Newbie! Oh no not anotherone surely?

[dapper]

ok lads and ladettes,

Hi, my name is Dave I live in the maidstone area in Kent.

I was looking at purchasing a MIG welder - No gas. I have never done welding before. I basically need some sills welding on a car I am restoring.

I have read lots of tutorials and watched videos etc and I use to know someone who did welding and wathced them a few times. But lost his number.

I wont be doing welding for others. So looking for a basic machine that will be capable of welding metal thick enough for car body sills.

Any recomendations? We have a machinemart in Maidstone

Also where can I get the sheet metal from?

cheers

Dave

 

[reno]

Hi dapper welcome!

If your looking to do car body work you would probably be best off going down the gas sheilding route. The flux cored wire used on no-gas MIG welders tends to burn a bit hotter which can cause difficulty when welding thinner (0.8mm) sheet metal. That said many of the Clarke no-gas welders can be converted to run with gas as well so the option is there for the future.

As for sheet metal - if you use the search tool there is a thread listing steel stockists.

Hope that helps!

cheers, reno

 

[Alistair]

hey dapper, sheet metal ask around your local car parts places, they usually sell sheets for a good price (well they do around here anyway) same as reno says gasless burn hotter and you may blow holes in your sills, always worth spending a little bit more and getting a gas model. id go for clarke but thats just personal preference.

 

[dapper]

Thanks

thanks for the replies and thanks for telling me Gas is better than gasless versions.

Ok looks like a gas version it will be.

many thanks

Dave

 

[Alistair]

no problem mate, have a look in the used gear thread on here, you may find a bargain

 

[dapper]

Can I just plug straight in?

ok, I was browsing here and on the web. I noticed people keep saying you will blow the fuse?

So what do I need to do here? Do these MIGs come with a standard 3 pin UK plug?

Can I not jut plug this in? Or do I need a special peice of equipment here! Special extension lead I read someone say a 16A fuse?

Advise eagerly waited to be received. I must say it does not say anything like this at machinemart!

Dave

 

[Alistair]

. i just use a good quality 3 pin plug on my 150 te and not had any problems at all.

 

[Robotstar5]

ok, I was browsing here and on the web. I noticed people keep saying you will blow the fuse?

So what do I need to do here? Do these MIGs come with a standard 3 pin UK plug?

Can I not jut plug this in? Or do I need a special peice of equipment here! Special extension lead I read someone say a 16A fuse?

Advise eagerly waited to be received. I must say it does not say anything like this at machinemart!

Dave

Suppliers such as MM have to cover themselves by supplying equipment likely to draw more than 13A without a plug and recommendations for type of supply / protection required.
A number of folks on here happily run the 151 / 160 models on 13A plugs but fuse can blow if max power is run.
It all depends on your installation - how far from supply, size of cable etc.

 

[reno]

I've got a Clarke 135Te which I run off the standard 13amp three pin moulded plug that it was supplied with. As yet I've not managed to blow any fuses even when using it on full power.

You can get away with running a 160amp welder on a 13amp plug but as mentioned above you are likely to encounter problems with blowing fuses when used on full power.

If you'll predominately be welding on cars I doubt you would need much more than a 160amp welder anyway.