Hobbyist on a budget

[rickyn]

Evening all,
i mainly need my welder for lightweight classic motorcycle restoration. And the odd car panel replacement or corrosion repair. I apprenticed as a panel beater so my Cebora 130 turbo mig has served me well for the last 25 years or so. However these days the mig needs a repair, i renewed the wire, tip, shroud and fitted a good quality liner in an attempt to get it working normally again but it may need professional attention. I do intend to do this but in the short term i have projects that i need a welder for.
So i have been looking around and these days there seem to be tig inverter welders that i wondered if they would be more suitable for me? The thought of not having to worry about gas and not having to remove the spool when not using appeals.

As i am totally ignorant to this type of technology, would something like this...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Drape...05&prg=11472&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=171109493644&rt=nc

... be suitable for my needs ?
I doubt i ever need to weld over 5mm max steel, though some of the parts are 1mm, would this do the job i mainly need it for ? I am on a budget i'm afraid as i still need to invest some money in getting the cebora sorted.

This attached is typical of the sort of thing i mean,



i need to make the broken stop up again in 3mm plate and weld the new one in. I job that takes no time at all, but is very frustrating when your no longer equipped to do it your self.

Or is this completely not the sort of thing i need ?

 

[daleyd]

If your thinking about tig, then I'm afraid you will need gas anyway, and argon as well which is more expensive than mig mix gases or pure co2 ( I don't know hat you use at the moment, but it won't be suitable for tig)

The tig function on that model is pretty basic as well, in my opinion you'd be better off with a mig, especially if you are doing car panel work.

Tig is very neat, but can be difficult to learn and is much slower than mig.

 

[BrokenBiker]

So i have been looking around and these days there seem to be tig inverter welders that i wondered if they would be more suitable for me? The thought of not having to worry about gas and not having to remove the spool when not using appeals.

A tig welder still needs gas, and it has to be pure argon. tig is also a lot harder than mig and will take quite a while to master well enough that you can do repairs to bikes and such. also, out of the 3 electrical welding processes, tig appears to be the most expensive where consumables are concerned.

to be honest, if I were you I would look for a second hand mig

 

[rickyn]

Thanks, see this is where my ignorance kicks in, i thought this was a modern type arc welder that in the current day was capable of being used on thin sheet. How does the gas come into it when it has an arc weld type torch ?

 

[Spark plug]

Tig isnt realy suted to welding dirty steel, for good results everything has to be perfectly clean. Also welding out of position (under a car or in an tight space) is very difficult for a tig beginner.

You would also need different gas as you need pure argon for tig.

But a tig can be very usefull when it comes to making nice thing for motorcycles out of stainless and aluminium.

 

[Spark plug]

Thanks, see this is where my ignorance kicks in, i thought this was a modern type arc welder that in the current day was capable of being used on thin sheet. How does the gas come into it when it has an arc weld type torch ?

Broken biker beer me to it.

Tig I'm more like electric gas welding than arc. The torch is just used to create an arc then the filler wire is added with the other hand.

 

[daleyd]

Thanks, see this is where my ignorance kicks in, i thought this was a modern type arc welder that in the current day was capable of being used on thin sheet. How does the gas come into it when it has an arc weld type torch ?

Not really, it's an inverter arc welder but arc in general is not ideally suited to thin sheet, no matter how modern the machine. You end up using thin rods and it's not easy to do. It's not so much the machine, rather that the process isn't suited.

 

[daleyd]

Plus to do tig you would need purchase an optional tig torch and kit. Stick with mig!

 

[Rig Pig]

Weldequip sells most parts to fix the old Cebora 130, the link is at the top of the page.

 

[rickyn]

Righto, i follow now. So i know what you mean now, i have seen the neat quiet torches on American chopper etc and you use a filler rod. I didnt know they were Tigs.

Why are the Arc inverters so much more expensive than the old arc welders and smaller to for that matter. I do have an old arc welder by the way, but i last used it on a set of gates many years ago and wouldnt dream of using it on the bike stuff.

So righto, if the arc inverter wont readily do what i want then its back to the cebora it seems. Old it may be but its been a blooming handy tool over the years, paying for itelf over and over.

 

[daleyd]

Righto, i follow now. So i know what you mean now, i have seen the neat quiet torches on American chopper etc and you use a filler rod. I didnt know they were Tigs.

Why are the Arc inverters so much more expensive than the old arc welders and smaller to for that matter. I do have an old arc welder by the way, but i last used it on a set of gates many years ago and wouldnt dream of using it on the bike stuff.

So righto, if the arc inverter wont readily do what i want then its back to the cebora it seems. Old it may be but its been a blooming handy tool over the years, paying for itelf over and over.

Inverter technology is a fair bit more complex than the old buzz box transformer type arc welders, which are basically just a transformer. The transformer is a big lump of metal, hence the newer ones are much smaller.

Modern inverters use electronic components to transform ac 230 volt supply to a dc voltage and have all sorts of fancy trickery built in, ie hot start which makes it easier to strike an arc and anti stick etc. in general they are much nicer to weld with.

 

[rickyn]

Inverter technology is a fair bit more complex than the old buzz box transformer type arc welders, which are basically just a transformer. The transformer is a big lump of metal, hence the newer ones are much smaller.

Modern inverters use electronic components to transform ac 230 volt supply to a dc voltage and have all sorts of fancy trickery built in, ie hot start which makes it easier to strike an arc and anti stick etc. in general they are much nicer to weld with.

But still not really easily capable on light work , especially with me at the helm when i am new to the equipment. Bugger, i had hoped to be back in action next week as well.

Thanks for the swift informative replies. Appreciated.

 

[rickyn]

Wouldnt let me post the word b u g g e r.. ha !

 

[daleyd]

But still not really easily capable on light work , especially with me at the helm when i am new to the equipment. ******, i had hoped to be back in action next week as well.

Thanks for the swift informative replies. Appreciated.

Yes, arc welding in general is not suited I'm afraid, no matter what the machine. It will do it, at a push, but it won't be pretty and won't be easy to do.

What is the issue with your mig? Could you not borrow one or look at a decent secondhand unit perhaps?

 

[rickyn]

The mig needs at least a new brass torch neck, although i don't think that's anything to do with it not performing. The thread has gone in the neck that accepts surrounding nut for the torch liner. The problem seems to be a general lack of puddle temperature and the welds such as it does now are porous as though it has a gas shielding issue. Though there is plenty of 80/20 gas being delivered. Its not capable of providing any sort of weld (tacking excepted) Wire speed etc is fine, it started a while back and i thought it was rusty wire as i had'nt removed it form the machine, but having replaced the wire and liner its exactly the same. With a neck at 55 quid alone it probably not even going to be economic to fix it back up. Shame really.

 

[daleyd]

Maybe have a look in the cebora section if anyone has seen something similar or even a dedicated post. Someone may be able to help, nothing to lose?

With those older machines there isn't much to go wrong!!

 

[daleyd]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/cebora-turbo-130-mig.51036/

Might be worth seeing if this still for sale

 

[daleyd]

^^^
Or see if anyone here knows how to repair it / willing to buy it as spares/repairs?

That's what I suggested in my post above (not the last one, the one before that!). I dont believe there is much that can't be fixed easily on it.

 

[daleyd]

Just backing up your suggestion daleyd

I wasn't having a pop, I just re read my post and thought perhaps it might not have made sense !! Your wording was a bit clearer than mine!

 

[Spark plug]

Post some pics of the welds your getting, it might help identify the fault.