please advise me on mig

[wigwan]

hi all, im looking to buy a mig welder for bits and bats or car type welding (nothing heavy), im looking at second hand clarke, something like a gas gasless clarke 100em but i know they do a few around the 100 mark (ie 90, 110 etc), obvs it needs to weld thin stuff so need one with low settings so what would people advise? and what gass should i be useing? any advice would be welcome,


cheers

 

[wigwan]

o and what wire would you advise?

 

[fuff66uk]

Most will advise you to avoid gasless for car body work,but i have a Clarke 150 en turbo which is gas/gasless.
I have only ever used it with gasless wire and i'm very pleased with the results,avoid cheap wire though Lincoln innershield wire is superb for car body welding

 

[keith19]

The 90EN might suit your needs, uses gasless wire but can be converted to gas. Ideal for thin bodywork, especially with argon mix gas, as it goes down to 25 amps or so. But the claim that it will weld 4 mm m/s is advertising fantasy. It just might manage this on a double-vee'd butt joint, but I have doubts. So fine for bodywork, not for brackets etc. See:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mig-90en-no-gas-mig-welder

For not much more cash you can obtain a bit more heavy duty gas and gasless machine, the 151EN, which only goes down to 30 amps output but has more guts at the top end, 150 amps, and will weld steel up to 5 mm in short bursts. This means you might take a bit longer learning how to weld thin panels with it than the 90EN, if you've not done welding before, but you have power in reserve for thicker metal if necessary. Here's the 151EN: http://www.wilstar.co.uk/products/2/118/clarke_151en_mig_the_welding_centre_surbiton/

The other alternative is to get a thin-metal welder, like the 90EN, and for the occasional heavier jobs obtain a s/h arc welder, often called a buzz-box, which will weld steel from around 2 mm upwards. They go for about £25 to £50 s/h, and are often advertised in the s/h columns of local newspapers as well as on ebay, because lots of people buy them and don't have the patience to learn how to use them, which does take time and effort. But if your budget doesn't stretch to anything better, learning to use a buzz-box on thicker metal is time well spent.

 

[wigwan]

The 90EN might suit your needs, uses gasless wire but can be converted to gas. Ideal for thin bodywork, especially with argon mix gas, as it goes down to 25 amps or so. But the claim that it will weld 4 mm m/s is advertising fantasy. It just might manage this on a double-vee'd butt joint, but I have doubts. So fine for bodywork, not for brackets etc. See:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mig-90en-no-gas-mig-welder

For not much more cash you can obtain a bit more heavy duty gas and gasless machine, the 151EN, which only goes down to 30 amps output but has more guts at the top end, 150 amps, and will weld steel up to 5 mm in short bursts. This means you might take a bit longer learning how to weld thin panels with it than the 90EN, if you've not done welding before, but you have power in reserve for thicker metal if necessary. Here's the 151EN: http://www.wilstar.co.uk/products/2/118/clarke_151en_mig_the_welding_centre_surbiton/

The other alternative is to get a thin-metal welder, like the 90EN, and for the occasional heavier jobs obtain a s/h arc welder, often called a buzz-box, which will weld steel from around 2 mm upwards. They go for about £25 to £50 s/h, and are often advertised in the s/h columns of local newspapers as well as on ebay, because lots of people buy them and don't have the patience to learn how to use them, which does take time and effort. But if your budget doesn't stretch to anything better, learning to use a buzz-box on thicker metal is time well spent.

cheers for the info mate, the 90en dose sound ideal foe me when converted to gass, do you know what the 100en and the 110en go down to? and up? (amps wise),
im not to fussed about welding thick stuff but would be nice to now i had the option.

i have done a small amount of mig years ago and did quite abit of arc welding and i wasnt to bad with an arc welder in the end but never had chance to learn mig proper.

fuff66uk: cheers i will check out that wire


cheers

 

[keith19]

100EN goes down to 30 amps, spec here:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mig100en-turbo-no-gas-mig-welder
110EN likewise 30 amps, spec here:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mig110en-turbo-no-gas-mig-welder

Take the "Welds to 5 mm thickness" claim with a bag of salt, by the way.

 

[wigwan]

100EN goes down to 30 amps, spec here:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mig100en-turbo-no-gas-mig-welder
110EN likewise 30 amps, spec here:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mig110en-turbo-no-gas-mig-welder

Take the "Welds to 5 mm thickness" claim with a bag of salt, by the way.

i didnt think to look on mm lol, wonder if anyones got a vat voucher or whatever it is