Portamig.. do I, dont I?!?!

[Reznor]

Iv'e tried welding a couple years ago with a Clerke summit or the other gasless jobbie. Rubbish. Gave up!

I was informed by an engineer that it was infact the welder and not so much me.

I really really would like to learn to weld, mostly on cars (my own) and hopefuly other projects etc

Iv'e been studying the MIG tutorials on this site, and I'm considering a Portamig, seems to be a lot of good reactions to them on here.. I guess I just need some convincing, I dont mind the wait for the machine and the low 15amp is quite a attractive feature.

Which one do I go for? Any help in deciding would be muchly appreciated!

Thank you

 

[brightspark]

Iv'e tried welding a couple years ago with a Clerke summit or the other gasless jobbie. Rubbish. Gave up!

I was informed by an engineer that it was infact the welder and not so much me.

I really really would like to learn to weld, mostly on cars (my own) and hopefuly other projects etc

Iv'e been studying the MIG tutorials on this site, and I'm considering a Portamig, seems to be a lot of good reactions to them on here.. I guess I just need some convincing, I dont mind the wait for the machine and the low 15amp is quite a attractive feature.

Which one do I go for? Any help in deciding would be muchly appreciated!

Thank you

there verry good by all acounts. well worth it they do them in cream if u wait long enough [ joke ]

 

[NigelAylesbury]

Portamig

Hello
I used to have a small Clarke MIG welder, which had a duty cycle of about 15%. I gave up and bought a Portamig 185
VERY happy with it.

 

[GrahamGKD]

I have the 215 and have been very pleased with it.
Graham.

 

[lexi]

Portamig is a good machine. I have one myself. Tbh I think the reason lots of peeps rave about them is because they have went from a SIP or something to the Portamig.

To go from a poor machine to any decent one will give the same result. The feed and the extra power make the difference. I would buy another one though and would never sell the one I have.

 

[Reznor]

Thanks for the comments, been thinking it over today, best get myself on that waiting list me thinks

 

[oobuc5]

been reading comments by people starting out with mig welding ,and having problems with variouse machines ,i found looking at a few, that looking at the spec they tend to have a 40 volt starting point ,i tried a couple of gasless migs with them and found i could not get on with them so went back to gas mig as the weld was cleaner and not pitted like gasless ,that said i bought a gasless unit made by craft as i moved house and lost my gas supply.

after reading the info with the rig it has a 25v up range and i found it the dogs for welding 20g it took a bit of practice getting used to with the controls but pactice took care of that, and now i feel ok with gasless ,my advice is if your doing light stuff like car body your beter of getting a unit that starts at 25v up, 40v tends to blow holes well thats what i found .

also mig wire i found that there were 2 types one said coated but looked like ordinary mig wire the other looks like it has alloy coating ,this one worked better with 20g sheet metal with the unit i bought i can set it low and barely stutter out a weld but then as i turn it up it welds like i want it to.

As for mig gas problems [getting hold of it ]get someone who works in a pub or club and get them to sell you a bottle co2 ,when its emty take it back and get another one ,i did that when i was useing co2 my pub bottles cosy me £10 a go and lasted a long time .

 

[BChild]

As for mig gas problems [getting hold of it ]get someone who works in a pub or club and get them to sell you a bottle co2 ,when its emty take it back and get another one ,i did that when i was useing co2 my pub bottles cosy me £10 a go and lasted a long time .

OT - the difference between argoshield light and CO2 is huge - My SIP is very tollerant of CO2 till you get down to the lowest setting (with 0.6mm wire as opposed to 0.8mm) and then it struggles yet it will perform happily with argoshield on either at the lowest settings

I tried the Portamig on the CO2 and it was the bottom two settings that struggled yet it works perfectly on argoshield

where the portamig scores so heavily is that

- the guides on here are written for it
- the videos show it in use
- it's simple to set up and produce same result as the videos and guides

 

[malcolm]

The CO2 thing surprised me - it just doesn't support an arc properly at low amps. CO2 seems OK at 30 amps and above, just a bit more spatter.

To me the Portamig is just a machine that works properly at a sensible price. Most other machines that work properly are more expensive, but they normally have more toys on them.

 

[brookie456]

where the portamig scores so heavily is that

- the guides on here are written for it
- the videos show it in use
- it's simple to set up and produce same result as the videos and guides[/QUOTE]

...but it's not the cure-all placebo I'm entirely happy with mine, but my lack of any technique (overhead etc.) is the problem - remember it won't think for you, it requires adjustment and a bit of thought on the operators part. When things don't work out, I go back to the tutorials - must have seen them dozens of times, but still learn something. Straightforward stuff, however, is a complete piece of the proverbial

 

[BChild]

...but it's not the cure-all placebo I'm entirely happy with mine, but my lack of any technique (overhead etc.) is the problem - remember it won't think for you, it requires adjustment and a bit of thought on the operators part. When things don't work out, I go back to the tutorials - must have seen them dozens of times, but still learn something. Straightforward stuff, however, is a complete piece of the proverbial

I agree with you - it's not a "cure all placebo" but having had a frustrating time with a constantly changing SIP where it would sometimes weld well and then the next min with no changes to the settings it would "change" for the worse and nothing I did got me back to where I was.

With the Portamig I'm getting really really used to being able to just switch on - set wire speed, volts, sheilding gas flow and start welding straight away - maybe a small trim here and there but pretty much straight out of the box doing exactly what I expected to be alble to do.

If I don't get the result I want then I know it's my technique/settings - not the damn welder and that has given me loads more confidence.

I had thought the portamig was a bit hyped on here (although trying one first hand at Malcolms was a real eye opener and went some way to explaining the good feedback on this welder) and to be honest for ages I'd accepted it was out of my budget and was looking at cheaper welder (parweld unit) but then I decided sod it I want a welder that I don't need to replace for a long time and I'd rather get the benefit of the knowledge base on here if I did need to discuss setting or technique.

 

[BChild]

To me the Portamig is just a machine that works properly at a sensible price. Most other machines that work properly are more expensive, but they normally have more toys on them.

That was actually a huge appeal - I didn't want loads of features, buttons and dials to set up - just the bare minimum so there was less for me to get wrong.

Hope that makes some sense

 

[OUCH! That's hot!]

I went from a 3ph Kemppi, (lovely reliable machine) that was in use on a regular basis in my capacity as motor mechanic/garage owner, to a 150 amp gasless SIP when I moved and no longer had 3ph or a need for a professional quality welder. The SIP was never anything but a nightmare, constant wire feed problems which I was never able to resolve. How it managed to avoid being smashed to scrap I still don't know. Now I have a Portamig 185 which reminds me how good a pro machine can be. I do car body welding for myself and I think the 185 is the ideal welder for such work, no need for a bigger machine.

 

[metalspanner]

I had almost all but given up with MIG welding, after buying several cheapo hunksajunk made by wingwangwongwotadong via the freead papers, I came across quite by chance a clarke 160en.
Which I ran on gasless wire with great results, it was easy to use and was actually a pleasure when it was running right and not spitting, burping and biting, most of this was down to a old liner, renewed that and it was all back to normal.

Anyway the point is due to the results I obtained with the clarke I decided to move up a level or two and bought a second hand portamig, and even though I have only used it twice so far the difference is amazing, and well worth sorting out the non contract gas, co2 argon mix.

 

[Reznor]

Got my Portamig today, it looks lovely theres no plug on it tho.. do I just stuff the bare wires in to the socket?! ... can you even buy plugs these days?! and what fuse do I need? its the Portamig 215.

Gonna make a little cosy nest in the cupboard for the welder tomorow morning mefinks

A

 

[sleepygit]

I would suggest a 16A Ceeform plug like you see on caravans and the like.

And then wire in a 16A Ceeform socket on the wall to a 20A MCB dedicated to this socket.

If not - it will run off a 13A socket but you may need to order your 13A fused direct from China... by the containerload.

 

[brightspark]

I would suggest a 16A Ceeform plug like you see on caravans and the like.

And then wire in a 16A Ceeform socket on the wall to a 20A MCB dedicated to this socket.

If not - it will run off a 13A socket but you may need to order your 13A fused direct from China... by the containerload.

16 amp socket with a 20 amp breaker should be 16 amp socket with a 16 amp breaker . if a 20 amp breaker was fitted u would have to increase the socket to a 30 amp one thats the regulations . id personaly just use a 16amp socket no problem not that im sugesting u do just in case the the spanish inquisition recomends not to

 

[sleepygit]

Brightspark does indeed speak the truth

If you decide to use a 16A MCB I would certainly suggest fitting a C type MCB - it tends to deal with the high inrush of current as the welder arcs at the beginning better than the B type ones.

Not sure what the legality of that is either mind Brightspark?

 

[brightspark]

Brightspark does indeed speak the truth

If you decide to use a 16A MCB I would certainly suggest fitting a C type MCB - it tends to deal with the high inrush of current as the welder arcs at the beginning better than the B type ones.

Not sure what the legality of that is either mind Brightspark?[/QUOTEtheres type b -c - and -d breakers . type b trip at 3 to 5 times the rated current of the breaker on start up .type c trip at 5 to 10 times rated current of breaker and type d -10 to 20 times the rated value on start up( inrush current )generaly type c are fine for use on welders and motors