Total newbie buyingig

[theabbott]

Hi, I'm totally new to welding (did some at school more years ago than I care to say but starting afresh)
I've been looking at the

Reboot 200Amp MIG Welder 230V 5 in 1 Multiprocess Welding Machine.​

But I can't find minimum amp. Will be using (after much practice and probably mess ups) mainly for car body work with occasional chassis and odd bits.
As far as I can tell from reading on here I'm going to need to go down to about 20/30amp. I also need to try keep to 13amp socket as budget cut after van breakdown.
Does anyone have any recommendations and or any knowledge of above welder please.
It's my first post so please don't go easy tell it as it is.
Thanks in advance, Mark

 

[Popcorn]

Spec's are near the bottom of this page:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reboot-Multiprocess-Welding-Machine-Equipment/dp/B0D35V43LT

 

[theabbott]

Thank you but I still can't find minimum amps, is this as important as I think after reading guides on here?

 

[Memmeddu]

Thank you but I still can't find minimum amps, is this as important as I think after reading guides on here?

Not really important.
What's really important is the amp range instead, and that's upon the intended application.
Let me explain if you need a welder to do some car body stuff, ok you need something capable to go really low like 20A.
But for general repair around a 180A mig/stick machine is more than enough for everything you would need.
I've started welding 10 years ago and until last year I didn't need a mig welder.
So I've got a little generator friendly 140A inverter mig, I'm currently running 0.8 flux core.
I've been able to repair Mercedes Vito body panels with it.
And now I'm in the process of restoring a Fiat 500 belonging a friend.
Again 0.8 flux core but at 23A due to the thin panels

So in conclusion you have to take a breath a write down what you really need it for, where you are planning to use it (that's really important too) you need portability or you can go with a bulky and heavy machine.
Body work jobs, fab projects, repairs around the house?
Once you get an answer to those questions, it would be a lot easier for you to find the best option for your needs
I've got this one myself
https://www.ebay.it/itm/38698484685...X-ejnIQRhe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Mostly body work on my Fiat 126P, needed to be a lot portable and generator friendly, didn't need a lot of amperage as I have stick welders for thicker metals, and I didn't want a flux core only welder.
I'm very happy with it.
I've needed more amperage few times but for body work I feel comfortable with it

 

[theabbott]

Thank You Memmeddu.
Mainly be car body work with a bit of chassis. I need to make a frame for the captain seat I've just got for our van which will probably be the thickest metal at 3mm
Portable is definitely on the list.
Most of my welding will be in the open air.
I think the one you put a link too would do all I need, and more.
If I were to run this particular one off of a Genny what size genny would I be looking at?
Newbie questions maybe, this old dogs wants to learn new tricks and I have so much to learn...
Thank You again.

 

[Memmeddu]

Thank You Memmeddu.
Mainly be car body work with a bit of chassis. I need to make a frame for the captain seat I've just got for our van which will probably be the thickest metal at 3mm
Portable is definitely on the list.
Most of my welding will be in the open air.
I think the one you put a link too would do all I need, and more.
If I were to run this particular one off of a Genny what size genny would I be looking at?
Newbie questions maybe, this old dogs wants to learn new tricks and I have so much to learn...
Thank You again.

So this little one is great, generator wise it will theorycally run off a 4.5kW Genny at full power but 6kW is the size you want look for if you happen to find a good used one.
Off course body work jobs you can run it practically with everything as you are really not going more than about 1.5kW power consumption
But for 3mm you really need at least 3kW

 

[Popcorn]

Near the bottom of the page I linked to above you'll see a chart under where it says:

Automatically Adjust Current and Voltage​

The chart says 31 Amps to 200 Amps that's the ampage range of the welder according to the manufacturer.

 

[Shedendman]

It's an inverter its not amps you'll be shown,but Volts,which is more important,thats according to the data spec lowest is 15.5V,so will be fine
Thing is,thats showing the same numbers for all processes hummmmmmm
Also it says thats off a 22amp supply,so i doubt you'll get anywhere near top off a 13amp plug
I could of course be wrong

 

[eddie49]

Most electronic inverter-based MIG welders offer infinitely-variable power control, i.e. output voltage and wirespeed ( - which is mostly in charge of the Amps ). This is as opposed to the discrete voltage steps of a traditional transformer-based MIG welder. The control knobs for both voltage and wirespeed are often just numbered from "1" to "10", the dataplate may have some random numbers such as "50 - 200 A", but basically you can just about start at zero Amps.
However, this "Reboot" machine is synergic, which means the voltage and wirespeed are varied by a single control which increases both in a fixed, pre-programmed ratio. The dial may be calibrated in terms of metal thickness, e.g. "0.5 to 5mm". If this "map" or "algorithm" is correct, then it could be an easy machine to use, but it may be badly designed, or not applicable to every welding situation. Some of these modern machines offer a voltage "trim" e.g. plus or minus 5%, or a fully-manual mode, but the ( vague and fanciful ) description of this machine does not mention that. It says the range starts at "31 Amps", which could be true, or not. Most current ratings on cheap imported machines are way optimistic.

There are many similar threads in the "Buying a Welder" section of this Forum. Here is a recent one:

Help with buying small gasless mig welder

Hi, First post here. I have many years experience of using Mig and Tig in a auto workshop, although maybe only once a week etc as and when needed. But retired now, and I have a few jobs that need some welding involving mild steel between 2 and 3mm thick and maybe a small bit of 4mm. As I dont...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

The "Reboot" brand is not really known on this Forum, and I cannot recommend it. You can read about many other brands in this price bracket here, such as BlackLine, StaticArc, Rohr, Uptime, even Lidl/Parkside, Dirty Pro, and Hitbox.