New and need a mig

[Neilg7777]

Hi all after failing to find a mobile welder to work on my transit floor plan and spring hangers I am looking to buy a mig welder to do it myself and then I may be able to do my arches as well. I am in no rush so going to practice a lot before i do any work on the van. So what mig would be a good one to buy for all the work listed. Budget around £200. If i was to get a second hand one what should I be looking for to make sure its been looked after. I am sure I will be asking lots of questions lol. Great site by the way.
Thanks Neil

 

[Neilg7777]

Is this any good
rockworth AR90 welder. 90Amp. duty 10% / 60% switch, Low/High power output, adjustable wire feed

Thanks Neil

 

[pedrobedro]

Is it gasless? You might find it a bit hard to master if it is. Your budget is a bit low for a welder and gas, you should probably look at saving a bit and getting something usable.

 

[Neilg7777]

Thanks for the reply my budget is just for the welder I no the gas is more
Thanks Neil

 

[gavuk]

Is this any good
rockworth AR90 welder. 90Amp. duty 10% / 60% switch, Low/High power output, adjustable wire feed

Thanks Neil

NO .....keep an eye on trade-it ,bought a couple from there myself,look for a clarke ,130-150amp ,or a red Sealey130-140,snap-on 130amp may also be badged boc or cebora...anything else ask here first...stay clear of sip.....use the search button above here to research models, and of course look at the buying a welder section ....and welcome to the forum

 

[Neilg7777]

what about this one
SIEGEN-130A-MIG-WELDER
Thanks

 

[gavuk]

Jury is out on the yellow seigen range.,the forum hasn't had many owners good or bad.....again try the forum search
....I had a red sealey that was ok ,

 

[cumbriasteve]

For a secondhand one buying at a distance from any of the auction sites can be a bit dodgy, the for sale section here is more reliable, tends to be a forum member who hoefully has been here for a while.

Much better to go and see what you are buying, ask the owner to weld some thin and some thick metal, you can also see the machine and howit has been looked after.

As mentioned, spend an evening browsing the forum, it will suggest to you which machines are not as popular as the others.

For your £200 you should be able to get a nice used Clarke and maybe even a fair bit of change..

 

[Engineer]

http://www.uklegacy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5740&st=0 Might be worth a read before opting for a used Clarke

 

[slimjim]

I bought a pre used murex 130s tradesmig of ebay, been using it extensivly the past couple of days, what a fantastic welder it is, running it on the setting below top or 5 as its on the dial, for hours, my old clarke 100en would have tripped after half an hour, wire drive all metal and looks like a windscreen wiper motor driving it, £95 bought welder, £30 for a new eurotorch

bargain

 

[philsmin]

I bought a clarke 150TE, welder cost me £50 but had no gun, had to do a few bits to it like a new liner (and obviously a gun) but all told cost me about £100 all in and it's a cracking bit of kit.

You don't need anything mega if you are gonna use it just for bodywork, my previous welder was a clarke 90EN and this was more than adequate for bodywork.

 

[gavuk]

http://www.uklegacy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5740&st=0 Might be worth a read before opting for a used Clarke

Not sure what that 2006 thread has to do with clarke welders?...one guy couldn't weld with a sealey 130xt........I could ...and so can the mate that bought it from me,and one guy had a murex for 13years which cost £400 and had broken down ?....or did i miss something ....
You have an unfounded view of diy welders and their limitations , many members here have had clarke,sealey and snap-on/cebora/boc welders as first welders and within there limits they are fine for diy use and a cheap introduction to welding, a lot of members have gone on to buy more industrial sets and have sold their diy units without losing a fortune.....for £50-150 these sets are reasonable...£200 industrial sets on 240volts are not that common , and even if they were, there's good and bad, and some totally unsuitable for car work...I fail to see how your post is helping the original poster?

 

[Engineer]

The point of that thread is the direct comparison between an el cheapo DIY welding set, and the semi pro set, being made by someone who has used both and has no commercial interests in selling or promoting either. Without exception those new to welding (especially car work), will find reasonable results are far easier to achieve with a better quality welding set, which can often be found on Ebay for not much more than the DIY type.

 

[Wozzaaah]

All I see there is blah blah blah...... 'I've used a clarke for 20 years with no problems'....... blah blah blah........... 'my sip does the job well enough' ......blah blah blah .......'my sureweld monomig works very well indeed'......do I need to keep on reading it?
Oh, and a post linking back to this forum.
Any reason why you point our members to an ancient thread on another forum rather than the info on this forum we put so much effort into lovingly maintaining?

 

[Engineer]

Unless the cheaply made DIY welders have improved an awful lot in the past few years, then a considered and objective post made in 2006 seems to be just as relevant as a post made yesterday.

 

[Wozzaaah]

I think a fair few of us would quite like to know exactly how many 'cheaply, shoddily made, aluminium wound' welders you've actually used in your lifetime and why you've not had any success with them.
A list of makes and models would be nice please, you can even have your own thread in the welders and welding machines section, something like 'I'm Engineer and I've failed to weld successfully with.....'
I'm hoping it will be a very short list tbh, as more than two machines and I'd be questioning the operator's skills rather than the machines.

Most of our members use cheap sets very successfully, especially after following Malcolm's tutorial. Perhaps if you're struggling, a good read through it might help you too?

 

[gavuk]

Unless the cheaply made DIY welders have improved an awful lot in the past few years, then a considered and objective post made in 2006 seems to be just as relevant as a post made yesterday.

Using the title diy welders is misleading though ,that would include sip,ferm,powercraft,aldi,etc in the same boat as clarke,sealey (not seigen),and the snapon/cebora,the latter welders have been used here with great success over a number of years . Use the search button ,you can find many considered and objective posts on here ,mine included,i've used the exact welder your post refers to a sealey xt130a.without any problems for a number of years ,i chose to upgrade when i built a garage and could fabricate heavier gauge steel than the sealey could cope with ,i've owned a snapon 130a which I bought to sell on and i've used clarke 150a belonging to friends,they were all capable of welding cars......So, I have used diy,semi-pro and pro sets, and have no interests in selling or promoting any type of welder,...but a second-hand clarke etc can be bought working for £100 add gas and helmet, gauntlets and a grinder can be bought for the original posters £200,there are too many happy clarke owners and ex-owners to dispute it............................My recommendations are based on what is likely to be found locally ,as i'm in the same trade-it area,but if i see anything of interest I will pm Neil

 

[Engineer]

Which Pro sets have you owned, which dont perform far better than the DIY ones you mention? Way back when, I owned an SIP and Cebora 130, which in terms of quality could be compared to a modern day Chinese "mini lathe"..............not that great!

 

[slimjim]

I bought a pre used murex 130s tradesmig of ebay, been using it extensivly the past couple of days, what a fantastic welder it is, running it on the setting below top or 5 as its on the dial, for hours, my old clarke 100en would have tripped after half an hour, wire drive all metal and looks like a windscreen wiper motor driving it, £95 bought welder, £30 for a new eurotorch

bargain

Spoke to soon, the wire speed potentiometer seems to be faulty

 

[Engineer]

Shame about that............but my old Tradesmig has been working for 25 years with only consumables being changed! Before changing your wire feed pot, if you have stitch weld feature, make sure both switches are set to zero.