hi iv just joined the forum. im looking to buy a mig welder. iv found a 185supermig for sale in the local agricultural shop for £399. is this a good price and is it a good welder for someone who hasnt done much welding? what is the thinnest steel it can weld and what is the thickest. thanks
- Thread starter big_al25
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malcolm
& Clementine the Cat
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If you know the minimum and maximum amps try feeding them into the calculator - that'll tell you the min and max thicknesses it will penetrate all the way through without fancy weld prep.
The Supermig 185 is specifically designed for automotive and heavier home use so will do your job; surprised it's in an agricultural suppliers though 
Car bodywork thickness up to 6mm maximum. You could well shave a few quid off the price by shopping around the box-movers on the net, but nothing like local support
weldequip
Car bodywork thickness up to 6mm maximum. You could well shave a few quid off the price by shopping around the box-movers on the net, but nothing like local support
weldequip
irondarren
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I dont think a portamig 181 is much more expensive, has a far better wire feed unit than the sealey
irondarren
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blimey weldequip your talking yourself out of a sale. True enough on the 5kg reel, if i dont work for a week or so over xmas the reel is left in the machine, and a weeks lack of use you can see the difference in colour between the top layer of the wire and a layer or two underneath where the copper coating is starting to dis-colour
oddball90
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Must be the garage i keep the welder in, never had a problem with wire but only buy branded wire. It's easy enough to remove reel to put some where warm. Would say that the portamig was better, just on the wire feed motor. Should be easier to learn on the portamig too. Best bit is weldequip is on the forum nearly every day so any questions are just a post away, for an answer.
irondarren
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True enough weldequip, having seen enough pics of the portamig, its easy to see its well constructed, good solid casing, nice industrial wire feed motor, compared to the sealey/telwin 185 there is no contest
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I once used a mates 285 he wanted me to put a couple of patches on something for him, Nasty Nasty foul tempered machine..The wire drive was the main issue, all or nothing, which in turn created burn back to the tip.. El cheepo case and chassis as well, and yes these things are sold by all the ag supplys they love to tout the seally stuff.
irondarren
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Must admit to owning a supermig 180, that has been ok, but it is very sensitive to voltage change, run the belt sander and you need to turn the wire speed down. Use it during the day and you will have to adjust the wire speed several times, seems as it gets warmer the wire speed needs to be turned down. Cant see that happening with the portamig
HasBean
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I've got a sureweld monomig 181 (paint it red and you have a sealey 185 supermig 
) It can take 5 & 15Kg reels but I stick to 5Kg (actually it's still my first reel, been on there for 3 years, 2 1/2 unused, no rust, weird!)
Seems now they only quote 5Kg reels, paperwork that came with mine was actually for the sealey 185 and was both sizes. Mind you the case looks a little different, or maybe it just can't hack large reels!
Yup!
No trouble with the wire feed though (YET)
Paul
Given a choice I'd have the Portamig (fully intend to upgrade as soon as finances allow)
) It can take 5 & 15Kg reels but I stick to 5Kg (actually it's still my first reel, been on there for 3 years, 2 1/2 unused, no rust, weird!)Seems now they only quote 5Kg reels, paperwork that came with mine was actually for the sealey 185 and was both sizes. Mind you the case looks a little different, or maybe it just can't hack large reels!
Yup!
No trouble with the wire feed though (YET)
Paul
Given a choice I'd have the Portamig (fully intend to upgrade as soon as finances allow)
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