Budget first welder

[RabLamont]

Hi folks. Total newbie here looking to buy a budget machine to try out welding with.
U.K. based, running of 13 amp 240 home supply, welding outside 2 mm up to 6mm mild steel.
Cheap machine to get going I’m thinking.
If I get into it then I would upgrade later and if I’m terrible it can sit in the shed and I won’t feel to bad about it.

I’ve been looking at these 3 machines and would love feedback.

160A MIG/TIG & MMA (ARC/STICK) Inverter Welder | MINIMIG160i | Sealey

1 Year Guarantee - IGBT Inverter fan-cooled DC power supply for MIG/TIG and MMA/ARC welding applications up to 160A.

www.sealey.co.uk

Professional 140A Gasless MIG, TIG and MMA 3-in-1 Welder Non Live Torch model 230V No Gas with Mask & Welding Wire

This model has 3 functions, working as MIG, TIG and MMA welding PRODUCT NAME; * 140 Welder 140A With Accessories. For greater welding control the wire is only live when trigger is used Cheaper models have permanent live feed wire making it difficult to set the wire in the correct starting...

dirtyprotools.co.uk

IGBT DC MMA MIG MAG Inverter Welder 160A

The Bimson Power BP-MIG160MI is a powerful and portable 3-in-1 welder, built for both professional and home users who demand flexibility and reliability.

www.bimsonpower.com

I’m open to other options if anyone has any.
Thank you

 

[hotponyshoes]

Where abouts are you located?
I'd expect someone on here will have a transformer based machine for not a lot more than those prices which would be better suited to welding 6mm

 

[Jackimus]

Welcome. Go used and get something for the same price that you won't feel the need to upgrade once you've gotten better!

Don't get hung up about which machines say they are 13A, or need this much supply or that much supply. Anything will run on 13A, it just might pop the fuse if you turn the power too high. No biggie.

If in doubt, get an R-Tech MIG 180, shop soiled or when they're doing a sale.

 

[RabLamont]

Where abouts are you located?
I'd expect someone on here will have a transformer based machine for not a lot more than those prices which would be better suited to welding 6mm

South west Scotland mate. I’m not sure I ever will need 6mm I just put that as an upper limit. As I say I’m clueless just now. I

 

[Islander71]

The Dirty Pro welder is the most limited both in less power and also it cannot be used with gas in mig mode. Dont know if the Sealey can be used with gas, it doesn't say. Not heard of the Bimson power, but it does look very like the Rohr I have and am pleased with. The other cheap make that gets quite good reviews are the Blackline welders.

 

[tom2207]

you wont be welding much 6mm off 13 amps ,,, theres a fair few threads run recently about such a welder choice , do a search and do some reading ... welcome to the forum

 

[BrokenBiker]

my mig and tig both run off 13 amp supplies, both do stick welding...the mig will do lift tig too, gasless, ally pulse welding...both around 300 quid a go give or take depending on seller...

6mm is stick welding territory regardless for a hobbyist really, even with a 250amp mig in the shed id still be looking at a 3.2mm rod for 5/6mm if it needed to be strong rather than just stuck together, and even then possibly 3 passes to get a good throat depth and so on.

my welders are both chinese and you cant really 'trust' the display, but i do believe the tig is very close to the stated 200 amps, if not bang on...but the mig i reckon is a bit optimistic especially with 0.8mm wire...maybe with 1mm it might give the full beans, it may blow a fuse then though, i dont know but like i said, id be reaching for a stick welding stinger for much above 4/5mm anyway...

im of the camp that you should learn stick welding first, i did, then moved to gasless mig, then actual mig, then eventually tig, but mig is a good starting point too

 

[RabLamont]

The Dirty Pro welder is the most limited both in less power and also it cannot be used with gas in mig mode. Dont know if the Sealey can be used with gas, it doesn't say. Not heard of the Bimson power, but it does look very like the Rohr I have and am pleased with. The other cheap make that gets quite good reviews are the Blackline welders.

Cheers mate. What model Rohr do you have?

 

[RabLamont]

my mig and tig both run off 13 amp supplies, both do stick welding...the mig will do lift tig too, gasless, ally pulse welding...both around 300 quid a go give or take depending on seller...

6mm is stick welding territory regardless for a hobbyist really, even with a 250amp mig in the shed id still be looking at a 3.2mm rod for 5/6mm if it needed to be strong rather than just stuck together, and even then possibly 3 passes to get a good throat depth and so on.

my welders are both chinese and you cant really 'trust' the display, but i do believe the tig is very close to the stated 200 amps, if not bang on...but the mig i reckon is a bit optimistic especially with 0.8mm wire...maybe with 1mm it might give the full beans, it may blow a fuse then though, i dont know but like i said, id be reaching for a stick welding stinger for much above 4/5mm anyway...

im of the camp that you should learn stick welding first, i did, then moved to gasless mig, then actual mig, then eventually tig, but mig is a good starting point too

I wasn’t very clear in my post but yeh I had it in my mind for thicker metal I would need to try stick to. As I say I’m a total newbie to it all so it’s a learning process and a lot of daft questions.

 

[RabLamont]

you wont be welding much 6mm off 13 amps ,,, theres a fair few threads run recently about such a welder choice , do a search and do some reading ... welcome to the forum

Nice one Tom. I’ll do that.

 

[tom2207]

For the mods ,, this thread / question comes up so often maybe a section or a sticky is called for , just a thought

 

[hotponyshoes]

For the mods ,, this thread / question comes up so often maybe a section or a sticky is called for , just a thought

A "Guide to buying your first welder" would be handy, the only this is, out of the 3 welders he has linked to above I vaguely remember seeing one of them mentioned once and that's it.

At the budget end models change every 6 months so it could be quite a bit of work to keep the sticky updated.

It could be a general guide, ie, a cheap mig will be fine for short runs on 3mm steel on a 13a plug and so on.

I think there will still be the "which of these 3 welders between £125 & £180 is the best" questions though.

 

[eddie49]

Of the three welders that you have linked, the Bimson Power 160A is the best buy. It is similar to the Rohr, BlackLine, and Uptime 160 ( see related reviews and threads on here ), but is much cheaper.
It has a detachable Euro torch, will accept 8 inch/200mm 5kg wire spools, and probably has a metal wirefeed assembly. This contrasts with permanently-attached torches, 0.7kg mini-spools, and plastic wirefeed assemblies on the other two. It also has fully-manual dial controls for wirespeed and voltage, with digital displays. Recently, welders in this class often are, or claim to be, synergic, which risks poor results if the pre-programmed ratios are not ideal. The vendor "Bimson Power" seem to mostly sell winches and hoists, but they have good reviews.

The Dirty Pro 140A can be used with solid wire and gas - the gas inlet connector is visible on the back of the case in the fourth photo.

 

[skotl]

...welding outside...

Don't think anyone else has picked up on this but, if most of your welding is outside, then you're probably stuck with stick (see what I did there? ) - trying to do anything with gas in even the lightest breeze is going to be no fun at all.