suggest a mig under £200 prob gasless

[steveo3002]

hey guys looking for help

id like a budget mig for minor infrequent car jobs...exhaust patch ups , small body work use etc maybe the odd garden gate job once in a blue moon

sinse i dont have a garage im thinking gasless might be an idea? or at least a machine that does both? trouble is all the gasless ones dont seem to have a low setting ( possibly no good for bodywork?)

so any suggestions?

dont want to spend more than £200 , nearer £150 would be better

dont want a live torch, idealy id like a brand that carrys spares at a reasonble cost and has a good following incase i need to trouble shoot in the future , also needs to be useable on a 13amp plug

thanks for any help

id also appreciate any suggestions on vendors if thats allowed here

 

[Wozzaaah]

Hi Steveo, first off, welcome to the forum. You're going to really struggle to find a half-decent machine within your budget, even if you go towards your top end. Clarke is the favoured budget brand but the cheapest Clarke one is the 110E which is still around £180. That one gives you a max of 100 amps which quite honestly is not enough for practical use. You're better off spending £200 and going for the 151en which is a more powerful machine and gives you the option of using gas if needed. For around £225 the 160EN has a higher duty cycle than the 151 but for automotive stuff that's not really an issue.
Woz

 

[steveo3002]

if i purchased one that can be converted to gas...whats involved if i want to do that?

is clarke the better of the budget brands

another consideration is size...i dont have much storage room so nothing huge

 

[AndyP]

if i purchased one that can be converted to gas...whats involved if i want to do that?

is clarke the better of the budget brands

another consideration is size...i dont have much storage room so nothing huge

You need a regulator, gas and normal mig wire. You then simply reverse the polarity by swapping two terminals on the machine, very easy on a dual purpose machine. Regards Andy.

 

[Wozzaaah]

if i purchased one that can be converted to gas...whats involved if i want to do that?

is clarke the better of the budget brands

another consideration is size...i dont have much storage room so nothing huge

Clarke is definitely the preferred budget brand, decent wire feed and readily available spares and support.
Both the Clarke ones I mentioned are dual-purpose so you have the option of using gas if needed. Weldequip sells the gas conversion kits for them for aroud £40 (he also sells the machines and spares). Or.....if you're anywhere near Northants you could buy a nearly new 160EN with a gas kit and some spares for somewhere around the £200 mark

These are the specs for the 151 and 160.
Clarke MIG151EN(Turbo) 700x320x580 25 Kg
Clarke 160EN(Turbo)680x350x470 29 Kg

 

[steveo3002]

do any machines come ready equiped to do both? if its £50 on top i might as well factor that into the budget

not sure i want a second machine unless its very local and very cheap

 

[Wozzaaah]

No Steveo, AFAIK a dual-purpose machine will come set up for gasless operation only so you'll need to get the conversion kit before using it with gas. One to enable use of disposable bottles is around £20 or one for normal refillable ones is around £40. Bear in mind that most hobby migs which comes set up for gas will only have the disposable bottle kit so If you want to upgrade to refillable cylinders you'll need a conversion kit anyway.

 

[AndyP]

Well you can lead a horse to water...

Clarke is definitely the preferred budge
brand, decent wire feed and readily available spares and support.
Both the Clarke ones I mentioned are dual-purpose so you have the option of using gas if needed. Weldequip sells the gas conversion kits for them for aroud £40 (he also sells the machines and spares). Or.....if you're anywhere near Northants you could buy a nearly new 160EN with a gas kit and some spares for somewhere around the £200 mark

These are the specs for the 151 and 160.
Clarke MIG151EN(Turbo) 700x320x580 25 Kg
Clarke 160EN(Turbo)680x350x470 29 Kg

 

[steveo3002]

are machines with a live torch fixed like that for good...or could a non live torch be added at later date

 

[shenion]

are machines with a live torch fixed like that for good...or could a non live torch be added at later date

A "Real" MIG has a separate transformer to run the control board and the wire feeder.

The ones with a live torch have one transformer to be cheap. To convert to non-live, you would have to add a contactor and a separate power transformer.

If it has a live torch, it is a cheap, box-mover unit. Not worth spending any money on.

 

[Wozzaaah]

DO NOT GET A LIVE TORCH MACHINE! Sorry for the shout but they're a pain in the arris! AFAIK they're permanently live.

 

[steveo3002]

A "Real" MIG has a separate transformer to run the control board and the wire feeder.

The ones with a live torch have one transformer to be cheap. To convert to non-live, you would have to add a contactor and a separate power transformer.

If it has a live torch, it is a cheap, box-mover unit. Not worth spending any money on.

sounds fair enough , a newbie has to ask these things