Mig welder around £300

[ALAN C]

I whant to get a mig welder i was thinking aroud £300 do i whant gas /nogas is both not the best i was thinking of 200amp i have looked on m/c mart amazon and more but i think you lot are way a head of me so i will just ask for your best advice thanks alan c

 

[ALAN C]

welder

Amazon has a mig welder 200amp by lts £260 are these ok i have a car to do will this do the job or is it crap please let me know what you think is the best mig for the job and any help you can give thank you yours alan c

 

[Engineer]

If you are doing car welding this will work fine: http://www.wellyweld.com/products/redline-150-72559.aspx

 

[stormin]

Or you could go for one of the Clarkes here:-

http://www.weldequip.com/mig-welders.htm

Well respected make and easy to obtain spares and from a well regarded supplier.
As regards gas or no gas, are you going to be welding indoors in a garage or outside? If it's outside at all you'll be best off with a gas less capable machine.

There's no way you need 200 amps for a vehicle unless you're into welding up tanks, in fact the lower the amps the better.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Personally within the budget you mention I would stick to a Clarke, it's a decent well known and spares supported machine used by many car restorers.

 

[stormin]

And if you're just starting out and haven't got one already put £40 of your budget aside for an Auto darkening helmet, it'll be money well spent.

 

[Delgado]

A quick scan of ebay shows, 2 murex, 1 elland, 1 oxford ,1 kemppi and a miller (there are probably more, but I gave up looking at that point) that are all within your price range and all single phase. If you've got 3 phase then there are even more that would fit the bill.

 

[stormin]

A quick scan of ebay shows, 2 murex, 1 elland, 1 oxford ,1 kemppi and a miller (there are probably more, but I gave up looking at that point) that are all within your price range and all single phase. If you've got 3 phase then there are even more that would fit the bill.

They may be in his price range now but the auctions have yet to finish!
They are also an unknown quantity in terms of reliability wear and tear etc, certainly no guarantees.

 

[ALAN C]

I was just thinking of a m/c that could do thin steel and thick steel thin wire and thick wire so it could do what ever came up yours alan c

 

[cumbriasteve]

For that sort of criteria, you need double your budget at least,

For £300 you are going to have a limit on what thickness you can weld, the Clarke 150 will do car work and have a bit of power for other odds and ends, bit of ornamental stuff etc.

For anything over 5mm thick without any prepping, then you need more money and more power, there is always a chance of something from Ebay as has been mentioned but true bargains are not easy to come by, there are many people watching the auctions and machines tend to fetch what they are worth and sometimes a lot more than that.

Don't make the mistake of buying some obscure make because it's cheap, it will be cheap because they don't have any value to people who know the trade.

 

[Engineer]

They may be in his price range now but the auctions have yet to finish!
They are also an unknown quantity in terms of reliability wear and tear etc, certainly no guarantees.

9 times out of 10 a quality used MIG set will be a far better buy than a shoddily made DIY machine bought new. As for guarantees, I have been using my old Murex set for 25 years now, and its still going strong no problems at all.........not sure whether a Clarke or Sealey would still be working after half that time?

 

[stormin]

9 times out of 10 a quality used MIG set will be a far better buy than a shoddily made DIY machine bought new. As for guarantees, I have been using my old Murex set for 25 years now, and its still going strong no problems at all.........not sure whether a Clarke or Sealey would still be working after half that time?

I think I would revise that 9 out of 10 down a few points to maybe 7 out of 10. A lot of stuff being sold on Ebay is because it's past it's best.

I also think you are being unfair on Clarke and Sealey sets calling them shoddily made. They have aquired quite a reputation amongst users on here as decent quality for the money, and certainly a cut above the generic chinese imports or SIP machines.

I recently sold my bottom of the Range Clarke 85en no gas machine, fully working after nearly twenty years and got nearly the same as I paid for it back then.
I'm not totally against Ebay as there are still the occasional bargains to be had, I bought my own current Cebora set off there. For the first time mig user though not quite knowing what to look for, which seems to fit with the OP questions, it would be a bit hit and miss.

Even simple faults like a worn torch liner or bad tip can cause a welder to misbehave and the novice user wouldn't know any better as to whether it's his technique, set-up or the machine. A new machine or reputable make at least comes with the re-assurance that it should be working straight out of the box with new consumables and even instructions giving some guide to set-up. All important points to the novice user and a lot less so to someone more experienced.