Anyone used one of these wire feed setups

[Amit]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MIG-WELDER-CO...14&_trkparms=72:1688|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

With all the mods to sip welders.. I was wondering what peoples thoughts were on one of these?

Amit

 

[andypocock]

They have been mentioned here before but I'm not sure if anybody has fitted one.

Looks like a great idea to me. If the drive on mine starts playing up one of these will be replacing it.

Andy

 

[Pnumac]

I converted a little mig i had years ago to a euro fitting but still used the existing wire feed motor, although a bit fiddly it was pretty easy to do. Hopefully this should be straight forward.....go on give it a go!

 

[sloderby]

I did consider the same thing when my ancient SIP Migmate 130 packed up.
You've got to remember basic economics though, spend almost £100 on the feed, plus approx £40 on a euro torch and depending on the age of the SIP, probably need another £25 for a gas solenoid and have a nice feed system but still attached to a SIP at the end of the day.
Or spend something like £200 on a new Clarke, get a new machine with warranty and a decent wire feed. (Even better value on a Machine Mart VAT free day).

I did the latter and now have a Clarke 160EN which is way better than the SIP ever was.

 

[Amit]

yeah but I have a sip turbo mig 170.. which while the wire feed setup is poor.. the power is fine.. and replacing it will be £300+

I dont use mine much to be honest to incremental upgrade works for me..

tbh I wish I had found this forum before I bought it.. and just sprung for a better welder.. but hey ho.. live and learn :P

Amit

 

[GeorgeB]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MIG-WELDER-CO...14&_trkparms=72:1688|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318
With all the mods to sip welders.. I was wondering what peoples thoughts were on one of these? Amit

My thoughts are as follows:

1. I guess these wire feed drives are from the same stable as Portamig welders. Therefore, if Portamig welders are all they're cracked up to be, this unit should be very good, too. Has anyone EVER experienced a failure with a Portamig wire feed drive? Come on now; be honest.

2. What else does a SIP or any other MIG welder comprise of? Not much. The other major components are the wound transformer and reactor/choke units, plus the rectifier. Unless grossly mistreated, I can't believe these parts should go wrong very often.

3. The need to buy a Euro style torch would put me off. A torch is a torch and who needs a Euro connector, other than for 'show'? Not me.

 

[shenion]

GeorgeB, if you want a hard-wired torch that is hard to replace the liner on and is barely rated for the welder. Fine.

It is not the euro-torch connector that is the feature. It is that you can use a longer, heavy-duty torch with readily available parts that takes seconds to replace the liner (i.e if you want to swap between a 0.6mm and 0.8-1.2mm liner.) Or like me, use a small light torch and a big heavy-duty one.

Replacing the feed on a SIP may help, but you still have a very poor control circuit with no speed regulation.

 

[GeorgeB]

GeorgeB, if you want a hard-wired torch that is hard to replace the liner on and is barely rated for the welder. Fine.
It is not the euro-torch connector that is the feature. It is that you can use a longer, heavy-duty torch with readily available parts that takes seconds to replace the liner (i.e if you want to swap between a 0.6mm and 0.8-1.2mm liner.) Or like me, use a small light torch and a big heavy-duty one.
Replacing the feed on a SIP may help, but you still have a very poor control circuit with no speed regulation.

shenion - you raise some very valid points which I now realise I overlooked, especially the PCB speed controller circuit. I forgot about that. The wire feed will only be as good as the weakest link. Why on earth don't they sell the PCB as well? A Maplin controller might suffice but a fully matched circuit must surely be better.

 

[malcolm]

I bought myself a speed controller once for my test SIP, but that didn't help at all. I understand some people have fitted a separate supply for the controller which has helped, and it would be especially necessary for using the Portamig motor on one as it would draw a few amps.

Interestingly, I believe the Portamig wire feed is powered from the main transformer output which on the Portamig provides a stable supply. On my SIP it didn't. I'd hazard a guess that stability of the output would make a difference to welding too, but I've not got as far as evaluating it. Had been planning to do some measurements of wire speed and current fluctuation but haven't managed it yet.

Would definitely be fun to try the Portamig motor in one of the little SIPs.

 

[Amit]

I have just bought the parts for the transformer upgrade for my sip..

once funds allow, I may try this out.

Amit