regularly so that I can make decent welds on my Kit Car or any other job that is at hand, be it for me or someone else, I needed to buy a suitable welder for my personal workshop/garage.
I am not a welder by trade but have 'glued' Ali, MS and SS together since welding as part of my apprenticeship 400 years ago (1970's) primarily Gas and Stick in those days. I have not touched gas since; gas simply does not fit any requirement for me today and my skill level would be a tad iffy too.
TIG or MIG?
There are only 2 choices with my home welding hat on, i.e. TIG or MIG, anything else simply doesn't fit. I can personally only afford 1 option as finances dictate.
My experience using DIY level welders shows that they were not much good other than for 'tacking'; what I mean by this is that I have bought and used other peoples cheapo MIGS in the past and end up using them for 'tacking' then end up lugging something useful home to weld with or alternatively arranging top quality welding by experts such as 'Exact Weld'; a local company that weld tidier than I can write.
TIG Option?
I bought a TIG for home use a couple of years back and used it to create my Stainless Exhaust Manifold, Stainless Roll Cage and a few other Mild steel jobs of various sizes, job done. TIG is slower than MIG (at least when I'm doing it) but speed does not matter at home; the control was nice to have but try tacking under the 'bum end' of a Caterham Seven style Kit Car with a TIG machine and you'll soon want to buy a MIG again for home use.
MIG?
TIG machine now sold, I needed a fairly priced MIG with professional qualities i.e. I needed one that would help me do the job, not hinder me; it needed to be good enough to stop me lugging big heavy beasts home in order to weld properly yet not break the bank. Due to cost limitations I limited the requirement to 5mm max so could just get away with a good quality 150A MIG if I prepared the job properly, (most of my work will be less that 4mm anyway and I could always lug a machine home if I needed more power.
There are 3 basic components that provide a MIG machine with the ability to work properly in order to provide you with a chance of welding as it should.
Wire Feed - probably the most important element in my view. Wire feed units such as the ones found in welders sold by DIY and car part distributors simply are not good enough. I had an SIP 150 Turbo once upon a time and after my initial tests at home I modified the wire feed mechanism, YUK! SIP must be the worst welding kit in the World! If you own one still, add to this thread and I'll tell you how to modify the wire feed unit to improve your welding for just 15 minutes effort and the cost of just 2 self tappers; it will still be an SIP but may give a you a chance. I used the SIP for tacking in the end but I did weld a few bits with it reasonably OK.
Transformer and Rectifier - the quality of these vary immensely, if the transformer is too small or the rectifier drops too many volts on initial strike (surge) it will spit and pop then eventually pick up if you're lucky. What specifications do not provide you with is how the unit will react when the arc is struck and how stable the arc and wire feed will be after that.
Test it out
Would you spend £200 on a second hand car without testing it … No? Would you spend £500 for a higher specification second hand car without testing it? ….No? …….Then make sure you test run the welder you are thinking of buying before you buy it, you may wish to change your mind!
If you do arrange a test drive then take your cash with you, i.e. do not waste the suppliers' time.
Viable Choices
One thing is for sure; I did not want a cheapo DIY welder; been there, done that! I had a few hundred pounds in my bin from selling my TIG machine and my budget was set at up to £700, I was hoping for less than that. I proceeded with my research.
I was also asked to investigate PORTABLE 180A MIG offerings at the same time to be considered for budget purposes and professional on-site use, this therefore became part of my investigation, in essence the requirement was the same i.e. professional level performance, reliability, backup and price but easy to carry around.
My research and eventual purchase shows that a very good deal can be struck for a welder that meets all my needs at an affordable cost, any money much less than I paid and you will be patching car body work and not much else, and if it does not have a decent wire feed and transformer even that will be compromised.
My research showed that a Portable 'inverter' MIG could also be purchased for not much extra money i.e. Kemppi Minarc MIG being my chosen portable to test.
My Short List
After lots of 'Internet searching', reading of 'Welding Forums', 'Chats with professional welders, friends etc. I ended up with 3 potential welders that looked like they could be for me at home, site work pointed to the Kemppi. Lincoln or Kemppi pointed to me. The final options were as follows:
Lincoln 161C or 191C - for use by me at home and for the odd site work (a tad heavy for moving around but not all bad)
Kemppi Minarc range - Site work, portability being the key here, this could have been my home choice too.
Portamig - If you search for MIG welder prices etc. then Portamig pops up all over the place, I had never heard of them until my recent internet searching so I thought worth a test. I did however discount Portamig very early on, delivery time was one issue and also I considered that the Lincoln and Kemppi would better than the Portamig, untested this but that is as I considered, 180A would be nice if that is a true usable figure but 3 years Warranty and the Lincoln or Kemppi pedigree wins for me.
Conclusion
See top of thread
Good Luck and enjoy your welding.
I have written this thread in an attempt to assist others buying a new welder and hopefully save you mony, disappointment and research time, I speak as I find and will say it as I see it; I'm sure some will agree and others disagree; so be it. I have put my conclusion at the top of the thread and those that want to know why I made these choices can read the whole thread below if they wish.
Conclusion
Supplier Chosen [/B]- Rapid Welding
Rapid Welding are the 'Dogs Danglies' supplier in my view, communication was excellent at all times, they call you back, they have all the time in the world for you and they care in the process; I spoke to 2 chaps a few times i.e. Andy and Garry, both are experienced welders and very professional with it. Rapids' web site is also very user friendly and gives a lot of information.
Garry set up my test run and was a great guy to work with; Andy called a week after I had bought a welder to see if all was OK (nice touch). Rapid also bothered to send a proper top copy printed invoice over and above the hand written receipt I was given at that time, (another nice touch)
Spot on chaps, thanks, it doesn't get any better!
Machine Chosen - Lincoln 161C
Lincoln 161C - I bought the Lincoln in the end; my tests went about how I had expected and took the Lincoln home with me. Boy is the Lincoln wire feed a serious unit for this kind of money and the whole machine build quality is excellent. I paid £450 plus VAT; incredible value for this level of machine and pedigree and it comes with 3 years Warranty too!
Kemppi Minarc MIG - Excellent welder but I preferred the heavier Lincoln and particularly the build quality of the Lincoln wire feed unit. The Kemppi was an extremely light machine and is ideal for regular site work, although I was personally not so keen on the wire feed unit, the wire feed did work extremely well and in a controlled manner overall the Kemppi performed in a very similar way to the Lincoln. Either of the above machines would have satisfied my needs.
Site Work - I will want to test a Lincoln Power Mig 180 portable unit against the above Kemppi machine at some point during 2010 when budgets allow; my gut feeling is that the Lincoln will win; only time will tell.
Portamig - Untested
Other makes - I considered several others makes and models but discounted them because they were either not likely to do the job or simply too costly for home use.
How, Why, What and Why Not ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objective
Fed up with lugging very big heavy welding machines home regularly so that I can make decent welds on my Kit Car or any other job that is at hand, be it for me or someone else, I needed to buy a suitable welder for my personal workshop/garage.
I am not a welder by trade but have 'glued' Ali, MS and SS together since welding as part of my apprenticeship 400 years ago (1970's) primarily Gas and Stick in those days. I have not touched gas since; gas simply does not fit any requirement for me today and my skill level would be a tad iffy too.
TIG or MIG?
There are only 2 choices with my home welding hat on, i.e. TIG or MIG, anything else simply doesn't fit. I can personally only afford 1 option as finances dictate.
My experience using DIY level welders shows that they were not much good other than for 'tacking'; what I mean by this is that I have bought and used other peoples cheapo MIGS in the past and end up using them for 'tacking' then end up lugging something useful home to weld with or alternatively arranging top quality welding by experts such as 'Exact Weld'; a local company that weld tidier than I can write.
TIG Option?
I bought a TIG for home use a couple of years back and used it to create my Stainless Exhaust Manifold, Stainless Roll Cage and a few other Mild steel jobs of various sizes, job done. TIG is slower than MIG (at least when I'm doing it) but speed does not matter at home; the control was nice to have but try tacking under the 'bum end' of a Caterham Seven style Kit Car with a TIG machine and you'll soon want to buy a MIG again for home use.
MIG?
TIG machine now sold, I needed a fairly priced MIG with professional qualities i.e. I needed one that would help me do the job, not hinder me; it needed to be good enough to stop me lugging big heavy beasts home in order to weld properly yet not break the bank. Due to cost limitations I limited the requirement to 5mm max so could just get away with a good quality 150A MIG if I prepared the job properly, (most of my work will be less that 4mm anyway and I could always lug a machine home if I needed more power.
There are 3 basic components that provide a MIG machine with the ability to work properly in order to provide you with a chance of welding as it should.
Wire Feed - probably the most important element in my view. Wire feed units such as the ones found in welders sold by DIY and car part distributors simply are not good enough. I had an SIP 150 Turbo once upon a time and after my initial tests at home I modified the wire feed mechanism, YUK! SIP must be the worst welding kit in the World! If you own one still, add to this thread and I'll tell you how to modify the wire feed unit to improve your welding for just 15 minutes effort and the cost of just 2 self tappers; it will still be an SIP but may give a you a chance. I used the SIP for tacking in the end but I did weld a few bits with it reasonably OK.
Transformer and Rectifier - the quality of these vary immensely, if the transformer is too small or the rectifier drops too many volts on initial strike (surge) it will spit and pop then eventually pick up if you're lucky. What specifications do not provide you with is how the unit will react when the arc is struck and how stable the arc and wire feed will be after that.
Test it out
Would you spend £200 on a second hand car without testing it … No? Would you spend £500 for a higher specification second hand car without testing it? ….No? …….Then make sure you test run the welder you are thinking of buying before you buy it, you may wish to change your mind!
If you do arrange a test drive then take your cash with you, i.e. do not waste the suppliers' time.
Viable Choices
One thing is for sure; I did not want a cheapo DIY welder; been there, done that! I had a few hundred pounds in my bin from selling my TIG machine and my budget was set at up to £700, I was hoping for less than that. I proceeded with my research.
I was also asked to investigate PORTABLE 180A MIG offerings at the same time to be considered for budget purposes and professional on-site use, this therefore became part of my investigation, in essence the requirement was the same i.e. professional level performance, reliability, backup and price but easy to carry around.
My research and eventual purchase shows that a very good deal can be struck for a welder that meets all my needs at an affordable cost, any money much less than I paid and you will be patching car body work and not much else, and if it does not have a decent wire feed and transformer even that will be compromised.
My research showed that a Portable 'inverter' MIG could also be purchased for not much extra money i.e. Kemppi Minarc MIG being my chosen portable to test.
My Short List
After lots of 'Internet searching', reading of 'Welding Forums', 'Chats with professional welders, friends etc. I ended up with 3 potential welders that looked like they could be for me at home, site work pointed to the Kemppi. Lincoln or Kemppi pointed to me. The final options were as follows:
Lincoln 161C or 191C - for use by me at home and for the odd site work (a tad heavy for moving around but not all bad)
Kemppi Minarc range - Site work, portability being the key here, this could have been my home choice too.
Portamig - If you search for MIG welder prices etc. then Portamig pops up all over the place, I had never heard of them until my recent internet searching so I thought worth a test. I did however discount Portamig very early on, delivery time was one issue and also I considered that the Lincoln and Kemppi would better than the Portamig, untested this but that is as I considered, 180A would be nice if that is a true usable figure but 3 years Warranty and the Lincoln or Kemppi pedigree wins for me.
Conclusion
See top of thread
Good Luck and enjoy your welding.