Giant Mig150, any good?

[DJ1978]

Hello All

I'm looking at buying a Mig welder to use at home for hobby work mainly, the amount of welding that I've done in the past could be counted on one hand so I'm very new to this game. I've had a read through the Mig welder buyers guide and have learned a fair bit already. Ive been looking at this mig welder on eBay, it seems to fit most of the suggestions from the thread but I'm unsure of the quality as I've not heard of the make before. Any feedback on this machine Guys?

Giant Mig150

Many thanks

 

[Wedg1e]

The spec does look quite impressive for what it is, but one of the major limitations will be its wire spool capacity - looks like it could only take 0.5Kg reels which are disproportionately expensive for the amount of wire on them. You could of course buy a bigger reel and decant it to the smaller spool (I used to do that with my SIP Migmate).
If it can genuinely do 20-150A and give 120A 60% of the time it could be a good set... but there's a lot of 'if's there and £200 would buy you a good, admittedly old, but reputably-branded welder that'll hold its value (old welders don't depreciate beyond a certain point as the amount of copper in them means they are literally worth thir weight )
That Giant unit is based on current 'inverter' technology, which bandwagon everyone seems to be jumping on, some with more success than others. It's effectively the same sort of electronics that has allowed gadgets to get smaller because you no longer need big transformers in the power supplies. As long as the components are well-specified (ie over-rated by a large margin) for the job there should be no problem. What tends to happen is that designers specify a component that's sailing a bit close to its electrical limits and that's where the unreliability comes in.

You pays your money etc... but you could be the first on here to buy one and become the leading authority on how good/bad they are

 

[preeceplant]

i have got the 200 amp mig welder great bit of kit
have a look in the old named welders and the giant 200 you might find that some of them are the same
nearly 2 years old now cheers

 

[keith19]

Any warranty on that ebay job? Could only see 7 days...

 

[shenion]

Any warranty on that ebay job? Could only see 7 days...

That has been the issue with Giant welders. Most sellers have absolutely no support, just box movers.

 

[weldequip]

Here's the main control board from something like a Clarke...

Not often they go wrong but when they do you can have one the next day & fit it yourself in 5 minutes.

And here's the internals of an Inverter, similar to what you are looking at...

A lot more complex electronics = a lot more to go wrong. Back to the dealer when they do. Leading brand suppliers will have a service department to put the problem right, most eBlaggers selling un-branded stuff will not (might not even still be around in a year or two, as people have discovered!). They've had your money & made their profit & that's all most care about. Save your 200 quid & put it into a reputable brand (even then you have to be careful, as more & more go down the cheap & cheerful route!)