portamig 185 or xcalibur 200

[buggy builder]

hi everyone new to the forum looking at buying a new welder for my buggy build but dont know what one to get theres lots of good compliments on the portamig but on the over hand the xcalibur 200 is a cheaper at 550 plus it comes with 15kg 0.8 wire and 3 meter touch regulator and bottel of argon sheild 2 years warranty and i can get it from round the corner from me but haven't heard if they any good dont know what to do but need one asap will be useing it for welding sheet metal to 5mm pipe any help appreciated cheers

 

[cumbriasteve]

Welcome to the forum, never heard of an xcalibur so unable to comment on that one, own a Portamig so am able to comment - excellent machine and 5 years warranty on the transformer

It's always possible to find a cheaper machine that looks a good deal and it may be, but usually its at the cost of something.

 

[stormin]

Just had a look to compare the two machines and the Xcalibur only goes as low as 30amps. One of the much vaunted features of the Portamig is the ultra low 15amp setting for working on very thin material.
Also the Portamig has 12 voltage settings within it's range versus the six of the Xcalibur so finding the exact setting is likely to be much easier.

If you are wanting to do thin stuff like car bodywork, the Portamig wins hands down, if not then you may get away with spending less on the xcalibur.

This machine looks a better buy in the Xcalibur range and very very similar to the Thermal Arc 180 multiprocess machine I was considering.
http://www.wecs-ltd.co.uk/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=7223&category_id=23&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26

Got to say though looking at the Xcalibur range I am getting a distinct whiff of Chinese cheapness rather than the respected British quality from Portamig. The Xcalibur machines look very much like the many machines available cheaply on Ebay albeit with different branding and colour schemes.

 

[buggy builder]

thats a great help dont do much body work but its always nice to no it will do body work if some comes up but the xcalibur has got more power but might go with the portamig cheers for your help anymore info will be great

 

[feen]

Thermal Arc 181i Fabricator all day long now.

JF

 

[buggy builder]

never done tig welding but looking at buying ust a mig welder and later on in the year get a tig maybe dont like the 3 in one idear cheers for all the help but i think i a gona go for a portamig everyone seems happy with there welders cheers lawrence