Good mig welder for thin car body panels 0.7mm

[duffman]

Hi looking for a small mig welder that has a low amperage of down to 20 amps to weld thin car body panels.

I'm looking to spend no more than £400. What is a good welder that won't burn thru?

I have new chassis legs to spot weld in and quarter panel repairs.

I seen SIP weldmate 160a that goes down to 20amps. Anybody know if this is a good welder?

Thanks

 

[eddie49]

Hello and welcome to the Forum !

That SIP machine is a typical example of an imported inverter welder in the 140- to 200-Amp class. It can accept the more economical 5kg/200mm spools of MIG wire, rather than the smallest 1kg size. The attached torch is only 2m long, but the welder is small enough to easily move around to where you need it.
At £200 to £230 online, it is at the high end of pricing for this class. For example, the small StaticArc machine has an all-metal wirefeed assembly, not plastic, a detachable 3m long Euro torch, and it is only £160 :

Pardon our interruption...

The warranty on the SIP is 2 years, which is good. Given the unique status of NI, can you order a German Stahlwerk machine, or nip over the border and get one? They have a 7-year warranty.

 

[duffman]

Hello and welcome to the Forum !

That SIP machine is a typical example of an imported inverter welder in the 140- to 200-Amp class. It can accept the more economical 5kg/200mm spools of MIG wire, rather than the smallest 1kg size. The attached torch is only 2m long, but the welder is small enough to easily move around to where you need it.
At £200 to £230 online, it is at the high end of pricing for this class. For example, the small StaticArc machine has an all-metal wirefeed assembly, not plastic, a detachable 3m long Euro torch, and it is only £160 :

Pardon our interruption...

The warranty on the SIP is 2 years, which is good. Given the unique status of NI, can you order a German Stahlwerk machine, or nip over the border and get one? They have a 7-year warranty.

Hi Eddie,

That looks like a great little mig welder. I see it only goes down to 30amps though. I have a sip 210 that will go to 30 amps. But was looking for a smaller welder for the really thin guage autobody metal. I think the stahlwerk welder machines only go down to 40 amps which is a bit high for what I'm looking.

I seen a small tigren 120 welder that goes down to 15amps but only takes the small rolls of mig wire.

Was looking something that puts less heat into the panel and doesn't risk burning through.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Erie Fred]

How rigid is this 20 amp limit ?
Is there a spec sheet somewhere driving this ?

 

[Popcorn]

PORTAMIG Universal 165A-235A compact MIG

High quality British made machines designed for automotive, maintenance & light fabrication. Portamig Universal models provide great welding performance coupled with low operating costs & t…

technicalarc.co.uk

 

[Mark 2]

I would have thought this more about technique than amperage.

 

[eddie49]

I see it only goes down to 30amps though. I have a sip 210 that will go to 30 amps.
I think the stahlwerk welder machines only go down to 40 amps which is a bit high for what I'm looking.
I seen a small tigren 120 welder that goes down to 15amps but only takes the small rolls of mig wire.

Regardless of what the specs say, most inverter welders that have two separate controls, one for voltage and one for wirespeed, will go down to about zero Amps. A synergic welder, with a pre-programmed fixed ratio between voltage and wirespeed and having only a single control, may have a limit on the lowest available current. Good synergic welders offer manual fine-tuning ( "trimming" ) of the voltage, down or up by a volt or two, or +5% / -5%.
The StaticArc linked above offers synergic or manual control. The rotary dial is also a push-button that selects a menu, but the options available are not fully explained.
This very small, very light, and very cheap 140A MIG has a synergic dial calibrated in millimetres of metal thickness, starting at 0.5mm:

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

It does have fine-tuning, with a -1 / 0 / +1 voltage adjuster, and fully-manual control too.