sip 150

[yamaha]

I have one of these sip 150 welders and i thought it would be ok for normal welding on car panals and odd bits and bats, but looking through this site it seems the sip's are rubbish, just what does go wrong with these kits, i am not in any way a welder, i bought it to just try a bit of welding.
Also i read on this site you can replace the liner with a curtain wire is this right or a wind up.
thanks

 

[mike os]

if its on here you can usually trust it... the sip stuff can be made to work... or so several people here will tell you ...

 

[cumbriasteve]

Yes a curtain wire liner works well, there is also a brace you can make for the flexing in the drive mechanism...and even some electronic changes to the drive motor.
In all fairness they can be made to function ok and not all of them give problems that need the mods.
Make sure your liner is in good nick, blow through it with an air line and give it a go, it may do you for exactly what you want.

 

[yamaha]

Thanks for your help, i think i may need a new liner, just been trying some welds. but the wire seems to stick in the liner.
If i keep a straight line on the lead from the machine its ok, bend the lead and it jams inside , straighten the lead and i can see the wire jump forward

 

[cumbriasteve]

Yes sounds like you are right, it should make a big difference, the sticking could also be the drive problem I mentioned, if you search the threads there is one showing a simple brace that apparently makes a lot of difference.

Don't overtighten the spool of wire, it should run freely with the drive but not continue running on it's own...as loose as possible without overrun is best.

Dont forget to clean your rollers and make sure you are using the right groove for your wire, most rollers are dual purpose for wire diameter..depending what you are using, it should be stamped on them.

 

[Sean]

They are built cheaply. but they can be made to work better

A good steel liner( curtain wire was too soft) and a new wire liner in the swan neck. The excess liner that you chop off use as as the feed bit that goes between the spool and the feed rollers. Fit a brace across the spring pivot and the 2 screws below the feed roller. Big reels feed from the bottom not like the label inside the machine. Fit some nylon washers in with the steels in the spool axle friction shold be smooth and just enough to stop the reel running on once its stopped
I put in an independant transformer for the feed motor, i have the capacitor mod made up but just to lazy to fit, and the Mig runs fine so im happy.

They dont like Co2 on the lowest settings so getting some argon mix helps too.

Finally the trigger is worked by a spring touching the brass gas valve its worth bending the spring up so it touches just after the gas is opened the 130 there was what semed to be a huge delay between the valve opening and the transformer and motor clonking to life.

mine now hisses as it lays down nice even beads of weld.

S

 

[yamaha]

thanks for all the great advice,really appreciate it.
thanks

 

[Mr J Morton]

They are built cheaply. but they can be made to work better

A good steel liner( curtain wire was too soft) and a new wire liner in the swan neck. The excess liner that you chop off use as as the feed bit that goes between the spool and the feed rollers. Fit a brace across the spring pivot and the 2 screws below the feed roller. Big reels feed from the bottom not like the label inside the machine. Fit some nylon washers in with the steels in the spool axle friction shold be smooth and just enough to stop the reel running on once its stopped
I put in an independant transformer for the feed motor, i have the capacitor mod made up but just to lazy to fit, and the Mig runs fine so im happy.

They dont like Co2 on the lowest settings so getting some argon mix helps too.

Finally the trigger is worked by a spring touching the brass gas valve its worth bending the spring up so it touches just after the gas is opened the 130 there was what semed to be a huge delay between the valve opening and the transformer and motor clonking to life.

mine now hisses as it lays down nice even beads of weld.

S

what he said. You have to fill the gaps in quality the bean counters at SIP removed.