do I need a 220 amp setup?

[drummerbins]

Hello, I am thinking of buying an air ride kit for my 1967 VW beetle, the web site that sells it is recommending that I use a 220amp mig welder so that I achieve good penetration, do you think this is correct? The kit is £1850.00 so I dont want to mess it up, or kill my beloved car.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Simple question.....can you weld?

 

[KemppiFrog]

Apart from Wozza's obvious question, I am trying to think of any metal on the V-dubb that could not be welded by a smaller machine.
Case in point: Swopping a chassis section in a pick up. Going to do it next week with my 150 amp machine.
220 is nice, but needed?? More to the point, how low can it go? for the thin sheet.
KF

 

[Drains]

No, you don't need a 220A mig for a car. 150 will be fine, and there's no way you need to spend £1800 on a welder for non industrial use. Most importantly as Wozz says, can you weld?
Judging by you question you know nothing about welding. If you're going to kill your beloved car, that'll be why. The size of machine will be nothing to do with it.

I'd also say that if the people selling the ride kit say you need a 220A £1850 welder, then they know far more about getting people tpi part with their money than they do about welding, and possibly air ride kits...

 

[gavuk]

I read that as £1800 for the air ride kit ......sleep in your eyes Si ?

 

[Drains]

I read that as £1800 for the air ride kit ......sleep in your eyes Si ?

Doh!





I should edit most of that nonsense I've written above. Just read the first sentence and ignore the rest. You're right Gav, it was early.

 

[drummerbins]

Hi, thanks for the reply’s, short answer is no I cannot weld. Have done a lot of gas and air in the past but never any mig, however I am the stepson of Andy Perrett a King’s trained top class welder of 40 years’ experience and he is going to teach me.
To clarify the ride kit is £1850.00 not the welder you can see it here if you are interested http://www.limebug.net/product/view/1000/beetle-ghia-complete-air-ride-kit-full-front-and-rear-kit.
The welder I was looking at is on this site the
Portamig MIG Welders
• 185, 215 & 235 Amps
• 230v Single Phase
• Unique, Ultra Low 15 Amps Minimum
• Custom Built in Britain
• 2 Year Warranty
From £ 588 (inc VAT)

My plan is to do some simple stuff first as it will take me 6 month to save the money for the air ride kit, what I did not want to happen was when I buy the kit finding out too late that my welder was too small for the job.

 

[Wozzaaah]

The 185 will do you fine though if you can stretch to it you might want to go for the 215 to give you that bit extra should you ever need it.
I wasn't being rude when I asked if you can weld, we've seen some pretty ambitious projects suggested by people who can't scratch their backside with a mig torch.

 

[Drains]

drummerbins, I reckon the 185 will do you. It should be able to run good beads on 6mm with no problem. One thing to watch is your power supply. The 185 will run at full power on a 13A plug for a minute or three before it blows the fuse. It'll go fine on a 16A plug. The other two will need a 32A supply to run full-bore.

Just to clarify welder power requirements - I spent years making light fabrications using a 185A Clarke welder. It was only when I built a steel boat and had long runs to do that I had to upgrade to something that could run at higher amps all day, as the 185 kept tripping on maximum power. I've never seen anything on any road vehicle smaller than a 17 tonner that couldn't be welded with a 185A machine. (with the possible exception of a tail-lift frame).

 

[Angusdog]

I suspect the air ride kit is US and their welding requirements should read 220 volts which is akin to UK/NZ etc three phase output. 220A is not a common range for a welder but they may be trying to imply that a 100V stick welder is insufficient.

 

[drummerbins]

Thank you all, looks like you have saved me a lot of money, I will go with a 185 and post up some of my first attempts.