I'm looking for a small cheap welder to keep in my works van just because . £50 max.

[Sean64]

Seen a few reviews on the zx7-200 arc inverter chinese cheapo. The reviews were surprisingly good on a couple of YouTube channels.
Any thoughts

Sean

 

[daleyd]

Have a look here....


https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...-phase-inverter-mma.94224/page-4#post-1413938

 

[gaz1]

theres also the aldi/lidl arc welder with 3 year warranty instead

 

[nixboy13]

Wouldn't recommend the lidl one was doing a small bit of work on a trailer it burned out the fan. I went to screwfix and bought one they had for £80 quid. It's an impax 140 and dose all my work for me it's a great little welder that's if you wouod stretch your budget

 

[Wightsparks]

I have a little Impax inverter stick machine, works fine and fits in a toolbox. My stick welding is still dire though!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Wouldn't recommend the lidl one was doing a small bit of work on a trailer it burned out the fan. I went to screwfix and bought one they had for £80 quid. It's an impax 140 and dose all my work for me it's a great little welder that's if you wouod stretch your budget

Just for balance, a pal bought a Lidl one after I alerted him to them - he's been very pleased with it.

 

[chris pruteanu]

I really think the old adage buy cheap buy twice really applies here... I would rather spend money on a 2nd hand used decent machine than pay dosh on cheap tat from supermarkets- no matter how good the warranty is!

 

[daleyd]

Wouldn't recommend the lidl one was doing a small bit of work on a trailer it burned out the fan. I went to screwfix and bought one they had for £80 quid. It's an impax 140 and dose all my work for me it's a great little welder that's if you wouod stretch your budget

Is it fried? if not and it’s just the fan you could replace it for a couple of quid, plus they have a decent warranty scheme.

while the impax one may be fine, I wouldn’t put it as a step up in quality over the Lidl/Aldi ones, it’s probably made in the same factory.

 

[Wozzaaah]

I really think the old adage buy cheap buy twice really applies here... I would rather spend money on a 2nd hand used decent machine than pay dosh on cheap tat from supermarkets- no matter how good the warranty is!

Trouble is a decent brand used inverter would cost more than the OP’s £50 budget.
If it’s a machine that will be in use all day every day then it’s a no-brainer, up the budget and buy a well-known brand you know won’t let you down but for something to sling in the van for occasional use then I’d say a budget machine would suffice.
Much better off with a supermarket special than a generic Chinese one from eBay, at least you know the warranty is worth the paper it’s written on.

 

[Sean]

I really think the old adage buy cheap buy twice really applies here... I would rather spend money on a 2nd hand used decent machine than pay dosh on cheap tat from supermarkets- no matter how good the warranty is!

Did both fella, got a Aldi inverter its great, then got a Thermal ark 181 " spares or repair" , the Aldi £80 has been superb! Leads welder and rods fit in one of those alloy flight case 'briefcases' sadly it didnt TIG very well as its too clever and thinks its a rod stick. Thermal arc does all 3 and stays at home.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I really think the old adage buy cheap buy twice really applies here... I would rather spend money on a 2nd hand used decent machine than pay dosh on cheap tat from supermarkets- no matter how good the warranty is!

A bit of a sweeping condemnation there , it depends largely on the intended use. I doubt anyone thinks the Lidl/Aldi jobs are up to professional demands but for the hobbyist and occasional user they're fine, as many attest.

Have you ever tried one?

 

[gaz1]

ive got an old sip 90 arc welder its done everything ive asked of it over the years and at that ive had it 15 years now

I know its older than that say about 3/5 years

so for a 20 year old transformer welder its done really well

 

[slim_boy_fat]

so for a 20 year old transformer welder its done really well

Weight can be a consideration for us old bodachs [auld chap for those darn saarf ] if we have to humph them around.

 

[skotl]

A bit of a sweeping condemnation there , it depends largely on the intended use. I doubt anyone thinks the Lidl/Aldi jobs are up to professional demands but for the hobbyist and occasional use they're fine, as many attest.

Have you ever tried one?

Spot on.

I've got a £1k rtech multi process machine and an £80 ebay special - both have their place and use and I'd never use one where the other was clearly a better fit.


I don't understand where people have such a downer on these little jobbies - mine is far more approachable than the ancient SIP transformer arc welder I had a few years back.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I don't understand where people have such a downer on these little jobbies

You might want to rephrase that....

 

[chris pruteanu]

A bit of a sweeping condemnation there , it depends largely on the intended use. I doubt anyone thinks the Lidl/Aldi jobs are up to professional demands but for the hobbyist and occasional user they're fine, as many attest.

Have you ever tried one?

I have used a small parweld pocket size welder 4-5 years ago till it got nicked, was a really nice welder. As for cheaper stick welders, i have tried to adjust a few for my friends/relatives, they buy no name welders off aliexpress or flea markets and expect them to run as a branded machine. they often turn off after burning a few rods which means a bit of frustration waiting for the darn thing to cool when you have fence panels to put up in the middle of nowhere and weather is about to turn bad !
I also used to own a few years ago a dc tig Rehman (chinese) which was also small, portable and still works nicely with HF and also burns 3.2 mm sticks better than my Lincoln does (sold it to a relative and i used this summer to build a industrial unit in the middle of nowhere) ! I now bought a Kemppi minarctig 180 A and thats in a different league in terms of portability, smooth Tig arc and the way it lights cheappo stick rods, trust me- you really get what you pay for !

 

[slim_boy_fat]

and expect them to run as a branded machine. they often turn off after burning a few rods which means a bit of frustration waiting for the darn thing to cool when you have fence panels to put up in the middle of nowhere and weather is about to turn bad !

If they'd studied the machine spec sheets they have known that would happen, surely.

I'm not going to enter into a long conversation re these, I only posted originally to give some balance to the thread. Some are happy with what they get for their money, others not so much.

 

[8ob]

If my budget was going to be £50 for an inverter I would go second hand and get a decent make, something like the BOC. There's enough of them out there.

Bob

 

[Sean]

...
I don't understand where people have such a downer on these little jobbies - mine is far more approachable than the ancient SIP transformer arc welder I had a few years back.

Yes that big box of copper and iron is doing a sterling job of not letting my shed blow away!
In complete contrast to the Inverter which has a habit of falling over if you move the leads too vigorously.

 

[Memmeddu]

About Lidl welders I think that people think that are garbage just because they are cheap and the posted welds are made by someone who doesn't even know how to set the welder so he can't never get good results because if he can't understand if is running too cold or too hot he can't understand how to control the puddle ...
I've seen a fabricator post on Facebook he used the parkside inverter stick welder the 120A one and E7018 maybe one of the best welds I've seen
Lidl warranty is something great
I think is way better go to spend 80 euros on a Lidl welders than go online and buy a 50 euros welder from China without leads
Also parkside welders are probably manufactured in China but they passed European controls and the warranty is great