Newbie - In need of hobby MIG

[amh82]

Hi guys, new to this site, got put onto it from SXOC and looks like a good forum with lots of info.

Just a bit of background, electrical engineer by trade, but taught basic mech, welding, fab, etc a few years back. Was taught Stick and Gas welding, and have since done a bit of MIG & TIG, more MIG than TIG.

I have a few projects at home that will need a fair amount of welding so rather than keep borrowing my mates hobby welder (not sure of current rating or make but it's not great) I thought I'd look to buy one.

At work we have a large Murex welder which is very nice, but not within my price range!!

Apart from odd jobs/repairs, car repairs, etc, the main jobs I'll have in the meantime are welding up a chassis for a kit car (mainly 16swg RHS) and also a squat rack which is 2.5mm RHS iirc.

Many of the kitcar boys advise the Clarke 151TE. I would consider one of those or maybe the 135TE but for £20 between them I wonder if the 151TE would be better.

As I have just had few heavy months I'm always on the look out for saving money

Trawling ebay for local welders, I found these two very local to me:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=170121202747&rd=1&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=230142415072&rd=1&rd=1

Are either of them worth a look if they go cheap enough? The 1st one looks of decent build/power but the guy is unsure of make (Sealey?), also it doens't look best kept, but then as long as it's only cosmetic that's not a prob.

Second one OK, but maybe a bit low powered for what I want?

Any comments greatly appreciated

 

[Alex]

Try and get a 2nd hand one with 6 power settings if you can, its worth it.

 

[amh82]

Yeah, after using Industrial ones at work/college I was always surprised to see how many hobby welders only have 4 power settings!

The 1st one of my two ebay links has 6 settings, if I could get an idea of how old it is and what make I may well go and have a look at it, as it's not far away, and 150A should do me fine for what I want.

 

[malcolm]

As I could possibly be the worst ever welder I might as well get rid of this

I've taught two people to weld using my MIG recently and they've both picked it up really well (I don't actually teach - I boot up the computer in the garage and point them at the tutorial and tell them to learn ).

Perhaps the welder is the worlds worst ever welder rather than the seller? The welder makes a whole lot of difference to the ease of welding, so one that is apparantly unbranded would scare me away. I'd look for a smaller Clarke.

 

[amh82]

I must admit, I was a bit concerned by his statement and did wonder if the welder was to blame, hence the reason for running it by you guys

One of the gys on the SXOC (200sx oc) was trying to sort out a group buy on a MIG set as there are a few on there that have shown interest.

SIP didn't want to know, Clarke would only deal through MM and would offer 5% off of 5 units.

He said he could get a good deal on a 130A draper set, this one, although unsure of what price he had in mind:

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=122760&MAN=Draper-135-Amp-Turbo-Mig-Welder-240v

Haven't heard much about Draper sets on here - any good?

I think the guy has got a bit disinterested now as none of the companies really seemed interested in a GB.

 

[amh82]

Been doing a bit more trawling this morning, and came across this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CEBORA-Gas-Ga...yZ113743QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cebora Boxer 155, sitting at reasonable money at the mo and the seller is willing to post.

Doesn't look like it is setup for gas at the mo, but my other half works at a welding firm so I'm sure I could sort a bottle out.

I gather that Cebora make decent welders but can't seem to find much info about that particular one.

 

[weldequip]

I think you will find that fetches silly money as people in the Garage Trade are aware they are the same as Snap-On, which are top dollar. Good luck though!
weldequip

 

[weldequip]

I think the guy has got a bit disinterested now as none of the companies really seemed interested in a GB.

Probably because there is very little profit in the things to start with! Prices really are 'cut to the bone'. I could possibly do something for you though... would need to be one delivery to the same address to benefit from any cost savings as carriage charges destroy an already wafer thin margin.
weldequip

 

[weldequip]

I think you will find that fetches silly money as people in the Garage Trade are aware they are the same as Snap-On, which are top dollar. Good luck though!

Well, I was wrong... somebody got a pretty decent deal there; was it you amh82??
weldequip

 

[amh82]

I didn't bid in the end, as you said it would go for top dollar and I couldn't find much info about it I wasn't 100%. £185 was a good price then?

I bid on the ERP/Telwin/Sealey 150A one that was close by, put £100 on it with 30 secs to go, got outbid in dieing seconds.

No point going any higher, much higher and you're not far off the price of a new 130A Clarke.

As for the GB I'll mention it to the guy on SXOC. I think most were looking for a 130A ish welder, definately down to 25A anyway as the older S13's need plenty of repairs (sills, tailgate, chassis, etc)!! What sort of machines could you offer and how many buyers would you need?

 

[weldequip]

What sort of machines could you offer and how many buyers would you need?

First question, what exactly do you want to be doing with the thing??
(and I've heard "well, I won't be using it a lot" a million times!)
weldequip

 

[amh82]

Hi guys, new to this site, got put onto it from SXOC and looks like a good forum with lots of info.

Just a bit of background, electrical engineer by trade, but taught basic mech, welding, fab, etc a few years back. Was taught Stick and Gas welding, and have since done a bit of MIG & TIG, more MIG than TIG.

I have a few projects at home that will need a fair amount of welding so rather than keep borrowing my mates hobby welder (not sure of current rating or make but it's not great) I thought I'd look to buy one.

At work we have a large Murex welder which is very nice, but not within my price range!!

Apart from odd jobs/repairs, car repairs, etc, the main jobs I'll have in the meantime are welding up a chassis for a kit car (mainly 16swg RHS) and also a squat rack which is 2.5mm RHS iirc.

Many of the kitcar boys advise the Clarke 151TE. I would consider one of those or maybe the 135TE but for £20 between them I wonder if the 151TE would be better.

As I have just had few heavy months I'm always on the look out for saving money

That's what I'll be using it for, a couple of projects as mentioned, a few little bodywork repairs I need to do and then any other reason to use one, which I often come across and wish I had my own welder!!

If the others went for a GB then most would want one for body repairs and similar to my needs I guess.

 

[weldequip]

Are you happy running on the disposable gas canisters or do you intend running straight from a refillable cylinder?
Reason I ask is that all those models you mention can be upgraded to refillables but at extra cost, whereas for a few dollars more you can get the 160TE model which is ready set-up for refillables + has a refillable cylinder carrier on the rear.
weldequip

 

[amh82]

Me personally I would likely to be using a larger refillable bottle, my other half works for a welding company so I should be able to sort something out through them.

If a GB took off I'd suspect most would want the option of disposable, then those that wanted to upgrade could do for the price of a new regulator/bottle, etc.

If you wouldn't mind could you PM with the sort of things you can offer, even if I don't get enough interest for a GB I'm still in need of one myself!!

 

[weldequip]

You can run the 160TE off disposables if needed with the addition of a canister regulator, few of the members have gone for that option from me.
The only slight drawback with the 160TE is that the smallest wire reels it will accept is 5Kg., so if you want to do a small one off job on aluminium, stainless or MIG brazing, it means buying a larger reel of wire; there is an adaptor on the market though that fits over the industrial size spool holder & accepts mini-reels of wire.
I'll PM you with a few options.
weldequip

 

[amh82]

OK thanks

I notice that the 160TE has a few little 'industrial' tricks over the 151TE such as 6 way power control, as well as it being refill ready.

Is the torch any better or just the same?