Please help me choose.

[WelshAdam]

Ok people I have got my pennies together to buy myself my first 'hobby' mig which I will be running gasless as nothing I will be making needs to be pretty or structural. May change to gas if funds allow in the future but will be starting without.

I am only looking to spend around £200 (maybe able to squeeze a bit more) and do not really want a used machine as my in-experience means I could end up with a piece of junk

I have been looking at the following and would like to know which is 'ok' and which to avoid and the reasons why.

Draper 11973 120A 230V GAS/GASLESS TURBO MIG WELDER

Clarke 151EN

Clarke Mig152 (or maybe the 180 but was worried that it may blow a fuse every time I crank it up)

SWP Redline MIG150

Or any other that you guys may be able to suggest in that kind of price range.

Are any of these decent enough for a bit of hobby welding and for getting a grip on mig welding.

Many thanks

 

[cumbriasteve]

Short and sweet...if it was my ££££'s the 151EN

 

[rikrobson]

i'd be looking on ebay for a 2nd hand one.

search for nearest first in the auctions as they are usually listed as collect in person. should get more bang for your buck.

are you specifically requiring gasless? you dont mention what you are going to use it for.
I got an old beat up (cebora) boc pocket 130 ans rarely use it at max as its mostly thin steel on cars. also change to proper gas bottles and eurotorch.


example

not sure where you are but that one is in Leeds. I'd search near for where you live as postage will be a sod

 

[slimjim]

Short and sweet...if it was my ££££'s the 151EN

What the learned gentleman says!

 

[Stubradley1]

Clarke either of them

 

[WelshAdam]

Cheers. Would like the 151EN but its a bit more than I wanted to spend. Maybe I will leave it a few weeks until I get some more cash together and go for it.

 

[cumbriasteve]

That's probably the best idea, it means you won't be buying something cheaper and 6 months down the line be wishing you had waited.

Regarding a used machine, I would not ignore the possibility, there are lots of excellent machines out there and also some excellent bargains can be found, quite often people spend a lot of money thinking they will become a welder and after a play end up with the machine sitting doing nothing.

Even if they have done a car restoration it may have only actually run for a few hours.

To buy used all you need is someone with the experience of what to look for and the skill to be able to test the machine before parting with your money.

 

[WelshAdam]

Realistically, what is the thickest steel that I can weld with a Clarke 100EN as there is a very nice hardly used one for sale local to me, but not sure whether it will have enough 'welly' for what I need and surely it cant be good to run them flat out all the time can it???

 

[shenion]

The 100EN will do about 2.5mm.

Should be fine for bodywork and occasional chassis work..

 

[Exuptoy]

I had a new 100e until something inside popped, moved on to a second hand clarke 120, then onto a new SIP 150 Turbo and now a second hand Taskmaster (old school Elektra Bekum) 160. Can you see where this is going? You won't be happy with the 100 if you need to work on rusty chassis sections!

 

[Exuptoy]

The SIP is ok but apparently it performs a lot better when you invest £30 or so doing the transformer upgrade. Mine will be for sale on here once I have enough time under my belt to allow the use of the equipment sales section.

Bit of a cr*p rule really as I didn't come here to sell my kit but to initially ask advice and I like it here. But I understand why this is the case..

 

[WelshAdam]

Think I will skip that one then. Will keep an eye open on the classifieds for a better used machine. Sure something will pop up soon enough.

 

[WelshAdam]

Well I got myself a 151en from MM with the no vat code after. Just been having a play and am very happy. Is there a guide on here anywhere to explain how to set up the different amps as the user manual is garbage to be honest. It doesn't really tell you what amps you are using with the switches in different positions and just gives a guide as to what to use for different thickness steel.

 

[Splatterer]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/calculator.htm
Lots of links from this page too.

 

[WelshAdam]

Thanks mate. So am I right in thinking that because the minimum is 30 amps and the maximum is 150 amps that:

1 min - 30 amps
1 max - 54 amps
2 min - 78 amps
2 max - 102 amps
3 min - 126 amps
3 max - 150 amps

Is that how it works??

 

[keith19]

It isn't quite so easy as that. Clarke fluffed up the settings for the 151en - and maybe some others - in their manuals, and haven't got around to changing them. Forget amps and look at the tables and links below for some guide as to how they work
Output can be checked with a voltmeter between the torch tip and earth, wire feed disconnected, of course. Mine come up as given in the table below. There are several threads on here about all this, Malcolm's advice in this thread is very helpful:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4971&page=2
And here:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=32419

Tests on Clarke 151EN, 14/04/2012.
Voltages recorded at various power switch settings.
Tests carried out on flux core no gas polarity, with torch to Negative and earth to Positive.
Wire feed disconnected, meter leads to earth clamp Positive, to torch tip Negative.
Meter - Standard Alta1 Digital Multimeter, set at 200VDC.
Welder wire speed set at 5 on dial for all tests.
Welder Power Settings.....................................................Volts DC
1 - 2 - Min........................................................................19.3
1 - 2 - Max.......................................................................21
A - 2 - Min........................................................................23
A - 2 - Max.......................................................................25
A - 3 - Min........................................................................28
A - 3 - Max.......................................................................31.5
Results averaged over two tests. Ambient air temperature 17 Centigrade.
Results were as expected from Malcolm's amended version of the Clarke 151EN settings.
Hope this helps. I was blowing nice holes until I came on here and found out about the Clarke settings being wrong! Although the above were taken on gasless settings, as that was the way I had it set up, the sequence of output will be the same on gas wire settings with the torch Positive.