New member saying hello and looking to buy a mig

[Kenny.s]

Hi,

I've been MMA welding on&off since I was about 15, (now 30 ) my old man tought me as much as he knew and from then I've just learnt as I went, bought a few books etc. I've made various car and boat trailers, gates & railings, highland games and gym equipment. Wouldnt say I was at a professional level by any means but would like to think I was reasonably competent at it.

Anyway, for years I've thought about buying a decent mig as there's always something that comes along which isnt really suited to mma but never acutally bitten the bullet and bought something. I've used a friends machine a few times just to tack things together but never actually used one properly.

I'm currently building a race car so that has been the final shake up to go and buy something. I'm probably going to get a friend to do the rollcage with TIG as there's quite a lot of money involved and not really the best thing to learn on but there will be plenty other things that need doing during the build/project.

Budget, ideally would like to stay under £900 ish all in for the set, reg etc
Initially a lot of the work is going to be on car bodywork but I'd like to get something which will also do up to about 5-6mm.

I was initially looking at the Lincoln Powertec 161c or 191c the 3 year warranty and general reputation of them appeals but obviously not really portable.
While most of the time it's going to sit in the workshop I can think of quite a few times where it would be very handy to have something which could be picked up and put in the boot of the car.

So I started looking at the Kemppi MinarcMig 180 and the Esab Caddy C200i, found a few threads about the Kemppi but couldnt really find anything about the Esab, although for some reason I quite like the look of the later.

Just now though I'm torn between the two options, any advice or opinions much appreciated.

Kenny.

 

[Shox Dr]

Hi Kenny. and welcome to the forum. Well you beat me to the one I'd go for with your budget and needs...... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand the winner is (Drum roll please)

The Kemppi.

The only down side is the size of reels, but that is a small con for the machine it is.

 

[octo0072000]

well i would go with the portmig i know it's not that portable but at 58KGs for the 235 one
i gives a lot more scope will weld from 0.5mm to 9mm and still 2 year warranty and made in UK in york has the benefit of doing up to 235amps will work up to 150amps on 13 amp supply 25amp supply needed for top end work and comes with torch and regulator talk to weldquip he may chuck a reel of wire in as well but you have to talk nicely to him

so against bit heavy but you will find you use arc less and mig more as most people do no changing rods quicker but that my opinion

 

[Kenny.s]

Cheers for the replies.

The portamigs were another potential, seem to be well thought of especially on here.

Spent some time last night researching and for what ever reason I'm currently swaying towards the ESAB Caddy c200i

While a convential set is quite appealing simply due to the fact there's less to go wrong, proven technology etc and the fact you feel like your getting something for your money when it weights 60-70kgs lol
I'm trying to balance up spending this amount of money and getting the most from it. By that I mean, if it's too big to be moved around and put in the car by my self, it's going to end up living in the workshop and that could potentially restrict what I would otherwise be able to use it for.

But, on the other hand if I were to get an inverter set and then not be happy with it for what ever reason, could argue it would be a better bet to settle for something that isnt really portable but produces nice welds albeit essentially stuck in the workshop.

The only thing I've found while reading up on the Kemppi (still not found any detailed reports on the ESAB) was regarding the wire feed, while it was perfectly acceptable, perhaps not quite as good as a bigger tx based machine? I suppose thats just a consequence of packaging something into such a small unit? Can anyone give any first hand feedback on this?

Kenny.

 

[Shox Dr]

I haven't used the Kemmpi MiniMIG. But I have used their TIG sets for the last 6 yrs and found them to be very well built units that work. Do ESAB make their units? If not who do?

 

[Kenny.s]

Not sure, they bought Murex a while back iirc but assumed ESAB stuff was made by ESAB? not read or heard anything to the contrary?

 

[theveryman]

kemmpi

HI
been using a kemppi miniarcmig 180 for about a year now, brilliant wee machine cant fault it.

 

[wellyweld]

We sell both & have had excellent feed back on both. Reliability has not been an issue with either & would feel happy buying either. They are both a bit fiddly when feeding the wire initially through when loading a new reel but very user friendly control panels & great arc characteristics. If portability is key then a great choice. For me I still would edge the Esab but very close, see what sort of price deals there are out there.

 

[Kenny.s]

Thanks for the input, is there something in particular that you prefer about the Esab over the Kemppi?
Granted the Esab states 200A vs 180A for the Kemppi but in your experience does that extra 20A allow it to weld significantly thicker material?

Also, the Kemppi states a minium of 20A vs 30A for the Esab is this likely to present much of difference when working on really thin material?
Some of the car body panels I'm likely to be dealing with are 0.8mm possibly less in some areas.

This morning I was starting to lean towards the Kemppi, but I must have changed my mind 3 or 4 times since

Kenny.

 

[Country Joe]

It seems Kemppi also do a 20 - 200 amp too.
Called a MinarcMig EVO 200.

http://www.kemppi.com/inet/kemppi/en/akp.nsf/frameset/Frameset?OpenDocument&left=/inet/kemppi/en/akp.nsf/WEB_Nav?OpenView&navcat=Search&main=/inet/kemppi/frontpage.nsf/0/2D1C6A77EDA18CB0C225718400067C31?opendocument&top=/inet/kemppi/en/akp.nsf/Top?ReadForm&topcat=Product%20Info

Not actually seen any on sale, so no idea how much, though.

CJ

Can't get it to link to the right page, but its under mig/mag welding, at the top left, then at the bottom of the next page!

 

[Kenny.s]

Yeah, found that the other day while I was doing some "more" reading lol

I've been told it's not due to be released in the UK till near the end of the year, wouldn't have minded waiting a few weeks or a month but would dont really want to wait that long.

 

[Kenny.s]

Well, I finally made a decision, which was ultimately made easier when I discovered there was an authorised ESAB distributor just up the road from where my girlfriend lives, and also an ESAB service & repair centre two minutes round the corner from them.

So as you can probably guess, i went for the ESAB Caddy Mig c200i.
Got it home late last night, was really tempted to fire it up but it was too late to be cutting and grinding to make test pieces so today I'm going to get it set up and have a play

Thanks for all the comments and advice etc i'll start another thread with some of my first attempts at using it.

Cheers

Kenny.