Choosing a MIG welder - How?

[malcolm]

It's buyers guide update time. The current buyers guide sucks - it just doesn't explain the difference between a good welder and a poor welder.

I'm working on a re-write based on the main considerations in buying a MIG welder. Mine main ones at the moment are:

• Min and max amps
• Wire Feed quality
• Power supply quality
• Support and reliability
• Duty cycle (not really an issue for hobby welders).

What would be your main considerations?

And to ask something totally different - how did you select your MIG welder from the misleading and under-described offerings available?

 

[Robbus]

I bought my SIP150DP based on min/max settings, duty cycle and cost, and 'cos you hadn't created this site at the time

Power supply reliability didn't cross my mind at time of purchase but I've never had any problems with that, nor did wire feed quality as I was unaware that could be a potential problem, I've been lucky again on that front with the SIP.

And given I bought it off Ebay (cheapest B.I.N. price I could find) I didn't expect any support. So all in all 'completely clueless' covers me fine I still intend to upgrade to a PortaMig at some point based on comments/feedback on here, but I've got so much other ***** going on with my life at the moment I haven't even done anything remotely metalworky for months.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Ratty]

Price would have to come into it for most people. Maybe 'best welders' at an under & over a certain price sort of thing.

 

[shenion]

Probably under "Support" is availability of consumables, tips, shrouds, liners etc. A good vendor will have them in stock and listed on their online store. Anyone who does not have these available is just a box mover.

Would add "Non-Live Torch" and "includes a Reactor for stable arc", but that info is rarely given by venders.

Maybe a checklist:

Make: [ ]
Model: [ ]
Price: [ ]
Minimum current: [ ]
Maximum Current: [ ]
Number of Current/voltage Levels: [ ]
Duty cycle at max current: [ ]
Current at 60% duty cycle: [ ]
Supply voltage: [ ]
Supply current: [ ]
Wire feeder: [ ] Plastic [ ] Metal
Wire size minimum: [ ] Maximum [ ]
Gasless/Flux wire support: [ ] Yes [ ] No
Gas support: [ ] Yes [ ] No
Includes gas regulator: [ ] Yes [ ] No
Includes Reactor: [ ] Yes [ ] No
Live Torch: [ ] No [ ] Yes (Yes is a safety issue)
Additional features [ ] (spot timer, pulse mode, saved settings etc.)
Local support: [ ] Yes [ ] no
Warranty - Parts: [ ]
Warranty - Labor: [ ]
Service/Support representative: [ ]
Would you recommend this welder: [ ] Yes [ ] No
Comments: [ ]

Maybe have a sticky thread that users can post the list for each model. Would be a list of the Good, bad and ugly

 

[Paul_R]

Hope someone mentions to buy safety gear in the first purchase for a newbie? Gauntlets, Auto dark helmet, etc. etc.

The kit that comes with some new welders is pants.

 

[irondarren]

My last mig was bought after i have one on a weekend demo lol. Tried before i buyed, lucky enough one of the local weld distributors was willing to give me a weekend demo before i parted with my money. Tried it and liked it and parted with me money.

The main consideration for me was max amps verses duty cycle, anything less than 35% at 250amps would have been no good. It is slightly different for the heavy users compared to the hobby user, because of the duty cycle issue.

Strange as it may seem some machines give excellent performance low end, but the same machine might not give the same performance when you punch up the amperage. This i can imagine being far more apparent on the smaller hobby type machines like SIP, Sealey and the Clarkes ones. So this might be an issue to consider, smooth power and welding performance over its power range.

The other thing that might be an issue is the amount of power settings. Just looking at the clarke 130 amp units with 4 power output settings, if you punch this into the forums mig setting calculator, you notice it leaves gaps so to speak. setting 1 for material thickness 0.8mm to 1.0mm, setting 2 1.3mm to 1.6mm, not so clever if you want to weld 1.2mm sheet lol. Possibly one of the worst offenders for this has to be the butters amt 241, 30 amp - 240 amp machine with 6 power settings, throws up some interesting results on the calculator.

I must admit there are plenty of things to consider price obviously being one, place of manufacture can be another one along with the things Malcolm has listed (and me not rambling another )

 

[malcolm]

So price is a point. It's more than a consideration for me - my wallet is stiff to open at the best of times.

See the point about power settings too. worth suggesting a check out on the calculator before purchase. I'm not too worried about the place of manufacture apart from China has built itself a bad rep and will need to work hard to get out of that hole.

Safety gear definately. I reckon that one deserves it's own buying advice page - there's a lot on the forum about helmets. Not so much on gloves, overalls and respirators though.

Consumables is definately worth a mention. I paid £70 for a new torch for my Clarke (and it was rubbish). Could have paid £70 more for the machine and got a goodun. After all it cost £350 at the time. Most of your list can be found in manufacturers specs Shenion. Though helping people wade through that crap ought to be a big point of the guide.

What else do you have?

 

[shenion]

Most of your list can be found in manufacturers specs Shenion. Though helping people wade through that crap ought to be a big point of the guide.

The idea is to put all the DIY welders in one page. That way users would not have to go search different web sites for the info.

Probably the most useful would be the recommendations/comments.

There are a lot of no-name ones like the "Dual MIG" units on ebay (marketed by Harbor Freight under the Chicago Electric name.) This same Chinese-make machine appears as other brand names.

Same for Clarke, the Sears/Craftsman units are rebranded Clarke units. They have also sold some Lincoln Electric units with a Sears name.

Probably another useful item would be "Also known as" for brands.

 

[irondarren]

See Malcolm you decide you want to update the buyers guide page, and now you have talked yourself into an extra page 'safety gear' lol.

Here is another page to talk yourself into a 'TIG buyers guide' it seems we have more and more members using TIG, just a thought lol

 

[weldequip]

Did I not already cover this in the "Which Hobby MIG to Buy"?
Maybe very scant information & quickly written but all true to form, and you guys have all learnt from it & quote my recommendations.

What to look for in a welder is too broad a subject, bit like saying what to look for when buying a car er... well do you want a saloon, a hatchback, an estate, a convertible... Ford, Ferrari etc.etc.
weldequip

 

[malcolm]

Thanks for writing your guide Steve. It has been useful and I linked the page from the buyers guide. But that info only really covers manufacturs.

I'm hoping to be able to push first time welders in the right direction starting at no knowledge. It's an involved subject that I can't really cover in depth, but any info is surely going to be better than none.

 

[weldequip]

It's difficult giving pointers at the hobby end of the market as they all look much the same to a novice. You could say "look for a quality wire feed system", but they all look the same to the un-trained eye. As you start moving up to the larger stuff it can become visibly obvious that one machine has a better wire feed than another, but the hobby MIG guide is pretty much spot on.
To be able to give guidance on larger machines there would probably need to be defined price brackets, but even then it's a bit of a minefield & it usually comes down to Manufacturers again... some are in the quality market, some are in the price, price, price market, & some are down right bloody awfull!
weldequip

 

[Drains]

I don't know if the hobby market supply the info, but
open circuit voltage range tells you a lot about how low the welder can go (that's what you change when you click the power switch, not the current)

So to that end, a "probable" recommendation for thinnest and thickest section welded.

Eurotorch

Portability (weight, wheels)

Gas bottle size.

Inverter or transformer

Copper or Aluminuim windings

Definitely a users rating, if poss.

And don't forget colour scheme

 

[marknotgeorge]

You need to explain what features are needed for various uses. IE for welding doohickeys, a low flange quotient is needed*. You can then give recommendations, but explain why welder X is better than welder Y. For this you need a top end (by which I mean the best you need without going OTT, as well and bottom end (the cheapest you can get away with). I think the easiest way to get a novice moving in the right direction is to get him (or her) to think about what he wants to do with the damn thing.

* Can you see where I used nonsense to hide my ignorance?