Welding
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi Im going to buy a Mig welder this weekend(pay day)

What kind of Amps do I need?
Does gasless welders give just as good a weld?
Can anyone recommend a good welder. Not top of the range but good enough if I like it and stick at it.

Do I need, It is just going to be for welding cars, Ive bought a mini to practice on.

Your advise will be much appreciated.

Thanks Chris

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1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

i'd say a 130A will be plenty dude. i bought a 150A turbo and have only turned it up full when making a frame for my shell to sit on.

I'd go for a gas mig personally, got much better results than using one of the gasless ones.

Ive just bought a secondhand welder this weekend. Have a look at www.mig-welding.co.uk its a great site for newbies like myself at welding.

Gives a nice demo of gas vs gasless as well.

Clarke and Cebora seem to be the most favoured. Clarke because of cheap parts/easy of use and cebora for being high quality (but pricey).

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=661

Contains a good pro and con about certain models.

Basically advice is the same - buy the best u can afford.

I bought a gas welder.
It's only a cheap one but produces a good weld. The problem I have is the gas only seems to last about 5 mins and I have to replace the cylinder.
Is there something wrong or should I just get a big bottle from BOC?

From what ive read that seems quite a common problem, with gas running out.

Yeah BOC is your best bet.

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1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

Have a look at this welder on ebay, do you think this would be a good to start with?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...72285&rd=1&rd=1

I know a couple of people with that welder and they seem very happy with it.

yeah on my bottles the valve keeps sticking open, so when im not using it its leaking gas, even when i remove it form the regulator!

brilliant it is a gasless unit but can be coverted to gas with extras.

I was going to learn with a gasless welder. I think it will be easyer for me.

What diffrences between the weld do you get with gas or without it? I though a weld was a weld is it weaker

Im looking at getting one of these, should be borrowing one off a mate over the weekend to see what its like. :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SIP-MIGMATE-150-TURB...1QQcmdZViewItem

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1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

Thats nicely priced! I think Im going to purchase the Clarke one off ebay! and if I want to use gas then I can have it converted.

I have a SIP they are ok but the wire feed mechanism is quite cheaply made but will work fine if you adapt it slightly

my mate sip wirefeed is poor as well. that clarke is well worth it

Go for a Cebora if you can stretch to one, far superior to the cheaper machines.

Regarding gas not lasting, you do not need a force 10 gale bowing past your arc, a whisper of gas will do the job as long as you are not welding outside in a windy environment (or inside if you ate too many beans the night before ).
I used to use the small crappy bottles and if you go steady with the gas flow they do last OK, although I now have a larger bottle to use.

Miniturboman, a weld is not just a weld, a crap weld will be weak and brittle with poor penetration into the parent metal, whereas a good weld will be strong and have good penetration. Without sounding a big headed twat a weld I did as a semi experienced welder would be better than a weld you would do as an amateur, welding requires skill and practise to get good at it.

very true. My welding is shit. I've heard that having a decent mask can help a lot. The one i have at the moment is really poor.

Hi,
A self dimming mask has improved my welding, you can always weld better when you can see what you're doing!
Cheers,
Gavin :)

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My Mini build diary

Buy the best machine you can afford .... if you can't afford much then I'd recomend a Clarke 150TE .... mine is quite a number of years old and has always been a good machine.

It's always the case that value for money counts for a lot ..... if your going to use it everyday or you intend to make money out of it then go for a well regarded brand name machine ..... if it's going to do a couple of hours a year like most hobiests machine then a reputable cheaper brand will work out much better value.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

A good cheap method for gas, is find a friendly landlord. Borrow their CO2........works out really cheap. Saves the hassle of organising decent sized bottles. :)

I prefer the split lenses...those dimmer types are useless outside.....but decent in artifical light

I think I will go with the clarke welder because I am only going to be using it now and then.

I read that it is harder to weld with the gasless welders because its harder to see what you are welding because of the diffrent colour gas shroud?

Has anyone welded with a gasless unit that can reccomend one?

Or I think I will by a gas welder.

I think personally the gassless are useless...ok for getting a car through an mot if your in the crap! lol

Edited by Jason G on 28th Mar, 2007.

I've also got a Clarke one, my biggest grip with it is that you don't have fine control over the power, other than that it's been great.

Seriously whatever welder you go for, go for one with gas. I've known several people who have brought gasless MIGs over the years, and all of them converted to gas (normally because standard wire + gas bottle + regulator is cheaper than gasless wire) after converting to gas none of them ever went back to gasless.

the price of those gasless reels are ridiculous

Edited by Jason G on 28th Mar, 2007.

I had a sip welder and the wire feed was wank.