Wanting a decent MIG needing advice!

[Megator]

Hi guys Ive read some of the posts on here and seen how you have helped some guys so I was hoping to get some advice.

Firstly I want a mig welder, ive tried arc before and found it fairly difficult. However i liked the low setup and the lack of gas. So id like to try out Mag welding (the flux covered stuff), but i hear ppl on the forum boo and hiss at it.

However, i havent really figured out why. Is the quality of the weld less, either strength or just visualy?

I would like to use it to do general DIY so from car body work to 5-6mm plate

My budget is a max of 500E on everything i would need to just start welding, the choices are:

cheap chinese 1

http://www.ts24.nl/product_info.php/info/10724/Guede-MIG155-6-Watt-Mig-Lasapparaat-voor-Argon/

cheap chinese 2 ( I found it sold as a primetech in dutch)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COBEL-MIG-MAG...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cae605bd3
cheap known brand (where im from) and sorry its in dutch,

http://www.cebora.it/ing/prod/default.htm?48800.htm

I still dont quite understand how duty cycles work? As in how do you calculate how long you can weld on one setting? Cause that is the main differance i notice with the chinese vs established brands.

I currently just want it weld some plate and tube for an automotive project. It will be mainly mild steel from 2-5mm. I was thinking can i get away with Mag for now and then upgrade to mig kit later?

Lastly what kinda consumables will i need appart from the spool? I learnt and practiced at uni where i was too pampered

Cheers Aitor

 

[Wozzaaah]

Welcome to the forum Aitor.
Gasless welding is ok in some situations but can be very difficult on thinner steel as it runs hotter than if welding with solid wire and shielding gas so is likely to blow holes in the parent metal.
It's also quite a messy and smoky process but having said that, many people get on fine with it and as you say, it's quite economical.

The only one of those 3 machines that has the grunt to do 6mm is the Cobel one, the others are 130A maximum.
Duty cycle is measured over a 10 minute period at a given ambient temperature.
60% @ 120 amps means that if running the machine at 120 amps you can weld for 6 minutes within a 10 minute period allowing the machine to idle (and therefore cool) for the other 4 minutes.

Consumables? A bag of spare contact tips and a spare shroud or two is pretty much all you need really, you'll get through quite a few contact tips while learning and will most likely wreck a shroud fairly quickly too.

 

[xboxjoner]

buy the best quality welder you can afford, if it's cheap there's reason. stay away from cheap rubbish as found on a certain auction website,I know from experience.

 

[SwissTony]

If you buy chinese, you risk import duties and problems returning it, if there is a fault.

Buy some tip dip as well, as it will protect the tip and shroud, so you dont go through to many while you practice.

 

[Megator]

Well they are chinese made but sold localy by an importer. I guess your right though and I want to keep the factory as close as possible.