Small inverter mig

[Kram]

Looking for an inverter to replace my mightymig 130xt. Id like better control of the settings for thin stuff, smaller and lighter weight.
I wouldnt mind paying extra for basic tig, but probably not in my price range, £150-250'ish. I guess Im looking at the low end, of the decent chinese clones?

One thing I intend to keep my spool gun and doubt Id ever use the built in wire feed/torch, so if there are smaller inverter only units that are supplied without that would be a bonus.

What is there?

 

[DavidL]

Have a look at the Sherman S4, or the very similar static arc S4 200a (the latter is now down to 240).
I did a brief introductory review on the former, if you're interested.
My only mig reference point beforehand was a Clarke 90EN. The Sherman is much much better than this, particularly on wirefeed, though I appreciate that's the bit you don't really care about

Unfortunately, they both would need a little work to put a wirefeed gun connection / isolator on them (as per the Sherman S3, ostensibly the same welder but in a big case!!

 

[HughF]

You need to make sure that whatever machine you buy has a 24v wire feed motor to match your spool gun. It's then a simple matter of putting a dpdt switch in the machine somewhere and running some wires to a front panel socket.

Probably a black line mig 200 or similar from sherman/static arc.

 

[Kram]

Thanks @DavidL are these the ones? They look good for what I want.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sherman-Inverter-Welder-Machine-200amp-DUALMIG-210-S4-MIG-MMA-TIG-LIFT-GASLESS/183869520636

https://static-arc.myshopify.com/co...-in-1-mma-tig-gas-gasless-arc-welding-machine

 

[DavidL]

Hi @Kram they are indeed. As you can see, they're very similar in appearance!! Front panel flipped and 2T/4T is on a separate switch rather than the rotary, but otherwise pretty similar!

If you're considering the somewhat pricier Sherman, then you might want to look to see if weldes.de are still doing the 7pc voucher as that brings it down somewhat!

This said, the static arc looks very similar, has variable burnback control and is cheaper. It's also got the square cutout in the wire cabinet for a gun/internal feed switch, saves you cutting the side cabinet!(though as Hugh says, you'd want to put a spoolgun socket somewhere).

I'm not sure how similar it is to the Sherman inside, but I'm going to guess "pretty similar"

Only states a 1 yr warranty mind, vs the sherman 2 yr (assuming non commercial use).

As you were talking about a spool gun, this is a link to the Sherman S3 (three, that's not a typo!) which has the spoolgun socket and switch:
https://weldes.co.uk/gb/migmag-welders/37-sherman-dualmig-210-s3-inverter-welder.html

You'll see in the user manual that the S3/S4 wiring diagrams only differ in the switch and power socket though.

However, the S3 has a much bigger case, the integrated gas trolley type and I think space for 15kg reels. Also much pricier. Not recommending this, just showing you so you can see what they did vis-a-vis a spoolgun socket.

If you do get the static arc, I'd love to see a case off shot to add to the S4 review

If they last well, Clarke may have to "up" their 151 game a little

 

[Kram]

Ive bought a tig torch from Decca that should work if I get the S4.

How much difference is there between a scratch start tig on the s4 or similar, and a proper tig only box like digitig 206P DC?

 

[DavidL]

I've not used the lift/scratch tig on the S4, but it doesn't have tiggy things my 206p has, like:

• (Obvs), a button and HF start (so always "hot" electrode, presumably)
• No auto configuration for pre and postflow gas time - you'll turn it on and off presumably with a valved torch.
• Pulse setting (though I've never used that in anger)
• Loss of upslope and more importantly, downslope. I've never used a lift/scratch tig, so I'm not sure how the pros would compensate for no downslope and cratering without a pedal (turn the knob down with yet another hand?)
• Similarly, based on my limited tig experience with the 206p, I would wonder how, in lift/scratch do you cleanly break the arc without affecting gas coverage adversely (clearly lots of people manage, but I'd screw that up!!)

As I say, no experience of the S4 with Tig, but hopefully that's a start
David