First welder idea
Turbo Mini Forums

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/...TC=RV-010114020

Looking to buy a reasonably priced welder I have thought about this as a starting point, I have read through other posts but most welder a are out of my price range.

Paul

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

I had a 110e for a few years, was a pretty good welder for the money.

Will it be okay learning with doing some small body work bits, subframe seam welding and such?

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

Yep, I did the first half of my mini with mine. It will go low enough to do thin sheet metal with. Good little welder for the price.

But... if your budget is tight. £250 will pick up a very nice second hand bigger unit.

Bought my welder for £130 last year from a boc gas place, i asked for a small cheapish welder, might be worth asking about as machine mart dont come with half the stuff you need ie reuglator etc etc

I have one of them, It's 16 years old and has had some hammer, done at least 4 full cars plus countless other repairs and fabricating, other than welding tips its needed a couple of liners and a swan neck on the torch and it still works perfectly, great kit for the money, but 4mm steel is about the limit. My uncle bought a SIP which was more expensive at the same time and it is wank, its still new cos no one will use it, the wire feed is a joke.

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

Oli, there is a REALLY simple mod to solve that wire feed problem. Done it on mine and I can now call it a welder. Lol.

www.apsbikes.co.uk

interested APS; the wire feed in my SIP machine is the only thing that annoys me now (torch has been changed to Euro with new gas solenoid). I've been swaying between replacing the machine and getting a new wire feed installed

Make sure you get a reasonable auto tinting mask too. I didn't and spent years making a mess of things.
I'm still making a mess of things now, but with the odd bit of success.

Have a read of this Rob....

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/sip-wirefeed.htm

About 3/4 of the way down there is a pic of a piece of metal across the two roller screws. It's that you need to make.

The bottom roller seems to sag and doesn't grip the wire, this little mod solves it. Mine works like a dream now.

Every forum etc I read also said to buy a steel liner too. And if I remember rightly, a Clarke liner from machine mart fits. 2 mins and i'll see if I can find the info/post.

www.apsbikes.co.uk

Found it!!

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=24270

This was the original thread I read. It links to the Clarke liner people seem to use as the plastic one burrs up inside and holds the wire, and then a bit further down it links to the thread about making that brace for the rollers :)

www.apsbikes.co.uk

That's the one Tom. Took all of 5 mins to make.

www.apsbikes.co.uk

The point is, why should you have to fuck about modifying a new machine? It should just work ok out of the box as did my Clarke, the sip in question is my uncles and obviously he ignored my suggestion to not get a sip, as I have had other sip stuff and suffice to say I'm not a fan, I ain't wasting my time poncing about with his machine.The whole build quality is the issue , like the hose to the torch on the Clarke machines is solid, the sip machines have what amounts to a pvc sleeve ect ect ect. Let's face it, unless you buy industrial its going to be cheap Chinese shit it similar, the Clarke brand is one of the first generation of cheap stuff from abroad, but imo in general its a higher standard quality wise than owt else in the market sector.

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

Blah blah blah buy a second hand Snap On / Cebora 130 turbo blah blah blah....

i'd agree with tom; If I replace my unit now, it will likely be a quality SH unit over a more budget new one

100% agree. I was given this SIP because it was shite. Thankfully I've managed to make it work, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I built my mini with a Clarke 160te, and it was awesome. So damn reliable. If I hadn't been given the SIP I'd be looking for a Clarke welder.

www.apsbikes.co.uk

Was going to add at the end, now my attitude buying wise would be a sh quality make would beat new shonk hands down, but thought I had gone on long enough, seems I ain't alone

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

My first MIG was the SIP, yes, crap.

It had the same wire feed problem but the torch was even more shite....

I now use a Sealy 235 (semi-Pro) with a Eurotorch as standard and although the torch problems have (obviously) gone away I don't think Sealy's wire feed is much better, still mostly plastic parts.

But the rest of it is fine and it still works and it's had a lot of use on various projects in the last 6 years.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Personally i would buy second hand and buy a better machine, nothing worse than trying to learn on shit equipment

There is alot of good stuff out there way under your budget

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MIG-WELDER-SEALE...=item3a8279b2bd
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-MIGHTYMIG...=item1c345fe001
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MIG-WELDER-SEALE...=item232ccf73f6

Toms choice
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mig-welder-/3211...=item4ac66bdd6a
My choice
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clarke-175TE-Tur...=item1c3463153c
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/telwin-mig-welde...=item4d0e228196

I own a re badged boc version of this and its a cracking welder made for bodywork
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cebora-Autostar-...=item257fa66229