Hi folks , just joined this forum & I've got a lot of useful info so far by reading the old posts .
This post is about the quality of the current range of sealey MIG welders . I bought my first welder 15 years ago , a sealey 210 amp stick welder . It has been a great workhorse & very smooth to use , even at low amps . I needed something for lighter work so I bought a sealey 130xt mig welder 14 years ago , thinking it would be as good as the mma welder . It definately was not in the same class & I found it impossible to get consistently good welds .
I think the main problem is in the wire feed mechanism . On the bottom 2 settings especially you have to continually adjust the feed rate to get a consistent weld . On the upper 2 settings it isn't too bad but they are really too high for bodywork , the reason I bought the mig in the first place . It cost me £220 back then which was a lot of money to me as I was only earning £60 per week ! :eek: It was the worst investment I ever made in workshop equipment , the best being an air compressor !
At the start I thought it was my lack of ability but after trying out another MIG welder it's definately not the case . A few years ago I had to prepare a stock car for racing which involved installing both an internal & external cage in 40mm box section . I hired out a professional 180 amp mig for a week & found I was able to produce good welds on all power settings . I am currently building a 205 gti track car & again I hired out a similiar welder for patching the bodywork & installing the multi-point roll cage .
After the welder went back I had to weld in the anchors for the 6-point harness & I resorted to using the crappy sealey mig . I had it on power setting 3 as it wasn't welding properly on 1 & 2 and it was a delicate job not to blow holes in the thin pug metal . Another problem with the mig is the welding torch & the lead going to it . The torch is badly made & very plasticky & the lead is very short & made of corrugated plastic similiar to the sleeving used to protect wiring in cars . This makes it very awkward to use under a car as it's too stiff . It has therefore seen little use over the years , probably using only 5 of the small 1kg rolls in it's life .
Recently for any light work I've been using a TIG welder borrowed from work . Unfortunately I've been made redundant & the factory has closed so I'm now considering buying a decent MIG set . I've more work to do on the track car & another rusty 205 TD to put back on the road so I've got plenty of work for one .
I was in my local hardware shop last week & I spotted a Sealey Supermig 180 priced at £399 +vat . I'm a regular customer there so I chatted the salesman & asked him for his best price . He will sell it for £300 +vat , which is a good price considering I'll get the vat back . The only thing is that I'm nervous of buying another Sealey MIG welder after my previous experience . I did notice that it now has a decent torch & lead fitted but has the wire feed mechanism been improved ?
Sorry for such a long post & if you are still awake I would appreciate any comments .
Turbo
This post is about the quality of the current range of sealey MIG welders . I bought my first welder 15 years ago , a sealey 210 amp stick welder . It has been a great workhorse & very smooth to use , even at low amps . I needed something for lighter work so I bought a sealey 130xt mig welder 14 years ago , thinking it would be as good as the mma welder . It definately was not in the same class & I found it impossible to get consistently good welds .
I think the main problem is in the wire feed mechanism . On the bottom 2 settings especially you have to continually adjust the feed rate to get a consistent weld . On the upper 2 settings it isn't too bad but they are really too high for bodywork , the reason I bought the mig in the first place . It cost me £220 back then which was a lot of money to me as I was only earning £60 per week ! :eek: It was the worst investment I ever made in workshop equipment , the best being an air compressor !
At the start I thought it was my lack of ability but after trying out another MIG welder it's definately not the case . A few years ago I had to prepare a stock car for racing which involved installing both an internal & external cage in 40mm box section . I hired out a professional 180 amp mig for a week & found I was able to produce good welds on all power settings . I am currently building a 205 gti track car & again I hired out a similiar welder for patching the bodywork & installing the multi-point roll cage .
After the welder went back I had to weld in the anchors for the 6-point harness & I resorted to using the crappy sealey mig . I had it on power setting 3 as it wasn't welding properly on 1 & 2 and it was a delicate job not to blow holes in the thin pug metal . Another problem with the mig is the welding torch & the lead going to it . The torch is badly made & very plasticky & the lead is very short & made of corrugated plastic similiar to the sleeving used to protect wiring in cars . This makes it very awkward to use under a car as it's too stiff . It has therefore seen little use over the years , probably using only 5 of the small 1kg rolls in it's life .
Recently for any light work I've been using a TIG welder borrowed from work . Unfortunately I've been made redundant & the factory has closed so I'm now considering buying a decent MIG set . I've more work to do on the track car & another rusty 205 TD to put back on the road so I've got plenty of work for one .
I was in my local hardware shop last week & I spotted a Sealey Supermig 180 priced at £399 +vat . I'm a regular customer there so I chatted the salesman & asked him for his best price . He will sell it for £300 +vat , which is a good price considering I'll get the vat back . The only thing is that I'm nervous of buying another Sealey MIG welder after my previous experience . I did notice that it now has a decent torch & lead fitted but has the wire feed mechanism been improved ?
Sorry for such a long post & if you are still awake I would appreciate any comments .
Turbo