Twice a year welding what is best

[tilly100]

I have a old ford minibus which I use for taking the kids out and holidays etc. However every year I spend £100 - £150 on welding depending on how fussy I am for the past 3 years. (Keeping the bus for another few years yet) The amount of use for a welder is once or twice a year.

I have looked at the info on this site and took a educated poke into the dark with it. So here is my list of products I have came up with:

2.5mm 4800 Unitrode E7018 Electrode Vacpac 5kg - general use at £6.93 or SIFtrode 6013 Mild Steel Electrodes at £11.70

ESAB Eco-Arc 90 X 110mm Welding Helmet - no batterys to fail at £8.87 after a couple of years or £11.98 at weldequip

welding gloves at £4.2 or £2.99 weldequip

fire proof overall/apron at £15 0r £12 from weldequip

which works out to £39.96 or £43.34 (both inc postage) from weldequip. Not much between them.

So that's my list which leaves £56 to buy a welder for repairing my bus.

As I write on ebay I put a bid in silly price for a old oxford?

In a fit of maddness I won a cheap welder AC Oxford RT110 £46

So from the above I am on the right lines. I have welded before but a long time ago.

Regards to all

 

[john224]

I see where you are coming from But Will be hard to use an ARC welder on OLD rusty bodywork tryed myself not very good you will need plently of practice before trying,
IN my opinion Should of gone for a mig welder realy would of been easier , and quicker,,
But others might say different,, Anyway happy welding,,

 

[SirDick Diodenob esquire]

I am in similar position having bought a 1997 Transit for £180 so it needs welding , have had a dabble with an arc invertor and 2.5mm rods and on the lowest setting I can get it to melt the rods which is around 40 to 45 amps it just blows the van metal away , if I carry on there will be no van left so I am not doing anymore with it . Bought a Thermal Arc 180 Mig for £60 and this looks like more chance of working on the van as its got a lower minimum current and seems easier to me on thin metal , I am a complete novice with arc and mig .

 

[Dusty]

now if it was an old mk1 transit, you'd just about get away with stick welding (been there done that!) but a modern van ER,.....well GOOD LUCK!

(there used to be a devise that pluged in to the rodholder that had a transformer(?) thingy that dropped the power so you could arc thin stuff, had one once can't remember what it's called......anyone? )

 

[Chickenjohn]

You need to get a Mig welder to weld your transit. I would just keep paying the garage if it is only £100- 150 at each MOT. That is cheap!

 

[tilly100]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am only welding the chassis as I know arc is not good for body panels. But for the price of the welder I just bought I belive I am on the right track. (I have 6mm plate steel from work for free)

When the body work needs welding I will get a gasless one as the minibus has a good body it's just the rust comes back because it's a Ford transit MK5 and the welding shop just does the patchs that are required for the MOT. I want just to do what every I found but bloody people will not do it. Hence my go at welding.

The other items do they sound about right or should invest in a auto helmet but with the fact of so little use it will get.

Some of the comments on this site suggest the oxford is a good make to start with.

Regards to all

 

[Shedendman]

It might be a slight help if you have a look or join here
http://fordtransit.org
maybe not about welding as such but might be some help

 

[tilly100]

It might be a slight help if you have a look or join here
http://fordtransit.org
maybe not about welding as such but might be some help

I have joined this site years ago and found it to be very useful and thats how I found this site.

From what I have listed for my welding requiements do you think my list of equipment match's? The reason for this is one list is from the Weldequip shop and the other is a online web site. The welding rods are not the same manufacturers so which one is better or does it not matter.

Having read a bit more about the Oxford it looks like I made a good choice for a starter machine. I will be welding 6.00mm steel plate to a 2-3mm steel box section or thicker steel. I will be ordering something by tomorrow, I don't want to pay 2-3 times for postage.

Regards to all

 

[the snooper]

6mm plate is very thick just for a transit chassis i dont think the original chassis is even 2mm thick so you may start to blow holes in the original.
dont forget the amperage suited to the 6mm plate will be too much for the original chassis.you would have been better off with a mig

 

[brightspark]

smallest rods are 1/16 will weld up to 3/16 the:: amperage setting 20 to 40 amp u can generaly weld landy chassis with them with some practice try on scrap 1st the size your using

 

[Dogbreath23]

Tilly mate, get a clarke mig welder, theyre cheap as chips and easy enuff to use! dont go for gasless wire tho, its cak! all youlll do is make a orrible mess! also 6mm plate? thats WAY to heavy for repairing chassis! 1.5mm at the most! Good luck with it tho!

 

[shenion]

Get some 2mm electrodes and you can do the frame. I find 1.6mm actually run hotter.

If you can find smaller 704 rods, tey will be easiest on thinner stuff. Easy on 2-3mm.

 

[tilly100]

So my freebies from work are no good for repairing my ford transit chassis. However if I use the same thickness or just over then with practice I could make a repair.

The aim is to repair the chassis before the rust is so bad for the MOT which is what happening now. The welder I have been using will only repair what is damaged and not an area which will need welding in the coming years. (Cost is £50-£80 per patch)

Any work on the bus is done outside so gas welders could be hard to use (last time I used mig outside I could not get it to work, wind would blow the gas away) and if I only weld once or twice a year the cost of bottles etc mounts up (cheapest setup is around £170 and that does not include the other startup items so in the end over £230+ which is nearly 2 years worth of welding on the van. If I can buy everything for under £80 and even repair 1 patch then I have enjoyed myself, learned something and still be able to keep the welding stuff for years to come. (no gas filling of bottles etc)

Yes MIG is better but a arc welder is more compact (just a weight issue with the oxford) and with practice you never know. Even if it all fails £60 is what I have lost and you can spend that one time at the football match. I am looking forward to having a go and I will inform you guys what happens with the bus. The test now is which rods (general purpose may not be the way forward as some of you guys are saying)

Regards to all

 

[Chickenjohn]

6mm plate is very thick just for a transit chassis i dont think the original chassis is even 2mm thick so you may start to blow holes in the original.
dont forget the amperage suited to the 6mm plate will be too much for the original chassis.you would have been better off with a mig

I agree, this isn't going to work!! You will blow the chassis away.

The transit chassis is probably 1.5mm at most and you won't be able to arc weld 6mm to this.

Get a mig welder and some steel the same thickness as your chassis, 1.5 or 2mm at most, or just keep taking the bus to the garage for its annual MOT weldup.