Maej78
Newbie
- Messages
- 3
- Location
- Warwickshire, UK
Hi
I'm a complete newbie to welding and this forum so please be gentle.
My brother and I are interested in getting a mig welder to learn with at first and then for use on cars, my trailer and light hobby fabrication.
I'd like the option of gas and gas-less because I can see times when it would be very useful for both. I like what I've read here about Clarke Migs so it looks like I've narrowed down my search to the Clarke EN series with a gas conversion kit, but which one do I go for. My budget is _about_ £200 all in (welder and gas conversion kit).
I've seen a Clarke EN151 on ebay for £169.99, nicely within budget and 30a-150a is nice, but I've read it's higher open circuit voltage (21-32v) makes it worse for use on cars and thin sheet.
I've read that 30a min is still a little high for car bodies so that suggests the Clarke 90en at 24a min, it sounds good, and it's cheap (£140.98 on MM), but I'm concerned about its low 90a max and very low duty cycle.
Maybe the 130EN with it's 30a-130a and 18-26 oc voltage, but that is £199.73 on MM which goes slightly over budget with the conversion kit.
Alternatively should I really save for the 160EN at £223.23 which takes me well over budget with a conversion kit, but can handle thicker metal and a much better duty cycle.
Being a newbie I'll be stop-starting all the time anyway so the duty cycle isn't a huge concern in the short term, but I do want the flexibility of a wide range of material thicknesses and it must be fine for cars.
At the end of the day I do want to get something that will be capable, reliable and able to do the job well, but I won't be using it regularly so I can't justify a big budget.
What do you recommend? Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks
Maej
I'm a complete newbie to welding and this forum so please be gentle.
My brother and I are interested in getting a mig welder to learn with at first and then for use on cars, my trailer and light hobby fabrication.
I'd like the option of gas and gas-less because I can see times when it would be very useful for both. I like what I've read here about Clarke Migs so it looks like I've narrowed down my search to the Clarke EN series with a gas conversion kit, but which one do I go for. My budget is _about_ £200 all in (welder and gas conversion kit).
I've seen a Clarke EN151 on ebay for £169.99, nicely within budget and 30a-150a is nice, but I've read it's higher open circuit voltage (21-32v) makes it worse for use on cars and thin sheet.
I've read that 30a min is still a little high for car bodies so that suggests the Clarke 90en at 24a min, it sounds good, and it's cheap (£140.98 on MM), but I'm concerned about its low 90a max and very low duty cycle.
Maybe the 130EN with it's 30a-130a and 18-26 oc voltage, but that is £199.73 on MM which goes slightly over budget with the conversion kit.
Alternatively should I really save for the 160EN at £223.23 which takes me well over budget with a conversion kit, but can handle thicker metal and a much better duty cycle.
Being a newbie I'll be stop-starting all the time anyway so the duty cycle isn't a huge concern in the short term, but I do want the flexibility of a wide range of material thicknesses and it must be fine for cars.
At the end of the day I do want to get something that will be capable, reliable and able to do the job well, but I won't be using it regularly so I can't justify a big budget.
What do you recommend? Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks
Maej