Dilema??????

[crj007]

Hi
I'm here again.... Been pulling my hair out trying to decide which welder to buy. Originally I was looking at the Clarke 151en as most on the forum seem to give it the thumbs up. But I got to thinking maybe a parweld xti 160 arc with tig facilities.

If I got the latter I could use the arc for general stuff, outside stuff and repairs to a trailer etc and the tig for smaller stuff and thickness.

Any comments/advice would be much appreciated.

 

[shenion]

If you need to do car bodywork, then while a TIG will work, it will be diffcult, slow and expensive in gas.

If I was only to have one welder, then a TIG/Arc setup would be my choice. Then again, I do very little thin sheet.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Personaly, if i was doing car body work and could only have 1 welder it would be a mig!

 

[rtbcomp]

Moved to "Buying a Welder"

 

[chevy2]

Personaly, if i was doing car body work and could only have 1 welder it would be a mig!

Agreed,
Even though i do nearly everthing tig with only occaisional mig and arc stuff if i was only doing car bodywork and given the choice of only one it would have to be mig.

 

[langy]

agreed,
even though i do nearly everthing tig with only occaisional mig and arc stuff if i was only doing car bodywork and given the choice of only one it would have to be mig.

x 3

 

[crj007]

How does the quality of a mig no gas weld outside compare to an arc weld? Obviously with the same user skills on say 2mm mild steel.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Depends on your skill, if you haven't welded before the odds of you welding 2mm steel with arc and not blowing holes in it are slim to none, mig u are in with a shout, but gas mig is the way to go!

 

[keith19]

You have to be quite practised in arc welding to do very much with 2mm steel. If you use a 1.6mm rod it's quite difficult to do more than short runs with accuracy because the rod tends to wobble around, and there is more flux than rod so more slag than weld. With 2mm rods it is a little less difficult, but again accuracy suffers because the rod tends to weave about on its own.
If I have to use 2mm rods I cut them in half and steady the welding hand with the other one. 2.5mm are better, but you have to move a bit more smartly or they will blow through.
As a rough guide, anything less than 3mm steel use mig, anything over use 2.5mm rods.

Gasless mig is easier to use, the torch keeps the weld pool much steadier, but you'll still need lots of practise, and steady one hand with the other. I've done some reasonable car panel repairs with gasless mig, and it's lots easier to use than arc on thin metal. But short runs or the 'Thin Metal Technique' of short stitch welds are essential to avoid blowing through. There is usually more cleaning up to do afterwards than with gas, so for places that are going to show, use gas if possible.

Both arc and gasless mig make for very smoky work, so best used outside.