Bimson 200 amp Inverter MIG

[Richiew]

These are currently on sale for £165.99 including delivery. I ordered it after 10pm on Monday, and it arrived today (Wednesday) via Fed Ex.
They look very similar to Rohr and Blackline welders which had a good reputation.

Double boxed and well packed.

Comes with a three meter euro torch which feels heavy and solid. There's a spring-loaded stinger for arc welding and the return cable is very short.

First, a quick go at stick welding. 3.2mm 6013 Overcords. 126 amps on the dial.

Peeler on the first go!

The lump of steel is 20mm thick so the weld is a bit cold.

Not a fluke.

It's doesn't feel like there's any hot start or anti stick. The rods are old though and it hasn't stopped raining for a month so they'll be damp too.

On to MIG next

 

[Richiew]

One for @eddie49 The amp display goes from 50 to 201 which is expected. The volts display goes from 14.6 to 20.1. The specs say it should go to 24.

Volt dial at zero.

Volt dial at max.

5kg spool loaded. The drive roller has 0.8mm and 1mm wire slots. There's a wire feed button which is handy so you don't waste gas setting up. I noticed the wire feed was very smooth loading the wire up, which was a good omen.

Wire feed motor. Seems reasonable. Not tiny, not massive. Seems very capable of pushing a wire through a three metre torch.

First couple of welds.

Testing settings on 6mm fillet.

Final test. It welds very smoothly. Very impressed with the feed. I haven't quite got the hang of the settings yet.

I do have concerns though. The volts dial is only showing 20.1v max. The final welds were almost maxxed out on amps and volts. This is 6mm plate. I understand the volt meter might not be accurate but I had it full power for part of the test and was pretty fierce. It didn't trouble the 13 amp fuse though. The fuse seems legit. I'm not sure I'm getting the advertised power. I think I may be troubing the vendor for my four extra volts unless someone can tell me otherwise. Opinons please.


By rights it should have a 32amp plug on it, but I don't want go chopping off the supplied moulded plug yet. Warranties and all that.

 

[Richiew]

The supplied manual suggests that the output voltage should range from 16.5v to 24v. Data plate says the same, although the glare is obscuring it in the photo. Is there a chance the meter is calibrated badly and reading low? I suppose there's a good chance it's reading correctly too!