Aldi £40 arc welder, starts Thursday 24th October

[marlinspike]

Just a note to say that the special deals this week include an arc welder, reciprocating saw, electric file, soldering iron, drill, and a socket set. Not sure if the arc welders are any good but thought it might help someone.

Anyone care to post a review if they bought one previously? These arc deals come round every now and again and it might help anyone researching Aldi arc gear in future. Can't do a link from my phone.

 

[steveo3002]

half fancy getting the saw..what do you think to it

 

[cumbriasteve]

Don't own an Aldi arc set but have used one a few times, typical buzz box but ideal for the occasional repair weld above 2mm stock.

For the price they are worth having if your requirements or budget don't stretch to any thing costlier.

As for the Aldi brand: Got a fair few of their items, grinder, drill, hose reel, compressor etc all aimed at the DIY guy and not the industrial workshop of course but no complaints at all, plus 3 year guarantee.

 

[gordon stephenson]

They usually have leather aprons and welding gauntlets whenever the welders are on offer. Ideal for when angle grinding etc,I got a couple of sets after the last offer ended,and they were reduced to half price. ie: £4-95;

 

[rich r]

This is a new model.

The previous model was 160A and needs a 16A supply, so came with no plug. It could use up to 4mm rods. This new one comes with a 13A plug and advertised as going up to 2.5mm rods, so is probably limited to 110A welding current. It looks different in the photo to the previous model too.

The pack of rods they're doing now is 1.6mm, 2.0mm and 2.5mm - no 3.2mm or 4mm rods like the previous ones (which is a shame, as the last lot weren't bad quality)

Now they're being supplied by an Austrian company, the quality of the buzzboxes has gone up quite a bit compared to the Omega Wolf Chinese ones.

 

[Llama]

I have a pretty good MIG welder, but I'm tempted to get a cheap stick welder just for the odd jobs when I need speciality filler (instead of having a heart attack when I look up the price of the smallest nickel MIG wire I could find). Would prefer TIG, but then you have to fluff about with gas and they are so much more expensive.

 

[MattF]

This is a new model.

The previous model was 160A and needs a 16A supply, so came with no plug. It could use up to 4mm rods. This new one comes with a 13A plug and advertised as going up to 2.5mm rods, so is probably limited to 110A welding current. It looks different in the photo to the previous model too.

The pack of rods they're doing now is 1.6mm, 2.0mm and 2.5mm - no 3.2mm or 4mm rods like the previous ones (which is a shame, as the last lot weren't bad quality)

Now they're being supplied by an Austrian company, the quality of the buzzboxes has gone up quite a bit compared to the Omega Wolf Chinese ones.

What type of thickness of metal would that one do upto, roughly?

 

[PTvor]

This is a new model.

The previous model was 160A and needs a 16A supply, so came with no plug. It could use up to 4mm rods. This new one comes with a 13A plug and advertised as going up to 2.5mm rods, so is probably limited to 110A welding current. It looks different in the photo to the previous model too.

I was in Aldi for something else and had a look at it. It's 40A to 80A and there's no mention of a fan, so I assume it hasn't got one and the duty cycle is poor even for a buzz box. What's more 80A AC doesn't give much headroom when running a 2.5mm rod.

I don't think it's as good a deal a the old model and it's £40 rather than £35.

 

[cumbriasteve]

I was in Aldi for something else and had a look at it. It's 40A to 80A and there's no mention of a fan, so I assume it hasn't got one and the duty cycle is poor even for a buzz box. What's more 80A AC doesn't give much headroom when running a 2.5mm rod.

I don't think it's as good a deal a the old model and it's £40 rather than £35.

I take back what I wrote above then:

It's obviously not the same set, nowhere near infact and very limited in it's use.

I did notice the hose reels being sold last time were much smaller than the one I bought 3 year back but the same price... perhaps Aldi is doing the same as a lot of other suppliers, keeping the price near the same but reducing the items by one method or another.

 

[PTvor]

I did notice the hose reels being sold last time were much smaller than the one I bought 3 year back but the same price... perhaps Aldi is doing the same as a lot of other suppliers, keeping the price near the same but reducing the items by one method or another.

Aldi and Lidl specials are always worth a look I'd say, and some of the stuff is still remarkably good for the money, but fewer obvious bargains than even 3 years back. Either the same stuff at a much higher price, or a watered down version.

 

[steveo3002]

i got the leccy saw today . looks ok so far

 

[Robotstar5]

i got the leccy saw today . looks ok so far

I'm sure Wozzahh posted a video clip of a recip saw going up in smoke a few years ago, can't remember if it was an Aldi one though.

 

[steveo3002]

well i dont expect much for £25 and its got a 3 year warrenty

just thought it might come in handy one day when you cant swing a saw at something

 

[robocog]

I have had one of those saws a few years now
The handfull of times I have used it - it has worked where nothing else I have owned would have (without much effort)
for the cost - mine has been worth it
(I did buy a second and de-walt recipsaw empty case for it on eBay as I hate having power tools "loose" )

Regards
Rob

 

[julianthegypsy]

Well I just picked up the powerfile and it seems ok. Bit fiddly to get the arm on, but I've nothing to compare it to. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. I bought a repiprocating saw ages ago from b&q. Within ten minutes I realized that I could cut the masterboard I needed it for twice as fast and more accurately with a handsaw and it went straight back to the shop. I'm looking forward to trying this though. While I was there, I also picked up a set of set squares for six quid cos you can't have too many and a soldering station for seven on the same principle. That's the trouble with aldi!

 

[mike 109444]

I have the saw from some time back and it's been a good tool. Assuming it's the same model mine has variable speed and you can fit a standard hacksaw blade (or part there of)
Came in handy with a hacksaw blade fitted and needed to cut some spotwelds 2" into a couple of panels to separate them with out destroying there shape, only other way would have been a pad saw!

 

[Wedg1e]

I'm a toolaholic so I picked up a saw and the power file just for the hell of it; you never know, might come in handy some day...
Failing that my grandkids can donate them, probably unused, to the AldidlMart&Q museum of tat

 

[PTvor]

I fought off the temptation to buy the sabre saw and the power file. The welder wasn't much of a temptation nor were the rods, which I've bought before.

I've had a couple of sanders, a heat gun soldering iron, a 2Kg SDS drill and a long handled pruner from Lidl, and from Aldi, a 4.5" 1200W grinder, squares, F clamps and three 1 metre SDS bits.

I must admit it's all been pretty good for the money and better value than you'd get from B&Q. The grinder's bearings are getting a bit slack but it's got through three wire wheels, which is all it's used for and I bought it for £15 because I wondered whether it was much of an advantage to have different grinders for different purposes.

No real problems with the rest of it for the use I've given it and expected to give it.

The surprise was the three 1 metre SDS bits for a tenner, which I bought for a specific job, making holes for a ventilation duct in 80cm limestone walls. I thought one hole involving several drillings straight through, per bit, and the set would be finished.

As it happened I had to drill out six of these holes, involving going through the wall several times, and only used one of the bits, which was as good at the end as it was at the beginning.

I find it's a surprising thing to find 1 metre SDS bits in a supermarket and the fact they are any good is even more surprising.

The advantage of the Aldi/Lidl stuff is that if you think you might have a use for something, a jigsaw or whatever, but don't really know because you've never used one, is that you get a chance to try it fairly cheaply, and although it isn't the best, but it isn't total crap either.

I don't think that applies to the current arc welder offering.

 

[rich r]

I had a look at the new buzz box, and yes, it's vastly inferior to the old one. The one for the last few years has been a 160A unit with a decent fan (I went through about 10 rods a few months back making a cold frame from angle iron without the thermal cutout coming in once).

I suppose though the feedback from customers was that as it couldn't be plugged into a normal 13A socket, what was the point of it? Hence the new one is much lower current and comes with a 13A plug. Still fine for 2.0 and 2.5mm rods though, which is good enough for most domestic repairs to gates, fences and if you're careful things like garden spades and wheelbarrow frames I suppose.

I've had good use out of their big SDS drill bits too, and also I picked a diamond core cutter for £15 when it was reduced. Used in anger to put in a tumble dryer outlet and it performed faultlessly.

 

[julianthegypsy]

Tries my new oowerfile today and it seems to work very well, I can see it earning its keep for all those places I can't reach with a flapdisk.