New Toy

[Gatemaker]

Hi just bought a Thermal Arc fabricator 200 mig i was advised by the shop that this was the best model for what i needed to weld up to 7mm mild steel
what i have been looking for is a chart that gives a guide for speed, power settings against metal thickness .I am a total newbie to this and would be great full for any input and help, the only welding i have done is with a DIY (Destroy It Your Self) mig100 which is really fit for a paper weight so im looking forward to playing around with this kit at the weekend.

 

[Endacy]

Welcome. That machine certainly looks the business! There is a wire speed calculator on the site which is probably what you are after, don't forget it's only a guide and practice will help you understand what's perfect. The manual for the machine should also have some guidelines?

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/calculator.htm

 

[panaya]

If you want to make serial welding-7mm thickness,then you need profesional source-400;500 Amp.200 Amp source ,like yours is very small for this thickness.
Success.

 

[Gatemaker]

Most of the welding i will be doing is about 3 and 5mm flat bar and 20mm square tube 2mm wall thickness, £££ was a factor as well and this was what the shop said would do the job or was i sold something just to get it out of the shop.
Thanks for your comments

 

[irondarren]

doesnt it have the wire speed bit on the inside of the wire feed door? my old 250 fabricator has, but its worn off a bit now

 

[bright-spark]

Hi this is what we are using at collage the same as yours with a parweld torch you should find all you need in the manual that came with it. I'm still looking to find a copy of a online manual for it myself.

This is a weld on 6mm plate the settings I used are 21v the wire speed was about 8.5 take your time and weld slow not like my start at the top LOL when you weld with it to fast you will see <<<<<<< when it should be (((((((((((

Good luck with your new toy and let me know how you get on I have only been welding with a MIG for 4 hours so far but like this machine very much I do think this is pushing it just to the edge of what this machine will cope with as I find it quite hard to get a good weld at times could just be me though as I dont have a clue what I'm doing with it at times .

Dave

 

[Hitch]

If you want to make serial welding-7mm thickness,then you need profesional source-400;500 Amp.200 Amp source ,like yours is very small for this thickness.
Success.

I complely disagree.
i have been welding 20mm plate happily all day long with a 350a machine, not even running flat out.

 

[Gasman]

Hi just bought a Thermal Arc fabricator 200 mig i was advised by the shop that this was the best model for what i needed to weld up to 7mm mild steel
what i have been looking for is a chart that gives a guide for speed, power settings against metal thickness .I am a total newbie to this and would be great full for any input and help, the only welding i have done is with a DIY (Destroy It Your Self) mig100 which is really fit for a paper weight so im looking forward to playing around with this kit at the weekend.

Professional machine, Nice cylinder too please let us know how you get on.

Good Luck

 

[snowcat]

Ohh I use one of them as my baby set. Its been fine (and it doesnt get a very kind life) I have 1.0 wire in mine so adjust your setings acordingly, 6/m/min at 20volts..

 

[Haze]

how does it compare to the forum favourite then?

 

[irondarren]

Not sure about that haze, my 250amp has been a good machine, but having said that it is australia made machine (probaly means everything was put in up side down), i believe the current ones are made in the far east, so its debatable if the build quality as the same as the older machines

 

[panaya]

Objection

I complely disagree.
i have been welding 20mm plate happily all day long with a 350a machine, not even running flat out.

Hitachimad,350 or 400amp machines,it`s the same.They are profesional machines.But 200amp machine is small for this application.To make a work happily doesn`t mean advantageous and profitable.The welding is not only quality ,but quality,productivity and cost.That is why I sad,for serial welding 200amp machine is small.

 

[irondarren]

more of a case of duty cycle really, most machines under 250amp have a relatively low duty cycle, meaning the machine will overheat and need to take cooling breaks. once you get to 250amp and above duty cycles seems to increase dramatically. my current mig unit has 50% duty cycle at 250amps and 60% at about 230amps, probaly not to disimilar to the portamig 261, which means you can thrash the ass out of it all day long at full power if needed.

 

[Wozzaaah]

objection over-ruled

Panaya, while I agree in part with what you're saying, you don't need anything like a 500A machine to weld 7mm. I have a Portamig 361 and it will weld 7mm all day without breaking into a sweat and that's not even anywhare near it's highest setting. It has a duty cycle of 100% @ 270A. A 200 amp machine WILL cope with 7mm but like Darren says, will need frequent cooling-down periods. The Fabricator 200 has quite a low duty cycle, 145A@30% and 200A@13%.

 

[irondarren]

wozzaaah that 361 of yours will blow holes in 7mm plate, remember when i did some work for a guy in kent at his workshop using one of his machines, the voltage settings were all rubbed off so i had no way of knowing really where the power was set, i got it running adjusted the wire speed, it was only a 400amp machine and i thought it was at about 3/5 power setting, which would have been about 250amps just nice for a bit of spray transfer, to wizz nice and quick along. well it did spray transfer alright, sprayed a hole in the 8mm plate lol

 

[bright-spark]

how does it compare to the forum favourite then?

I would say the portamig is a better bet if you are looking for welding thiner metalwork as the portamig 181 will go down to lower amps 20amps-185amps but the newer Thermal Arc fabricator 210 mig looks on speck to be a good contender 20-250 amps but at a price. The fabricator 190 30-190 amps but the portamig range still works out at a bargain price and top owner and user support given by a forum member

 

[Gatemaker]

Thanks for all the comments had a play around with it the week end went through a bottle of gas welding up bits of 2,3,5mm flat bar and doing lines etc will post some pics as soon as i can get a better camera only had my phone.Going to get my self a auto helmet for hands free and some more gas and off we go again, once again many thanks.

 

[Hitch]

I guess this again me being used to industrial gear. We have a couple of old AGA welders, only 200a sets, but they will happily weld full bore without ever cutting out. 25+ years old, and still running perfect after every day use.

Panaya, i do agree with you in a way. A bigger machine is almost alwyas better. But a full size 500 set is overkill for a chap who wants to weld up a few railings now and then.

How often do you use a welder flat out at 100% of the time anyway. Even in a production enviroment, youd have stop time, positioning parts etc.

 

[irondarren]

hitachimad when i first started out i had a sealey 180amp mig 10% duty cycle at full bore, never cut out on me making gates because to much time was spent positioning. only really cut out once that i can remember had a hexagonal post to make, got the 2 halves pressed out and welded them together, tacked it all up nice. then started to do a full run down each join (5ft of weld) got 3/4 of the way down one side and the light came on, overheated. just had to wait for it to cool down. had 2 posts to do took me 6 hits to do it. no big issue because in between i just did some drilling for another job

 

[panaya]

I guess this again me being used to industrial gear. We have a couple of old AGA welders, only 200a sets, but they will happily weld full bore without ever cutting out. 25+ years old, and still running perfect after every day use.

Panaya, i do agree with you in a way. A bigger machine is almost alwyas better. But a full size 500 set is overkill for a chap who wants to weld up a few railings now and then.

How often do you use a welder flat out at 100% of the time anyway. Even in a production enviroment, youd have stop time, positioning parts etc.

Hitachimad,I agree with you,may be I went too far with this 500 amp.I use 350,400 and 500 amp machines for serial welding different thicknesses/hydraulic cylinders/.For 7-8mm thickness I use 1mm wire,15m/min,280-310amp,30-32volts,spray transfer.
Or better,ф1,2mm wire,12,5m/min,300-340amp,29-31volts.

All the best