Sub £250 mma inverter shopping

[Rkweld]

I have been scouring the internet looking for an arc welder for tinkering at home. Came across this version of the parweld. Might intrest people looking out for a parweld xts163..

Arc Welders - MMA Welding Machines - Stick Welders - Engweld

For high-quality Arc, MMA and stick welders from top manufacturers at competitive prices, visit Engweld. Buy online today for delivery to your door!

engweld.co.uk

Seems the parwelds are well rated on here, tempted myself. I have been through various thought processes on what i actually need, cheap or more expensive for longevity, higher OCV so I can run 7018 easier or just buy some decent 6013 with the best penetration characteristics.

I am also tempted by this

Jasic PRO 140 Arc Welder

Key Features 3.2MM max electrode diameter MMA / DC Lift TIG Self-adaptive arc force & VRD Weight - 4.7KG Generator friendly Duty cycle - 30% @ 180A 5 year warranty

www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk

Stupid thing is I cannot tell if it comes with leads! Any one bought one and able to clarify?!

I have been enjoying reading on here, scoured most of the buying a welder threads.

I have been through many options for a single phase household friendly welder sub £250 and some of the options are tempting

Gys 160p
Clarke at133,135,162,165
Hyundai hymma160
Tecarc 160i
Rtech pro 135
Esab rogue 150
Parweld xts143,163
Jasic pro 140

I have only used an early telwin tecnica and sip p174. Any voters for a particular machine? I think I would be sold on the jasic at the engweld xpert price because of good things about the service. Too much choice at this level!

 

[Bobupndown]

You could get a blackline 200 with mig function for that price.

 

[Richiew]

I think you will have to have done something really bad in a past life to get a bad inverter for MMA. I have used a few and on single phase I would be hard pressed to tell them apart. They all seem to work well.

I have an earlier Parweld, I think it is a 161. I cant fault it. Pretty sure most on the list of yours would be similar.

 

[Cobbler]

I bought a Jasic Pro 140 about 3 years ago & had to buy the leads separately. It wasn’t from Welding Direct though, maybe Tom includes them, send him a message. It seems a well made piece of kit, no complaints

 

[Richiew]

Have a think about what Bobupndown has said. My Parweld is tiny, it comes with a strap, you can put it over your shoulder and it is small and light enough to use up a ladder. IF, you dont need this portability then an inverter mig might be more versatile. You can Mig with them and they also do stick. The only downside is the extra cost (but still in your budget) and they are a bit bigger so not designed for carrying over your shoulder.

 

[Rkweld]

You could get a blackline 200 with mig function for that price.

I had seen a number of threads you had posted in about the blackline, I will search the threads for the review.

I bought a Jasic Pro 140 about 3 years ago & had to buy the leads separately. It wasn’t from Welding Direct though, maybe Tom includes them, send him a message. It seems a well made piece of kit, no complaints

I have been leaning towards the jasic, Tom from welding direct I presume?

I had also considered the bester 155nd until I read people were having issues with lincoln carrying pcbs if the go wrong. Plus the duty cycle was poor at full whack.

I think you will have to have done something really bad in a past life to get a bad inverter for MMA. I have used a few and on single phase I would be hard pressed to tell them apart. They all seem to work well.

I have an earlier Parweld, I think it is a 161. I cant fault it. Pretty sure most on the list of yours would be similar.

I also had a similar thought when looking at the esab, am I buying the name and spec for no reason as I won't be doing any serious work with it while at home. Tig functions, probably better on a dedicated tig machine.

I have never used an inverter mig though so I will look into that as a second function. Generally lower price mig experiences have been poor for me, such as the dreaded Cosmo SIP 130, got gifted a brandless red 90amp gasless set, sealey mightymig 130 (okish) a deca star which was better but once my old workplace got a lincoln 180 for thin stuff I have not used cheaper migs.

 

[Richiew]

That Blackline is supposed to be quite good. @8ob on here rates it. You cant really compare it to the bottom end stuff of the past, things have moved on a bit. I haven't tried it myself. I am half considering a new inverter Mig myself as my good quality transformer mig still feels a bit buzz boxy if you know what I mean althought i cant fault the wire feed on it.

 

[Rkweld]

Is blackline an independent brand or is that related to the SWP Blackline stuff?

I had origionally been toying with the idea of a 150amp mig but the storage of an inverter and rods is probably something which is more appealing than a larger mig, bottle and keeping wire clean.

I can hide an inverter and rods behind the hoover and sneak rods into the airing cupboard but I would get told off for putting the hoover in the shed so I could keep a migs electrics and wire out of the damp!

 

[Richiew]

Pretty sure it is not SWP. A plain inverter will be much easier to hide though as it will be smaller.

Always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission though...

 

[Bravheart]

Is blackline an independent brand or is that related to the SWP Blackline stuff?

If you've read most of the threads on here you will see Rohr sell a similar box the only difference is a separate plug for gasless mig.

But hey why not support our new sponsor, sure you will get a premium product at sensible money especially when the forum discount code gets sorted.

 

[Rkweld]

I have seen the rohr machines come up and the uptime. I will research them more. I think I had convinced myself on getting an inverter that suits a 13amp supply because of storing a decent mig and the accompanying cylinder etc will take up alot more room. I am competent in either practice and with mig the speed and less heat into the type of work I will use it for is attractive. But also not that much of an issue that stick will be a problem. Also stick set up is quick if you are breaking it down to put it in storage all the time. I will look more into the inverter migs though.

 

[Rkweld]

I had settled on the prospect of multiple machines in the future, short term an inverter for mma of reasonable quality is more compact, when I have more space and funds a better quality 150+amp mig. Maybe the dual purpose inverters are a compromise worth looking at.