Which (gasless?) welder?

[rustymini]

Hello Everyone

I'm new here and I could do with a bit of advice please.

I'm after a new welder. As my garage is in even worse condition than my four very rusty mini's I'll be doing most of my welding outside, so I assume I'll need to go the gasless route. Welding thin (car bodywork) metal will be far more important than anything thick (i can use my arc welder for that). At some point in the future I hope to rebuild my garage so gas/gasless may be the way to go. I don't have the biggest budget in the world but I can avoid the cheapest machines.
I used to have a 'nu tool' gasless machine (can't remeber which model) which was OK when it worked, although I did blow a few holes in a metro until I got used to it. However the wire feed was sporadic at best.
If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be really grateful.

 

[irondarren]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

First thing i would say is gasless wire is harder to weld thin materials than solid core wire, there is nothing wrong with using gas outside, i do it often, just need to make sure the wind isnt blowing, and if it is rig up a wind break.

First thing is what are you willing to spend on a welder in terms of money.
A good few on here have clarke machines and as small hobby welders go most seem satisfied with them. Personally rather than just buy a gas less one you might be bettter off with a gas/gasless this gives the options of runing either way. something like a clarke 130amp model would be fine

 

[rustymini]

Thanks for the reply.

I've been checking out the Clarke range. The cheapest model (Mig90EN) has a minimum amperage 0f 24 amps, while the rest of the gas/gasless range have a minimum of 30 amps. As I want it for welding thin car body metal does this mean that the cheapest model is actually the best one for me? Or should I still go for the 130 model?

 

[irondarren]

Gasless wire isnt the best for welding thin body panels, the 90 is fine for car body thickness, but if you need to weld chassis thickness the 130 is better. I would look at a duel purpose one that runs with gas and gasless wire. If you have been looking at machinemart for prices, i believe weldequip can beat them on price, and most certainly on service

 

[Towing and trailers]

Hi
welcome to the forum.
I would always recomend you get a machine that uses gass as they are a lot more user friendly and easier to learn on and alot more versatile you should be Ok outside just position yourself so that you do not get wings blowing where you are welding and dont weld on a windy day.
I found that a sheet can easily stop the wind enough.

Pete