Sip weldmate P174 inverter

[Wood collier]

Hi everyone,
New to the forum and please excuse my ignorance totally new to welding! This may already have been asked before? I need a welder to repair my forestry tractor/trailer and whatever, having read a bit on line I was going for an Arc inverter (looking at SIP) is this a good choice?? Budget is £250! Any advice would be great. Thanks Steve.

 

[daleyd]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I'd say the type of machine you mention is ideal, though sip don't have a great reputation on this forum. That seems mainly to stem from their range of older mig machines being a bit rubbish, so it's possible their inverters are actually ok. I haven't seen many owners reviews on here.....

Other makes to consider in this price range are rtech and parweld. Both of those do a decent small inverter which should suit your needs. (Rtech sell direct http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/welding_equipment/Arc_MMA_Welder/Arc_Welder_R-Tech_Pro-Arc175
, parweld can be bought from the likes of weldequip, shop in the link at the top of the page https://www.weldequip.com/parweld-xti160.htm).
Whatever you get don't forget to factor in to your budget for ppe (gloves, auto darkening mask) and also you would probably require a grinder as well as a pack of rods to get you started.

Be aware that arc welding won't be that useful on thin sheet metals, but for thicker material (ie 3mm plus) it is ok. It can be a tricky process to get to grips with, have a read on the tutorials on this site and get plenty of practice on some scrap material and you should be ok.
An inverter welder seems to make it much easier than a cheap and nasty transformer in my opinion as even the cheaper ones tend to have things like anti stick and arc force features.( don't get hung up on the names , they are just features which make it easier for a novice to produc a decent weld.)

 

[Wood collier]

Ok thanks, it's a bit daunting to know which to go for? Tig/mig/arc/oxy????? Which would be the easiest from a technical and equipment point of view, I have the usual tools, grinder's and hot work PPE (I make charcoal!!) I will buy a mask and rods(which I can finance outside the 250). Any thing else important!

 

[daleyd]

First question to ask is what material will you be looking to weld?

If you want to weld thin sheet metal, mig is the only way to go. (Tig can be used but is quite tricky to learn, is slow and requires pure argon gas. Oxy again is very versatile, but not to be recommended unless you have some experience of using it.) If you are going to be welding mainly thicker material (3mm plus) then arc will do just fine.

Mig is easier to master, but requires gas bottles (C02 or C02 / argon mix) as well, though you can use flux cored wire. Mig sets are also heavier (Because of the associated wire feed and solenoids etc) whereas modern arc inverters weigh next to nothing.

Mig doesn't tolerate being used outside in windy conditions (It tends to blow the shielding gas away) whereas arc welding doesn't suffer with the same issue.

I am assuming from your initial statement that it will be used outside, and on thicker material, and most farm type welding is done with arc sets. They do the job and are highly portable, and are able to weld some quite thick material off a 13 amp supply. Again, I'm assuming, but if it were me, that's what I'd be looking for.

With an arc welder there isn't much more to it, you already have the PPE, and a grinder. Pack of rods, an auto mask and perhaps a fire extinguisher (!!) and you should be good to go.

 

[Wood collier]

Awesome, I think your right Arc is probably the right choice, I don't see me doing any delicate stuff, it will all be heavy duty steel 4-10mm. Thanks for your help and the links you put up, I think the welder you linked me to is better than the Sip one I was looking at and a bit cheaper to (bonus). Off to order one now and then have a go at the weekend hopefully I will soon be able to weld good enough not use the mobile welder who charges me £40 an hour. Once again thanks for the advice.