Welders
Turbo Mini Forums

What is the best mig welder to use? I wanna buy a cheap mig welder but theres so many about, was looking at no gas mig welders are these any good?

Cheers matt

WooHoo Passed it's MOT!!!! One of the cars in The Portsmouth Mini Turbo Massive!!

i have had mig welder for years. used them on stockcars, on trucks trailers, plant, my advice spend a little extra on a mig that can do more than you want, gas one as weld is neater, olso if you no someone who has a pub, do a deal for co2 bottle works out alot cheaper

dont worry too much about gas bottles, ive never had any problems buying them without an account, i find money talks, and gas bottles walk........ also use argoshield (co2/argon mix) rather than pure co2. that said i currently have co2 on mine, and it welds ok, but it is better with argoshield

heard bad things about no gas welders, though ive never used one. ive got a 20 years old welder that works, but its not a patch on my mates new one... ill try and find out which one it is, think it cost about ?450.

And on the 7th day........... God created turbochargers!

Look in the for sale section and talk or PM to minimark.

ive got a cheap clarke 130 turbo. its ok but after using some better stuff it certainly makes life easier. i can weld so much better with a decent bit of kit, just that much smoother and consistant.
Not knocking the cheap mig sets at all, sure if i used to more things would be better.
I sent my car away for welding on the bodywork, much easier! Thick stuff is easy, thin stuff is hard!

I have a sealy 160 amp mig now but used to have a sip 105
the 105 was ok but very slow and lacking in power
now my 160 is great nice weld everytime
I'll never have a smaller mig than a 160 now as the effort required for low power welding is a pain in the ass
I run a pub bottle at ?11 exchange it's cheap enough
although the argon mix is better but I'm tight

Edited by billydude on 19th Jul, 2004.

cool cheers guys il look for a gas mig welder then. :)

WooHoo Passed it's MOT!!!! One of the cars in The Portsmouth Mini Turbo Massive!!

mine is a sip 180amp
I use co2/argon mix ( small bottles from halfrauds )

and it is man enough for chasis work ... just about ...

Steve

TurboLessTosser

i brought a clark 130en works good with gas shield my first job,floor pans in the van i used flux core wire it leaves more slag then gas but wasnt bad garry

Go for gas everytime !! Argon mix gives better results, partic on thin work. Go for as high an ampage as you can budget, aim for 160 amps.

Any of you guys need any aluminium fabricating ?? My 450 amp tig plant isn't doing to much at the moment ??