Cheap mig welder for a beginner

[NewbieWelder]

Hi there I'm new to the forums and welding in general, I'm looking at buying a cheap mig welder to get me into welding around about £300.

It will mostly be used for practising at the weekend at first with the intent on fixing a few of my friends rusty old land rovers and pick ups.

Just wanted to get your opinions, is my budget right and should I buy new or second hand?

A friend of mine recommended this mig welder from trade equip which is why I was looking around the £300 mark.

 

[harvey639]

Hi and welcome to the forum . I personally wouldn't go for a small hobby type mig as most do have problems, however the same can be said for larger ones as well. as a general rule of thumb try to buy new rather than second hand. i bought a new Sip mig 181 DP from northan tool uk, cant fault it but it may be slightly over budget. but whatever you do dont buy a hobby welder from sip as they are utterly useless.

here is the link to where i got mine from.

http://www.northerntooluk.com/weldi...tml?fhsearchterm=sip+mig+welder&search=SEARCH

hope this helps

Harvey639

 

[NewbieWelder]

Thanks for the advice, that is a little over my budget what sort of problems do you think I could I get with a small hobby welder i.e. whats the difference?

 

[harvey639]

there are lots it can be anything such as poor wire-feed, low duty cycle bad ground connection ect. always try to but the best you can afford. you don't want to speed £300 on a welder and have it as a door stop in 12 months time. do a search on the forum about wire feed problems and hobby migs there is tones of info on here. oh yea and most come from china so the build quality is very poor

 

[penfold]

as a general rule of thumb try to buy new rather than second hand.

I disagree with this bit, and not just because I'm trying to flog a welder; a good used machine can provide years of service. When I bought my Cebora it was about 10 years old; I've had 17 years of faultless use out of it.

 

[Tiggy_dorset]

as a general rule of thumb try to buy new rather than second hand.

I guess a better way to put it would be, If you are planning to buy second hand, take someone with you who knows a bit about welders and are able to do a few checks before parting with your cash.

 

[keith19]

Never had any problems with a new Clarke 151EN, which is very much a versatile hobby welder, as it does gas and no-gas. If you are only hobby welding, a decent make of hobby welder is fine, so long as you keep away from SIP and the cheapy brands.

Re s/h welders, as said you do need to either know about them or take someone along who does, and can test it for you. There are some good bargains that come up occasionally with s/h pro kit. So long as it's in good condition and you have the room for it, a decent s/h pro welder like a Murex/BOC is far better than a hobby welder.

 

[harvey639]

Never had any problems with a new Clarke 151EN, which is very much a versatile hobby welder, as it does gas and no-gas. If you are only hobby welding, a decent make of hobby welder is fine, so long as you keep away from SIP and the cheapy brands.

Re s/h welders, as said you do need to either know about them or take someone along who does, and can test it for you. There are some good bargains that come up occasionally with s/h pro kit. So long as it's in good condition and you have the room for it, a decent s/h pro welder like a Murex/BOC is far better than a hobby welder.

i have a Sip Autoplus 181 DP mig welder and i have had no problems at all however i agree with you about staying away from Sip's hobby welders

 

[cumbriasteve]

Agree with Keith, the Clark 151EN is a good little welder and it is certainly not known as a welder that has problems.

It would be my choice if I was in the market for a machine around the £300 mark.

 

[mike 109444]

Hi there I'm new to the forums and welding in general, I'm looking at buying a cheap mig welder to get me into welding around about £300.

It will mostly be used for practising at the weekend at first with the intent on fixing a few of my friends rusty old land rovers and pick ups.

Just wanted to get your opinions, is my budget right and should I buy new or second hand?

A friend of mine recommended this mig welder from trade equip which is why I was looking around the £300 mark.

When you budget for your welder try and factor in the fact that you SHOULD be charging your mates for the work! (even mates rates) You can pointout to them that you have had to pay "£££" for the welder and would like to recoupe some of the cost. Once you are confident in using it you may regret your user name
And a welcome to the grubby world of rust and welders

 

[s410man]

i would be going for a new clarke for that money

some cheap welders will give faultless service for years but most will end up in the scrap pile