Which mig for thin metal £200-£225ish budget

[weseeyou]

I spent 3.5 hours trawling the net last night looking at welders and specifications ,reviews and you tube tutorials and I still cannot decide .grrr

It will be my first welder purchase (always borrowed or hired before )and I have very little money to spend, certainly none to waste buying the wrong welder. i have stretched my budget to the max so please don't tell me to spend more ...I haven't got it.

I will be welding exclusively thin body panels on a Ford Transit van out in the open. Wings arches sills etc I will never use the welder for anything thicker than body panels as I have access to a stick welder should I need it.

it will probably sit in the garage for the next 5 years rusting and then I'll sell it on ebay for peanuts

Which welder would you recommend ?

Is it possible to spot weld and pug weld body panels with either of these welders ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290976908614?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370381352306?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190586901932?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

 

[grandads_shed]

out of vthose 2 i would have the 150amp one, you can bet that you will need the extra power some time,

but i will let those with experiance talk as they might come up with a better mig for that money, even a good secondhand one,

 

[weseeyou]

thanks for the reply. I will definitely never use the welder for anything heavier than 1mm
The thing that worries me the most is everyone seems to be saying ooooh don't use anything higher than 30Amps but no one I have seen yet has said if it is actually possible to weld spot welds and pug welds on 1mm steel with more than 30A

I've even seen someone on youtube use a stick welder on 1mm steel lap welding ! never thought that was possible.

I've added another £25 (kids dinner money ) cos all the Clarkes welders seem to fall around that price on Machine mart

There is some fantastic tutorials on this forum ...i'm reading one on paint spraying atm

 

[printcom]

As pennies are tight if I was you I would scan all the second hand sites and get a welder which is recommended by members of this forum. In my experience every time I have purchased a piece of equipment solely based on price I have had to buy it again to do the job properly
Saying that - you might be lucky, the question is can you afford not to be.

 

[weseeyou]

there are no used welders on ebay at the moment within my budget that are suitable that are near enogh to collect ie 50miles
Only new welders get posted it seems.

Which welders are recommended by members within my budget ? I can;t find any on the forum and I've read loads of threads.

 

[marlinspike]

Get registered for emails with Machine Mart as every so often they send out 20% off codes.

Isn't a lap weld on 1mm metal really a 2mm weld, if you see what I mean? I know you say you won't want to do thicker welds, but if you are spending £200 ish it's best to get something that is a bit more flexible so you don't need to upgrade if you change your mind. I bought a used welder from the ads on here and have been very happy with it. If you buy a quality used mig you can always sell it on after the project is done.

 

[julianthegypsy]

If it was me, I'd get a good used set, and look for the minimum amps since you want to do thin stuff. Cheap welders always advertis the maximum possible amps, but fail to mention that you can't turn it down enough to be any use on thin panels. Neither of the ones in your link seem to mention minimums unless I've missed something, and I wouldn't go with gasless anyway.

 

[weseeyou]

If it was me, I'd get a good used set, and look for the minimum amps since you want to do thin stuff. Cheap welders always advertis the maximum possible amps, but fail to mention that you can't turn it down enough to be any use on thin panels. Neither of the ones in your link seem to mention minimums unless I've missed something, and I wouldn't go with gasless anyway.

from what I've read on this forum I understood that flux welding was the best for outdoor welding because the gas blows away on a gas rig ?

The problem with buying a used welder is this .

1. I wouldn't know if it was sound and in good working order
2. There are very very few suitable used welders on ebay within my budget and none of them will post! and the few there are are too far away to collect.
3. The parts that mainly play up or go wrong on Mig welders appear to be the wire feed mechanism and the gun /cable assembly both of which could cost £60-100 to put right
4. I would have no warantee whatsoever and on a £200 expenditure that would be too big a risk for me to afford right now.
5 lastly I need a welder right now !.. I can't wait a few weeks/months for the right used welder to turn up .

Used just isn't an option right now.

I would really appreciate it if you could address my question about a new welder because without experienced advice I am likely to buy something unsuitable . My van has to be welded before the weather turns really bad and all the light goes

 

[weseeyou]

what about this welder ?

Has anyone on this forum used one ? got one ? or can give me personal first hand experience of using one please

 

[octo0072000]

i would go for a clarke 150 or 151

i would go for a clarke 150 or 151

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_t...nkw=clarke+mig+welder+150+&_sacat=0&_from=R40

you will find gas better to weld with than gasless even outside you just need to make a windbreak,
lots of panels on a transit are more the 1 mm that need welding don't use the small bottles they only last ten mins plug welds etc will all be ok with 150 amps you will find once you start using mig your arc set will go to the back of the shed most people find
Co2 is ok pub bottles or search volkszone boc deal on here you will need a proper regulator as well

 

[weseeyou]

thanks for your reply and the helpful advice about gas .
Unfortunately the welder you suggest is about twice the money I have available !
I am in two minds about gas vs fluxweld My experience is with gas and as you say it should be easier enough to rig up a windbreak.

At the moment I am leaning towards the Seigen 130

 

[T0rnado69]

could get a new one from machinemart on there vat free days they have.

or if you can find a used welder on the bay or other places that is local to me and collection only.
i wouldnt mind collecting it for you and you could arrange a courier to collect it from me.
im sure there are other members that would also do this.....

 

[RonMig]

Well, I've been using my SIP T155 Turbo gasless for 12 months and gone through 6 reels of 0.7kg wire and am well into a 5kg reel, with no problems so far. Wire feed is fine, torch is fine. Only problem I've had is running out of wire, hence the switch to 5kg. I've done lots of 1mm sheet spot-welds, butt joints, lap joints, welded nails/screws/bolts, knives/forks/spoons/motorbike spokes. All were Ok with gasless. All were done on small models (see my albums) so were mostly done at the lower power settings. On advice from much more experience people on the forum (thanks Chunkolini) I turned up the power on the thin stuff too and got ever better welds. The sip doesn't seem to have a good rep, but maybe they got it right with my version?
Sip Direct quote £204 but appear to be out of stock ( http://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-04796-migmate-t155-turbo-gas-gasless-welder.html ) but maybe other suppliers could come close?

 

[weseeyou]

could get a new one from machinemart on there vat free days they have.

or if you can find a used welder on the bay or other places that is local to me and collection only.
i wouldnt mind collecting it for you and you could arrange a courier to collect it from me.
im sure there are other members that would also do this.....

thats a very kind and generous offer thank you.
However I have decided against a used machine because of the risk of getting a duff one .
Thanks for the tip about the Vat free days thats would save a lot of dosh .

Unfortunately I need a welder this week so I shall be buying a Siegen 130 like the picture tomorrow and a gas bottle ,mask gloves etc so that I can hopefully start welding this week.

Thanks again for your kind offer

 

[weseeyou]

Well, I've been using my SIP T155 Turbo gasless for 12 months and gone through 6 reels of 0.7kg wire and am well into a 5kg reel, with no problems so far. Wire feed is fine, torch is fine. Only problem I've had is running out of wire, hence the switch to 5kg. I've done lots of 1mm sheet spot-welds, butt joints, lap joints, welded nails/screws/bolts, knives/forks/spoons/motorbike spokes. All were Ok with gasless. All were done on small models (see my albums) so were mostly done at the lower power settings. On advice from much more experience people on the forum (thanks Chunkolini) I turned up the power on the thin stuff too and got ever better welds. The sip doesn't seem to have a good rep, but maybe they got it right with my version?
Sip Direct quote £204 but appear to be out of stock ( http://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-04796-migmate-t155-turbo-gas-gasless-welder.html ) but maybe other suppliers could come close?

Thanks Ron ..thumbs up.. thats just the recommendation I need.
The one I considered buying is supposedly a gas only but as far as I am aware you should be able to convert any welder to flux wire operation but I may be wrong.

I'll check the Seigen site tomorrow thanks for the link. The T155 is just in my budget . Cheers
Mmm looks like it is supplied in flux wire mode with no wire ! so you'd have to add the cost of the wire and delivery to that price and also regulator and gas bottle if you wanted to weld with gas. It takes me over budget unfortunately.

 

[shenion]

what about this welder ?

Has anyone on this forum used one ? got one ? or can give me personal first hand experience of using one please

Sealey's are generally good, but some of the lower-end Siegen line have proven to be junk on this forum.