Welder dilemma!

[jimsbeast]

right here goes, i have spent days searching posts for some answers on here but i havent find quite what i need to know so now im registered and ready to ask myself!
hope your all well

i am a bit of a novice welder i have spend years since collage welding on our farm with a large arc welder we have with rods up to 4mm welding anything from thin stuff to 10mm steel on some of the machinary
early this year i took the plunge and bought a tm160 mig for thin work, and i have been absoluty hooked on it ever since, the ease of welding anything anywhere on the side upside down, no slag etc etc its brilliant! but now im wondering if large mig welders do the same job on thick metal as the small ones on thin metal? i still use my arc on anything above 2mm but i do a lot of work on stuff up to 10mm often having to be on the side or even upside down, and despite buying books and watching videos i have never mastered the arc in awkward situations like this.
my question is
to get a good weld on thick metal (4-10mm) when its not a straight forward weld (on the side, in a vee or corner) would it be worth buying a large mig (250-300amp) or shoud i stick with my arc and practise more! (i have a 3 phase supply)
any help much apprechiated
james

 

[cumbriasteve]

4 to 10mm is a very common thickness for some guys, it's the range I weld on all the time with 235 amp MIG.
You have an added advantage of the 3 phase.. I think, would that not give you the option of an ex industrial machine.

 

[jimsbeast]

thanks for your relpy, i guess it would be an option to get an ex industrial machine but what make/model/amperage would you reccomend?
i have thought about a portamig 215 but i wasnt sure if it was quite large enough?, although its duty cycle is better than many machines with a higher amperage

 

[keith19]

I've personally never welded anything more than about 4-5 mm in positional stuff, with either arc or mig, but having used both methods, I'd say the mig is easier than the arc welder every time. Starting, changing direction, ease of stopping to check and starting again without having to chip, etc. Even flux-cored is easier than arc.
Just make sure you get one big enough to do the thickest metal you are likely to encounter in positional welding, not just what you work with every day.

 

[cumbriasteve]

i think the 215 Portamig would be under powered, mines a 235 but if you were doing a lot of heavier welding I think something around the 300 amp would be better, then you are not at the top of the machines range all the time.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Sorry...missed a bit........regarding model etc, I would stick to the popular makes, Murex, Lincoln etc, have a browse in the welders section and see what others think that own these machines.

 

[astro_al]

I think you could find something more appropriate than the portamig. You want to find a nice big industrial mig, like the two Migatronic 400s I sold recently (sorry). Look for Esab, Miller, Migatronic, Fronius etc etc - read a few threads on here for the various makes.

Get a machine with a separate wire feed unit as the whole machine can be a pain to roll about otherwise, and I wouldn't even look at a machine under 300A. A bigger machine will cope better and your thickest stock will be well within its duty cycle - also gives you some margin for unforeseen thicker material.

Al.

 

[gordon stephenson]

My son has a big single phase mig with separate wire feeder built for him by Tec-Arc at York, the same people that make the Portamig, Weighs a ton and he only ever uses 1mm wire but he can weld every thing from heavy section to patching Unimog diesel tanks it's just so controllable and smooth,