Mig Welder?

[robertall]

Hi,

I recently asked in the wanted section for a cheap welder. I have decided i want to buy a new one, and am going to save up for it. My budget is £500 (maybe more at a push if the benefits are significant).

I rarely own new goods. Most of what i have is old. Laptop/Phone are the only exceptions to this. I definitely want new.

I want to know how much it costs for a bottle+argon gas, and which company is best to use.

I want to do a mix of work, i want a weld up a thin steel shed (mainly patchwork), and also want to build a trailer, and do some welding on a caravan chassis.

I think i can afford it by the end of September.

Many thanks for any advice.

Rob

 

[steve.h]

hi, I can only recommend what I know and I pushed the boat out and got a Portamig 215 from steve, I also got a big W size bottle of argoshield from BOC, I know a lot of people dont like boc but if you are going to use a lot of gas then it does work out cheaper, even if you only use one bottle a year... I had not welded before I bought the Portamig but it sure did make learning to weld a breeze, it does really thin sheet and up to 10 mm with a bit of prep work..

I dont want to burst your bubble about the trailer but if you build a new trailer now it has to have a SVA through a vosa center, for a small trailer I believe it is around £70 so you will need to add that into the cost of the trailer. I opted to renovate my old trailer (use it for camping), I have bought new wheels and arches and am renewing the wood sides and floor and adding a solid lid to it but I have left the "chassis" and tow hitch as it is so I am thinking this will be enough to class it as renovation not new build..

HTH

 

[robertall]

Yeah i knew about the SVA test , but to be honest i forgot about. But still, renovating a trailer still requires welding. I would guess this is what i should do. An SVA test doesn't put me off, as long as i know what is required in trailer building. What puts me off is that i believe (from what i have been told) the nearest SVA test centre is in Exeter, 120miles away.

The Portamig 215 is £639 + a few quid delivery.

Worth it?

 

[ChrisJohnsSculpture]

Hi,

I recently asked in the wanted section for a cheap welder. I have decided i want to buy a new one, and am going to save up for it. My budget is £500 (maybe more at a push if the benefits are significant).

I rarely own new goods. Most of what i have is old. Laptop/Phone are the only exceptions to this. I definitely want new.

I want to know how much it costs for a bottle+argon gas, and which company is best to use.

I want to do a mix of work, i want a weld up a thin steel shed (mainly patchwork), and also want to build a trailer, and do some welding on a caravan chassis.

I think i can afford it by the end of September.

Many thanks for any advice.

Rob

Gas prices are certainly something you need to consider. Some cheap welders come with small disposable gas bottles but these work out very expensive indeed.

Traditionally you rent a gas bottle from a supplier like BOC, so you pay a monthly rent on the bottle itself and pay to have it refilled when it runs out, they will also charge delivery unless you take it to them yourself. This generally works through local agents.

Which rental company you go for will probably come down to which is closer.

The other option is that there are now a few places who will 'sell' you a full bottle and pick it up and sell you a new one when it runs out, you generally pay a bit less for the new bottles once you've bought the first one. The advantage of this is that you don't have the rental to worry about which you pay whether you use the gas or not.

Which is the best deal depends on how much gas you use, which isn't always that easy to predict. If you use more than a couple of bottles per year then rental is probably cheaper.

As far as the welder goes for £500 you are looking the the lower end of the mid range of the market.

As an example this Clarke one is fine for general fabrication and is certainly capable of producing decent welds. For that money you probably won't find anything which is excellent for very thin sheet but with care and the right technique and settings reasonably thin stuff is do-able.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mig160tm-welder

Stretching your budget a bit will get you something like this :

http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/Mig_Welder/240V_Mig_Welders/Mig_Welder_R-Tech_IMIG160

Which is a bit of a step up and does have some more professional features and isn't a bad deal with the free spool gun (useful if you ever want to weld aluminium). Also things like the arc force control and euro torch fitting (make it much easier to change torches and liners if/when they get damaged).

Having said that a cheaper branded one like the Clarke will probably do everything you need it to. I've used one of those for years and there's nothing wrong with it at all.

 

[rangel]

I have brand new LINCOLN POWERMIG 180 C FOR 450£ COST new over 800£ only been used ones to be tested

 

[cumbriasteve]

As an owner of one I consider the Portamigs well worth the price.

Check out your local industrial estates for gas suppliers, I got a good deal from a calor gas agent, many now sell welding gases, for argon co2 mix, large bottle for £30 a year rent and £30 refill.

They did not advertise and it was only a stroke of luck I went in and asked.

 

[robertall]

I am happy to pay £500 for the machine without the gas, welding mask, or anything else. So probably will be a total cost of no more than £700-750 for everything.

And ironically, the Clarke one for £335 is the one which i was seriously considering, looked like a nice cheaper machine.

I said a budget of £500, but that is just for the machine. Let me just clarify that.

I am definitely going new. That way i get warranty etc.

May i add, i will not buy a welder which relies on mini bottles, and not a gasless. I can see this is false economy.

 

[robertall]

The r tech which is at my upper limit, what are they like? And also it says on your link net weight of 15kg. Is that correct?

http://www.cornishweldingsupplies.co.uk/product-info.php?pid549.html

What about this oxford machine? ^^

Cheers.

 

[cumbriasteve]

The Oxford and Portamig are basically the same machine with minor differences in switch layout and I believe the use of capacitors.

There have been previous discussions on the forum to establish which one is best, with no firm result, each machines owners happy with their purchase.

R-tech seem to be a decent supplier of what are Chinese machines, assembled with parts under their quality control.

Unless weight was a critical requirement, my personal choice for hopefully a long life would be a transformer machine with a euro torch for the benefit of cable length, they can survive the abuse of a workshop environment easier.

If portability is essential then the transformer machines become a nightmare.

 

[Dev]

You should also consider your local (or nearest) welding equipment supplier. You might get better than list price on a new machine and you have the comfort of them being close if anything goes wrong.

 

[robertall]

The Oxford machine is sold by a company 20 miles from me. Weight is not a problem. Nor is size.

 

[robertall]

Does anybody else have any other suggestions? Budget is loose and will pay more for a better machine if the need arises.

 

[Dev]

Have you looked at the thermal arc 181i? It's an inverter type multi-process unit thats round your price range and gives you the option of trying TIG if you want to later on.