want to start welding what do people recommend

[nathann88]

Hi I want to start welding (car parts mainly as well as other bits) looking on line I have been lead to believe mig would be the easiest type to learn?, trouble is I have no idea what welder to go for been looking in machine and marts catalogue at Clarke welders and still have no idea of the best machine to go for.
What’s the max amps I can go for on a 13 amp plug?
Anything over what size cable and mcb need to be used?
I don’t think I need to use gas as the welds I want will all be hidden out of view. Am I right in thinking gas allows a cleaner weld? Unless somebody recommends a multi welder gas and no gas I think a gasless only is fine?
Thanks in advance Nathan

should mention if im any good at it i want to work with bigger stuff so i want something with a low power setting as well as being able to handle bigger stuff

 

[Ragnarok]

little mig is a decent place to start the clarke migs have a good reputation for cheap migs.

a 150amp is probably the biggest that will run full power on a 13amp plug, mcbs are the modern equivalent of fuses in the consumer unit, in my workshop i have one mcb for lights one for normal 13amp sockets and one for each 16 and 32amp sockets

as for gasless i wouldn't go for that if i were you, might seem cheaper, but it's not going to be as easy to use as neat or as easy to weld thin metal with try to find rent free gas bottles there are plenty of suppliers around these days, usually 9L or 20L, 9L should be fine for diy mig welding

Good luck with it

 

[chunkolini]

Last answer covers pretty much everything.
I have been using a 180amp welder on a bog standard plug for several years with no problems. I dont often use it at full whack but when I do it has been happy.
At the budget level Clarke is definitely the way to go.
I had the 130amp version and it kept me busy for several years. Whichever model you buy go for as powerful as you can afford.

 

[nathann88]

thanks for the quick reply i got even more confused when i was looking at the gas think that’s why i was tempted for gasless . 1 thing I want to repair on the cars is the exhaust pipes I always seem to get the 1s that the weld joints rust away and by any brackets, then need a new section for a simple weld. Is that the sort of thing gas is useful for?
Would a gas mix of co2 and argon be good for the exhaust? For small things like that what sort of time would a 60l bottle last for?

 

[Country Joe]

For small things like that what sort of time would a 60l bottle last for?

About 6 minutes at 10L per minute - on big things or small!
CJ

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

For people that ask me, i generally tell them that welding exhausts is a waste of time. If an exhaust need welding someplace, then chances are that its about to blow through elsewhere. I tell them its better to spend the money for the 'temporary' repair toward a new exhaust. But thats just me, as Im not a lover of welding dirty exhausts especially if its still on the car, its a nightmare.

 

[Ragnarok]

yes argon/co2 mix would be ideal, 95% argon 5% co2, as i said before, i'd go with a 9L bottle, easy to move around and should last quite along time, a couple of hours of arc time, which is quite a bit of welding a 60L bottle if you were actually considering it for hobby use would be crazy I have a bottle like that on my tig welder and it takes a full year for me to run it out doing various fabrication and repair jobs as well as practicing new things, 9L on a mig will last your average diy welder ages, and should be about £30 to fill and £50 refundable deposit on the bottle, the big 60L kinda size bottles cost about £100 per year rental, plus about £50 a fill and £15 to collect the refill, only get one of those if you will be welding day in day out and if you're gunna be doing that, don't even think about the clarke welders

 

[nathann88]

180? in that case a clarke mig 196 any good in machine and mart again http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/010110196?da=1&TC=SRC-mig 196 gas no gas as well so i got the choice dosnt seem to bad £240
any thoughts on this model as im useless thanks nathan

 

[Ragnarok]

About 6 minutes at 10L per minute - on big things or small!
CJ

60L in 6 minutes? is this guy talking about something like the 390g bottles? haha i may have got the wrong end of the stick haha

 

[Ragnarok]

ok just to be clear this is the kinda thing i mean when i say 9l bottles adams gas i used one of those for a couple of years, till a place supplying 20L ones turned up disposables are a waste of money, trust me, been there done that.

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

disposables are a waste of money, trust me, been there done that.

I couldnt agree more.

 

[nathann88]

yes argon/co2 mix would be ideal, 95% argon 5% co2, as i said before, i'd go with a 9L bottle, easy to move around and should last quite along time, a couple of hours of arc time, which is quite a bit of welding a 60L bottle if you were actually considering it for hobby use would be crazy I have a bottle like that on my tig welder and it takes a full year for me to run it out doing various fabrication and repair jobs as well as practicing new things, 9L on a mig will last your average diy welder ages, and should be about £30 to fill and £50 refundable deposit on the bottle, the big 60L kinda size bottles cost about £100 per year rental, plus about £50 a fill and £15 to collect the refill, only get one of those if you will be welding day in day out and if you're gunna be doing that, don't even think about the clarke welders

think im looking at the wrong thing altogether then. in the catalogue the gases state "same size as a standard bottle but with 54% more gas" no idea what a standard size bottle is, the info on it says 60 ltr for £12 inc and 110 ltr £15 lol. just seen the other comments written in the time it took me to post forget this bit then

 

[Country Joe]

60L in 6 minutes? is this guy talking about something like the 390g bottles? haha i may have got the wrong end of the stick haha

Yeah, I thought he was on about the disposables!
CJ

 

[Ragnarok]

think im looking at the wrong thing altogether then. in the catalogue the gases state "same size as a standard bottle but with 54% more gas" no idea what a standard size bottle is, the info on it says 60 ltr for £12 inc and 110 ltr £15 lol. just seen the other comments written in the time it took me to post forget this bit then

ahh sorry, they're measuring the expanded gas then not the bottle size, those kinda things are a total waste of money, find a 9l rent free bottle like the adams gas one when i said 9l and then you said 60l i thought you were talking about the 6ft tall full size 60l bottles not the pocket size disposables haha rent free 9L or 20L are the way to go for diy use

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

haha rent free 9L or 20L are the way to go for diy use

Couldnt agree more

 

[Ragnarok]

Yeah, I thought he was on about the disposables!
CJ

yeah you're right 6mins welding time, the 9l rent free will do 100+ minutes

 

[Ragnarok]

Couldnt agree more

haha

 

[Country Joe]

Yeah, I'm definitely not trying to recommend them, they're quite an expensive waste of money, as the other guys have said!
CJ

 

[Ragnarok]

Yeah, I'm definitely not trying to recommend them, they're quite an expensive waste of money, as the other guys have said!
CJ

don't think anyone thought you were recommending them just giving useful info 6mins for £13 is a massive rip off haha

 

[nathann88]

yeah you're right 6mins welding time, the 9l rent free will do 100+ minutes

i see what you mean by the adams link bit of a difference .

any body have any thoughts on the 196 i mentioned? or Any other machines people can recommend both gas and gasless even tho I think I will be going for gas after finding out the info from you guys