New welder, Portamig 235 or Oxford 240?

[mrdom]

Im pretty new to welding and im looking to get a welder of my very own, I cant decide between the Portamig 235 for £580(ex vat) from weldequip and the Oxford migmaker 240(£630) from Migtigarc. My budget can stretch no higher, but these machines seem well liked and its only for home use, mostly on cars and 4x4's so they're probably already overkill really but the price difference between these and the 215 amp models isnt that big.
I know they are basically the same machine built by the same people but there are a few differences, the Portamig has a slightly lower low (15amp vs 20amp) and the Oxford supposedly has a slightly better wire feed and also smoothing capacitors to make the arc more stable... What i want to know is does anyone have an oppinion on whether the oxford is worth the extra £50? Do the capacitors, or indeed the 15amp vs 20 amp low really make much of a difference? Anyone with experience of portamig and oxford machines would be very useful.

Ive read around a bit before posting this but still think i could do with some oppinions.

Migtigarc also do their own version (MTA 231) which is £550 ex vat but that has nether the 15 amp low nor the capacitors, and only has 12 months warranty compared to 2 years for the other two so i would probably skip this one mainly for the warranty.

Dom

 

[rtbcomp]

Welcome to the forum.

If you're trying to decide between capacitors or a lower current I'd go for the lower current, you can always add your own capacitors later if you really need to, but I'm sure the Portamig is fine without them.

 

[pedrobedro]

I doubt if you will notice the difference between 15 amps and 20 amps in real life welding situation. or the 5 amp difference at the top end. The £50 difference would be the deal breaker for me if it was budget dictating the purchase. It would keep you in wire for a while.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Mines the Portamig 235 and always been happy with it, the transformer is guaranteed for 5 years, the rest of the machine 2 years as you mention.

Never used anything with caps so unsure what difference I would get.

 

[Seano]

As pedro said, you won't even notice the difference...and welcome to the forum....

 

[mrdom]

Thanks guys for your replies, hopefully someone around here might have had the chance to try both machines. budget is a constraint but i dont have a problem with spending up to that for a better machine, just not over. That being said im not against saving money and unless someone has some oppinions on the oxford im leaning toward the portamig.

 

[mwi]

oxford welder

hi there for what it's worth i bought a new oxford 330amp single phase week before last from plowmans at york great service great folks and great machine, i borrowed a friends oxford for a few weeks to see what they were like before i took the plunge. i paid just a touch over £1000 with a 3 metre torch and regulator . having not used a portamig before i can't pass judgement but i'm very happy with the oxford

only my opinion

 

[Ducky]

I've got the Oxford 240 and it's a lovely machine, I preferred the top loading of the wire, the CAP+ feature, wire feed unit and basically the overall look of it to the Portamig.

For me the extra £50 is a no brainer.

 

[bigtip]

I got the Oxford 200 and the wirefeed being horizontal is a good design i think. the capacitors/no capacitors question is one i asked before i bought but no-one seems to have experience of both machines to give a comparison unfortunately, although Shenion did express an opinion which was useful.
i have welded some very thin-walled flue pipe with mine and found i actually had to turn up the power so i would be surprised if i ever needed the lowest setting on cars.

They both appear to be good, simply built machines, the only electronic part on either is the wirefeed pcb.

Of course the Oxford is a bit more expensive but then it looks better