Advice on buying Mig welder

[gtwelder]

Hi Guys,

I am looking at buying a mig welder for Landrover project,Autobody repairs,traylor/gate making ect i am looking at a SIP 25037 weldmate P170P the spec looks good but i know very little about mig welders i have about 500 euro to spend.Any advice or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.Eire D.I.Y user.

 

[shenion]

Read through the forums. SIP's are not well received here. Clarke are often recommended on the low end.

There are dozens of threads on "what welder to buy", read through them.

For making gates, you will probably want 180A or higher. Someof teh DIY ones can be used but not if you plan to use them often on heavy stuff.

 

[cumbriasteve]

I use a 235 amp for gate making and it spends most of its life running close to 200 amp and sometimes full power, you can't afford to have someone injured due to the weld not penetrating and metal coming apart.

Personally I would not buy a SIP, I used to own one.

 

[keith19]

Hi, welcome to the forum

Is this the machine you'd be looking at?
http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/sip-2...dmate-p170p-dual-purpose-mig-welder-230v.html

It's a bit pricey for the spec. I am thinking you'd be getting a better deal with one of these for that sort of money:
http://www.weldequip.com/portamig-mig-welders.htm

Better duty cycle at the upper end, goes down to 15 Amps at the lower end, finer adjustments, etc. Plus lots of guys on here have them and speak well of them. Only problem is they have a waiting list of a week or two, but if you want to run gasless wire I think they can include this facility if you ask when ordering.

Have a look at Oxford mig welders too, made by the same people.