I have a sip handymig migmate which for love nor money I can't get it to produce anything close to a decent weld. I have never really welded and have no idea whether it is user error or faulty / rubbish kit. Thought is if someone is willing to have a go with it and can manage a weld then its me who is a muppet or if they are proficient and can't get a decent weld out of it then I can skip it. I live near Northwich Cheshire. Any offers? Matt
That's a good idea. Maybe they'll let you try using theirs. Hopefully it won't be a SIP, there's about 5000 threads here on their inherent failings...
Have a look on the sip section on here, there are various mods to get over inherent problems with these welders. It will never be brilliant, but can be got to work ok. How old is it? The older ones used a plastic liner up the torch, the wire tends to bind up on the plastic & won’t feed properly. If it’s plastic, fit a metal one, or use curtain wire, it fits, this will make the world of difference. Also there is a mod to the wire feed to make it more rigid.
I've done a few mods. I've stabilised the rollerd by bridging them with a metal support. I've also done the mod to isolate the feed motor supply so I'd doesn't suffer from current drops. The liner is plastic but new. The problem is I'm getting no penetrative. Welds are just globs on the surface that you can knock off with a chisel.
With clean metal and a good earth that shouldn't happen. Have you tested the open circuit voltages? If not, set your meter to 200V DC and connect it between the torch tip and the earth. Press trigger and note the voltages on all of the settings. Expected range would be around 15 vdc to 30 vdc.
Good clean connection for the earth clamp? Good clean ground surfaces to weld on? Gas flowing well enough? Wire speed been tried in numerous positions? Power on high? They are pretty weak for much more than sheet metalwork, but a good weld can be put on 2mm steel butt joints etc.
Hi Matthew, probably not your main problem, but the plastic liners are awful, even when new, the resistance pushing the wire through puts a strain on the feed. In my opinion they are not fit for purpose, if you drop the feed roller off, unscrew the tip & pull the wire from the torch there should be virtually no resistance. I was asked to look at a mates Migmate & it took 7 pounds pull to move the wire, this was a virtually unused welder. I changed to a steel one & you could hardly feel any resistance, it transformed the machine. It was the first time it had ever worked properly even from new, my mate was going to skip it!
Loosened everything off and I could quite easily pull the wire through with pliers. I don't think that is the problem but if it doesn't end up in a skip I'll buy a metal lined one.
Slightly off topic but when I first set my welder up I was told to set the tension so that a bag of sugar would pull it through at a moderate speed. Guy who told me was a Plater Welder with 40 years at it and it works well for me.
Sorted it. Blocked gas pip. A bit of the rubber from the seal in the cylinder had come off and had travelled up the pipe. Picture of weld attached Now all I have to do is learn to weld
