R-Tech 180

[Crispy_Rapcakes]

Hi guys, I've been reading through the forum and it seems there's quite a few options on what to grab for a first welder. I've got a whole bunch of welding to do on my crappy old 1988 Toyota Supra, mostly arch work (joy!) and instead of hiring or borrowing or paying someone else a ****load to do it I'd rather invest the cash myself and buy a decent welder and learn on the job.

I recently went on a day's welding course and was using a massive gas mig setup and the quality of it made it pretty easy.

Having read through the threads I can get something like the R-Tech 180 and treat myself a bit as it seems it's a really nice bit of kit backed up by a good company. Are there any other contenders at around £500 all in that I should be looking at?

Also seeing as I'll be working outside I'd ideally be working gasless, is all wire created equal or is there one brand that's above all better than others?

Thank you very much for humouring me.

Mod Edit: Training provider link removed.

 

[cumbriasteve]

A good few here have the R-Tech 180 and can't remember seeing any negatives about them.

Gasless is not nice at all, personally if welding outside I would choose my day and/or make a wind breaker, plenty do it and manage fine.

Gasless wire is certainly not all equal, a top brand should offer more chance of quality but it depends where you buy it from, just because a box states it is a certain brand means little, especially on the likes of Ebay and even more especially if the seller is a Chinese registered business also selling lipstick, toys and similar rubbish.

 

[MarkMc]

Hi All

I've got a R-Tech 180 Mig, its a really good machine in my opinion. Used it on various projects and always makes a nice stable arc.
I solely use it with gas, works fine outside. On a windy day just put up some wind break.

I did try some flux core but its not worth the hassle, the welds are better with gas.

Regards

Mark

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Theres a r-tech 250 for around £350, that'd do you nicely.

Otherwise i'd consider the GYS SmartMIG 162, would suit you down to the ground and welds beautifully.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Welcome aboard, CR.

Do a forum search for @doubleboost's posts, he does a very comprehensive review on this machine.

I have one too and have been impressed with what I've been able to do with it, as a rank amateur.

 

[Crispy_Rapcakes]

^ you posted that as I was idly looking at welding stuff. Hello.

Ok I take your advice on gas then. How does that work exactly, I rent a bottle and pay to get it filled up as and when?

 

[MarkMc]

I just use HobbyWeld for gas, so the first time you have to pay a 60 (ish) quid deposit for the bottle and then the price of the gas on top of that. Then when you run out you just take the empty back and get a full but this time only pay for the gas.

There are other companies which offer gas so it might be worth checking your local suppliers to see what is the best option locally.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

How does that work exactly, I rent a bottle and pay to get it filled up as and when?

A much-discussed subject on the forum - 'search' button is your friend and I'll not try to expand as it's all been written before. I'm on the BOC Volkszone deal which suits me fine, monthly bottle rental for Argoshield is £4.50 [as is my pure Argon] and the Y-size bottle lasts me ages, for the welding I do. Can't recall refill prices, but it's not 'sell a kidney' stuff.

 

[Crispy_Rapcakes]

Yeah good point, I'd not really done too much research into that outside of looking at sites selling it, some of them are rather devoid of information on exactly how it works though. Cheers.

 

[north]

Easy way is to buy a telwin technomig, just set and go,works great with co2 because there is a scale for that