Go ebay but buy what?
SIP have a terrible reputation, it amazes A, that they continue to manufacture welders with this rep and B manage to sell any.
Budget £350-£400? buying new go for a Clarke, secondhand? dodgy.
Have a look at Weldequip's shop at top of page.
I have not looked in a while.
£315.00 will buy a Clarke 160amp jobbie, great reputation.
£435.00 will buy a Parweld 170amp jobbie with euro torch.
I would find the extra £20.00, a bit more power and a more industrial machine that has space to carry the gas bottle. Euro torch? this means the torch can be removed in a few seconds and is probably better made than the fitted version on the cheaper welder.
A more powerful machine is not working as hard as a lower powered version at a given setting. Also you can always turn it down, but you cant turn a lower powered unit up any higher than it says on the box.
The advantage of the euro torch is that you get a longer reach....great if your deep in a disco or 110 !!! but the clarke 160tm is said to be a good place to start by several landy ownwerson here , me included. But if you can, Go for the parweld as suggested.
By the time youve converted 160 to euro torch to get the extra reach you spent as much!
That said I still really rate my 160tm as a Good Buy and Excellent first Mig. easy to set up and takes a full size bottle on the back.
You pay's yer money and takes yer choice......
Dusty
Well, once you're up to £400 you may as well go to £500... and then you're in Portamig territory.
MigTigArc have a few MIGs around that price, anything that looks like the current Oxfords is effectively a Portamig with another badge because they're all built in the same place. I have three differnt branded welders and they all have the samemaker's name on the electronics - and one of them looks like a Portamig/Oxford!
See if you can put it through as a company purchase (via a mate or whatever): I've seen this done before - you get your welder and the purchaser claims the VAT back. It's not like HMRC pops around to check the buyer actually has the item.
It's entirely possible, too, that the 'industrial' SIPs aren't as black as the budget models are painted on here. In fact I started with a SIP and anything I welded with it is still stuck together so it may have lacked finesse but it worked (and for £80, what do you want?).
As above posts mainly.... clarke are OK it seems. Paid £400 +vat or there about for my miller 171.....plenty of decent kit to chose from....avoid SIP like the proverbial......
I binned a "new" sip 150 before it had done 2 small rolls, utter crap in a box.
Thanks for the advice.
Parweld 170amp probably a little expensive
Are sealey units any good - Supermig 180 MIG for example ?
The Clarke 160 might be a good way to go