I regret buying a Migmate

[Budeweld]

I am a very basic skilled welder, and currently restoring an old Jaguar which requires a lot of welding. I bought a Sips Migmate 130, as I was told it was a good beginners welding machine, but here are my issues;

It is push button so having trouble setting it up to the right temp- it either burns through 1mm steel or does not penetrate enough.

The wire feed is jerky- kind of stop start regardless of what wire speed or tension you have it set on.

The weld is poor, kind of like snot, I think the term is pop corn, I can not get an even regular bead and if I do it just blows through regardless of the temp setting

On top of this it appears to have stopped working; it turns on but nothing happens when you press the trigger, you can pull the wire through the nib if you use plyers but there is nothing when you press the trigger, so either the gun has gone or the wire feed- I have no idea

If anyone can give me advice on any of the above I would be grateful

 

[roofman]

I am a very basic skilled welder, and currently restoring an old Jaguar which requires a lot of welding. I bought a Sips Migmate 130, as I was told it was a good beginners welding machine, but here are my issues;

It is push button so having trouble setting it up to the right temp- it either burns through 1mm steel or does not penetrate enough.

The wire feed is jerky- kind of stop start regardless of what wire speed or tension you have it set on.

The weld is poor, kind of like snot, I think the term is pop corn, I can not get an even regular bead and if I do it just blows through regardless of the temp setting

On top of this it appears to have stopped working; it turns on but nothing happens when you press the trigger, you can pull the wire through the nib if you use plyers but there is nothing when you press the trigger, so either the gun has gone or the wire feed- I have no idea

If anyone can give me advice on any of the above I would be grateful

I can give you my opinion more than advise on that Migmate... Hateful machines and the same generic type like them. Put more people off welding than bring them in to the game.

 

[skotl]

I am a very basic skilled welder, and currently restoring an old Jaguar which requires a lot of welding. I bought a Sips Migmate 130, as I was told it was a good beginners welding machine, but here are my issues;

It is push button so having trouble setting it up to the right temp- it either burns through 1mm steel or does not penetrate enough.

The wire feed is jerky- kind of stop start regardless of what wire speed or tension you have it set on.

The weld is poor, kind of like snot, I think the term is pop corn, I can not get an even regular bead and if I do it just blows through regardless of the temp setting

On top of this it appears to have stopped working; it turns on but nothing happens when you press the trigger, you can pull the wire through the nib if you use plyers but there is nothing when you press the trigger, so either the gun has gone or the wire feed- I have no idea

If anyone can give me advice on any of the above I would be grateful

Welcome to the forum

There's quite a lot of rebuild, repair and upgrade threads over on the SIP part of the forum: https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/forums/sip-cosmo.28/

My first welder was a SIP TopMig and I learned tons about welding and welders by fixing and upgrading it. Would I recommend the experience to anyone else? Probably not... (I have an R-Tech now)

What do you want help on: fixing the SIP, making it better, or picking the next non-SIP welder?

If it's repairs, how are you with electrics? Does the lamp come on, does it have an internal fuse, have you checked the fuse in the plug, opened it up and checked connections, checked for 230V after the switch etc.?
If you're not confident with that stuff then I would respectfully suggest it's upgrade time...

 

[skotl]

...oh... and how new is it? If it's still under warranty then obviously get it back to the retailer

 

[Keithmac]

I had one and it was usable but that was about it.

Apparently amongst other things the electrical supply to the wire feed motor is poor and this causes all sorts of issues.

I cut my losses and bought an IGBT Mig (gassless) when I started my last car project, money well spent.

 

[Budeweld]

Welcome to the forum

There's quite a lot of rebuild, repair and upgrade threads over on the SIP part of the forum: https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/forums/sip-cosmo.28/

My first welder was a SIP TopMig and I learned tons about welding and welders by fixing and upgrading it. Would Ie i recommend the experience to anyone else? Probably not... (I have an R-Tech now)

What do you want help on: fixing the SIP, making it better, or picking the next non-SIP welder?

If it's repairs, how are you with electrics? Does the lamp come on, does it have an internal fuse, have you checked the fuse in the plug, opened it up and checked connections, checked for 230V after the switch etc.?
If you're not confident with that stuff then I would respectfully suggest it's upgrade time...

Thank you for that, I think I have an idea of what the issue is from the very first post of SIP forum

No I need to figure out why the weld quality is so poor

 

[dobbslc]

I had one and it was a poor machine that caused a lot of stress. The wire feed is ****. If you get it running again try keeping the torch lead straight not coiled up as it helps the puny wire feed mechanism to feed smoothly.
I did a simple mod on the rollers to help support them that helped but in the end I got rid of it and bought a GYS 140.
It turns out I'm a fairly good welder with the new machine.
If you want your car to be well repaired I'd get rid of that machine and get something decent, sorry.

 

[Stuartg1]

I had one, as everyone has said, get rid... Even with all the modifications you can do to the wire feed, it's still an appalling machine

 

[Smallfry]

BiL bought a new one a couple of years ago. He normally uses stick or gas, and is better with those than I am. Came to me and said that he couldn't get a decent weld with it.

I gave it a try and threw the pathetic torch down in disgust. It would put a novice welder off for life. I am sure a very skilled welder could do something with it, but it will always be a struggle. I know it would not be in everyones budget, but if you buy a decent machine, the difference is night and day.

Having a bad machine will just sap your enthusiasm.

 

[dobbslc]

Have a look at GYS machines.

GYS Easymig 140 review.

Well after umming and ahhring for ages about buying a mig welder I took the plunge. Thanks to everyone that has given me some good advice recently. I've chosen a GYS Easymig 140 as it was available at a place called Barnet Welding Supplies that is near me that I've been getting my gas from. Hi...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

Or RTech.

 

[not done it yet]

As above - lots of buyers regret that decision. Higher quality is (nearly) always better than lower quality - but manufacturers/suppliers of low quality will likely still call it ‘a quality machine’ (without the added descriptor, of course).

 

[arther dailey]

what size gasbottle are you using ? the tiny ones only have a few minutes gas in them , as above , to do your car justice and make life 99% easier buy a decent welder.

 

[Beanwood]

Many of us started with that machine or a variation of it.
The main point for me was the price- it was cheap and I had no money. That is the main reason they are good for the beginner- they are cheap!

Most have now moved on to something ‘better’(and more expensive).
I managed to get some reasonable welds from mine but it was a bit hit and miss. Things like renewing the liner helps and checking the torch isn’t blocked by weld splatter. Large bottle gas or small?

 

[Budeweld]

Yes I am beginning to realise that the machine is no good, I had a Clarke Mig before and it was pretty good but had a break in in my workshop and it went with all my tools, sadly with inflation the insurance payout did not cover the full value of everything I lost so some things I had to compromise on, I bought the welder second hand of a friend who bought it new but never used it (I was actually the first person to use it). I dont like the push button settings there is no fine tuning and the torch lead is too short for starters. I learned to Arc weld when I was 15 and was taught by a pro, had some Mig training when I was 16 but this machine has got me thinking I am either hopeless or at just 51 my mind is going as I cant seem to get a good weld or keep the surface stable. With the cost of repairs to the car and replacement of tools, I simply do not have the funds to spend £100s of on a new machine just yet- I will have to look at second hand- what do you think I can get for £150?

 

[Rrobson]

For £150 you’re going to get similar quality machines to the one you’ve got.
I had a Clarke 151 which I think was around your budget and was adequate for basic car repairs but I wouldn’t want to use it for restoration work. Welding a quick patch onto a sill or floor pan was as good as it got with the welder.

I recommend you save some cash and look to spend £4-500 on a half decent welder. By the time you’ve faffed about buying upgraded parts and fitting them to a sub-standard machine you’d have been better saving yourself the time and money just buying a half decent machine in the first place…

 

[Morrisman]

I had one for several years. When it worked okay it was quite good, but as with most Mig you need to make sure the steel you’re welding is totally ground clean, and also where the earth clamp goes is ground clean.

There is a modification you can do to the wire drive rollers, apparently they are a little weak, so a strap across the rollers holds them in place better. There are details somewhere on this forum.

I gave mine away eventually when I bought an r-tech 180

 

[Red'n'Black]

I've done all the mods on mine and it's capable of decent beads on the higher settings for 2mm and up, on the lower settings it's very hit and miss, just about good enough to get an old snotter through the MoT. For a proper restoration job I'd buy something else.

 

[Hutcho]

Budget , Clarke everytime for a beginner - they just work

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Sold my Migmate on eBay...seller messed me around so it went to someone who deserved it!

I bought a Kempi evo200 to replace it...it's a dream to use and worked straight out the box!

I could never work out what combination of buttons was correct on the migmate..for a long time I thought I was missing something! I spent many hours setting it up on test pieces...then on the car it would just blow holes!

 

[tom2207]

200 quid gets you a Rohr I bought one to do a job I had promised to do for a friend , it did the job the very best ,,, how long it will last ,, Ive no idea , but a years warranty and uk back up ,,, it will do if thats all it does.