Curiousgeorge
Member
- Messages
- 265
- Location
- Wales
Hi all,
I briefly used a friend's Powercraft MIG Welder today. I don't know the model other than it states that it is '30-135 Amps', as in the pics below:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ylCae9MB4cnn8fXk6a1rHY7D6Z2yzxu4
Because my friend hadn't told me what make, model, etc of Welder it was, I took some steel up to try it on. I started on 10mm steel just to try it and found that it produced cold lap welds which, I assume, is because 10mm is far too much for this little thing to handle. However, on 3mm it did seem to produce just about a decent looking weld although I did struggle to get it sounding 'sweet' (my pathetic use of terminology here, apologies).
My questions -
1. It would seem from reading some threads that these Welders are pretty crap, correct?
2. Until I buy my own, what else can I do to 'make do' with this one. My knowledge of polarity is pretty poor, is there a chance that the polarity could be incorrect on this (desperately searching for a way to get it sounding right)
3. What sort of cash should I be spending on a decent second hand MIG, and what sort of Amp range should it be able to produce to weld on, say, 10mm steel?
Thank you all.
I briefly used a friend's Powercraft MIG Welder today. I don't know the model other than it states that it is '30-135 Amps', as in the pics below:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ylCae9MB4cnn8fXk6a1rHY7D6Z2yzxu4
Because my friend hadn't told me what make, model, etc of Welder it was, I took some steel up to try it on. I started on 10mm steel just to try it and found that it produced cold lap welds which, I assume, is because 10mm is far too much for this little thing to handle. However, on 3mm it did seem to produce just about a decent looking weld although I did struggle to get it sounding 'sweet' (my pathetic use of terminology here, apologies).
My questions -
1. It would seem from reading some threads that these Welders are pretty crap, correct?
2. Until I buy my own, what else can I do to 'make do' with this one. My knowledge of polarity is pretty poor, is there a chance that the polarity could be incorrect on this (desperately searching for a way to get it sounding right)
3. What sort of cash should I be spending on a decent second hand MIG, and what sort of Amp range should it be able to produce to weld on, say, 10mm steel?
Thank you all.