Best MIG for an amateur

[forde]

Hey guys, i have stick welded before but traded my welder for parts and am going to replace with a mig just wondering what you guys think.

Ill never be using it professionally or anything just for general stuff in my garage, mostly bits on motorbikes but also bodywork maybe, trailer bits, just whatever lol so dont want to spend a fortune but at the same time dont want something **** that ill want to replace later.

Would prefer one that can take gas but also use gasless wire if necessary, you can get that right? Gas bottles seem awful dear to rent tho i would need a rent free one to get one.

Thanks

 

[ryanpatterson]

What's your budget? Check out SIP. They have some good amateur welders right up to profession ones. Not the very best out there but they are good quality and are quite reasonable.

 

[eamon343]

We have a sealey mighty mig 150, got it for well under £200 new off an ebay shop. The torch is terrible quality, but other than that its great, its gasless but can be converted to gas

 

[Andy044]

@lightning
I have got my MIG from him (Sealey) great job and has never gave any bother. Can weld both heavy and light metals.
It is gas/gasless, but i've only used it with gas. All comsumables also come through Simon too.

 

[Bazmcc]

There are a few names/brands which are actually all the same welder. Cosmo, IFA, SIP, etc. are all the same thing underneath. They'd be known by mighty mig, smart mig, turbo mig, etc etc. You'll know it when you see it. They're between 105 and 160 amp and they're normally around £220 - £250 but can be picked up second hand for half that because people get fed up with the dodgy wire feed and want rid of them because they don't have the common sense to fix them. They can handle 0.5Kg and 5Kg rolls of wire. First thing to do it take the crap plastic wire feed liner out of them and fit a PTFE or metal liner. Then they run perfectly smooth. It'll penetrate up to about 5mm which is plenty for most general stuff.

Make sure you absolutely get a gas one. That flux cored wire and gasless welding is *****.
And you can have a big bottle from BOC for about £100 a year. Lasts ages. And if you really want to can use the disposable ones for about £15 a bottle but they're a pain in the ass and always run out half way through a job. If you're getting a big bottle, get Argoshield Light (BOC). I used CO2 at the start but it's crap compared to argoshield. The weld balls on the surface and you don't get anywhere near as strong a weld. Don't bother with pure argon either. To hard to work with. And if you don't want a BOC subscription, go for an argon mix which will be about 85% argon, 15% CO2 or something like that. It'll be a good compromise.

So, get one of those, and make modifications to it straight away. Read this. Simple straight instructions of how to make a cheap welder perform very well.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/new-user-with-cosmo-170-sip-and-a-headache.8028/

 

[stevieturbo]

IMO if it's something to keep...dont buy cheap.

Buy the best you can afford and you'll still have it 20 years later.

Buy something with a good power range, especially vital for thinner metals. And Dont forget the Volkzone deal with BOC for gas rental, it's half the normal price they charge.

If you cannot get that, the Hobbyweld stuff probably makes more sense.

 

[Mark_C]

Portamig would be a good bet. Goes down to 15A

 

[ryanpatterson]

Yea basically everything @Bazmcc said lol If you can stay away from the gasless ones. Even the smaller bottles (3 ft ish size) ones will last you quite a long time. Think they are around £80 ish to rent from boc but not 100% sure. And yes Definately get argoshield.

 

[Antoin]

Ive used CO2 for years with no trouble. If you are doing a lot of thin metal stuff then the argon mixes come into their own as they don't "burn" as fierce as with CO2.
If its just exhausts, brackets etc around 2-3mm then CO2 is fine.
NIFEX sell a waist high bottle for £90 for CO2 with a £18 refill and £120 for Argon mix with a refill of £22. No rental required which is better for the occasional use of the hobby welder.(Those prices may have changed as that's 2years ago). They are up Hannahstown I think.
Stay away from SIP, Seigen, Cosmo its all the same junk and for a beginner its just another barrier to getting good welds.
Sealey or Clarke are rated as decent beginner stuff for reasonable money.
I learned on a Sealey Mightymig 130XT. Sold it on and upgraded as it wasn't powerful enough but it did a decent job for learning on.

Keep an eye on Gumtree as well.
I picked up a single phase Camarc 200amp Mig for £45 that only needed a £16 relay to get working again.

 

[ryanpatterson]

I wouldn't say stay away from SIP.. Iv an ideal 240 super (biggest you can get on single phase) for the past 5 or 6 years and it has never missed a beat. And this isn't doing "hobby" welding lol. Yea I'm sure their beginner stuff isn't up to the same standard but from my experience they are very well made and affordable units. I wouldn't touch Clarke stuff if you paid me to use it but each to their own lol

 

[Antoin]

Ive never personally used a Clarke but on the mig welding forum they seem to rate them very highly as a hobby mig.
Your Ideal 240 isn't exactly a hobby mig though and id imagine its out of the OP budget.

On that note give us a budget @forde ?

I paid £240 for my Sealey Mightymig 130XT.

The trouble is a good machine is much more forgiving than one of the cheaper makes, meaning itl be easier to pick up the skill. Unfortunately you'll have to pay more for it.
If you think you will definitely use the machine then it may be worth the investment.

 

[forde]

Thanks for all the info guys, budget absolute max 300 would prefer a bit less lol i would have hoped to get something decent for that budget 300 quid isnt a small amount of money, well not to me anyway lol

i was looking at the clarke 135te and 151te a bit online, google throws up a couple of threads complaining about them on mig-welding. but those guys seem to hate everything thats not really expensive. you guys reckon clarke arent great then maybe sealey would be better or just the same?

another reason i was thinking about a welder that can take gasless wire by the way is i have to weld outside most of the time, my area is sheltered but would the gas just blow away?

i am torn about whether to get a welder that takes disposable bottles or big gas bottles, i just dont know if id weld enough to need a big one but if the little ones really do only last five or ten minutes like some people say then i would need a big one... i dont suppose there are welders that do both types?

also i dont have one of those fancy 16amp plugs or whatever it is, i just have normal electricity so needs to work on that. not to say i wont get an upgraded plug at some point for the welder as i know its better but i dont have it now.

 

[stevieturbo]

Cheap and gasless are two things that will make welding thinner stuff far more difficult. Which if you're also trying to learn, will be counter-productive.

Is it you that are struggling, or the machine ?

Unless you're running a machine in excess of around 160A and actually welding at hose high currents you do not need a 16A plug

I bought my welder over 20 years ago, I still have the same machine today. A few hundred seems like a lot of money, and yes it is. But as a long term investment..it's peanuts.

 

[PeteMoore]

Have a look at R-Tech Welders.

I haven't used their migs but going by their tig machines I would sell my SIP mig to get a matching R-Tech Mig.

Oh and before you ask, no, my mig is nowhere close to your budget.

 

[Coog]

I bought a Clarke EN150 about 3 years ago and it's been really good. Gasless but can be run with gas, just haven't got round to converting yet!

 

[Mark_C]

R-Tech are great machines (We've the TIG), but for MIG home welding and occasional prolonged heavy use the Portamig 235 is a better yoke (imo) - it's VERY heavily built

 

[lightning]

Give us a shout mate if you decide which one you want. I can do you that sealey 130xt at £190 all in, or step up to 150 or if the budget allows jump up to a more professional supermig180 for £329 all in.

http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuild...tmicrogroup=&analysiscode=&requiredresults=16

Those are very good prices you wont get close anywhere. and I can fire it out to your house again

 

[Daviddunlop83]

I always fancied a welder but when I look at the cheaper ones they just look ***** compared to the esab one in work which puts me off tbh lol and def couldn't justify the 5 grand for the house ha ha

Think I'll just stick to giving anything I need welded to the welder in work who knows what they are are anyway

 

[Mark King]

I always fancied a welder but when I look at the cheaper ones they just look ***** compared to the esab one in work which puts me off tbh lol and def couldn't justify the 5 grand for the house ha ha

Think I'll just stick to giving anything I need welded to the welder in work who knows what they are are anyway

Get one bought!

 

[stevieturbo]

If you do any bits and pieces...once you've owned one, you'd never be without.

Even if it's only used a handful of times a year, the ability to weld things together is invaluable.

 

[PeteMoore]

The. You get addicted and start following the path to making sh*t stick in an aesthetically pleasing fashion.

Never ending nightmare. And very costly. Lol

 

[Antoin]

I find myself going past railings, gym equipment, feckin anything made of metal and studying the welds.

You can buy kits to convert a welder designed for disposable bottles to normal bottles for around £30 if you decide to upgrade later on.

 

[forde]

had a look at the price of disposable bottles and was surprised how much they are. i might as well go for a welder that takes the big bottle.

would i get one of those in my budget or are they more expensive? would i need to buy a welder that takes disposables and convert it to come in under budget rather than one that is ready for big bottles?

 

[Bazmcc]

They all take big bottles mate. It's just a push to connect fitting on most of them. The pipe and connector comes with the regulator you need for the bottle (about £50). Don't forget to budget that in.

If you don't mind spending the money have a look at the Cebora 130 Mig Welders.

Long story short:
If you want a non expensive solution to learn on and do odd bits of work then you'll be fine with most of the budget ranges. The thread I posted above shows a few simple fixes to make it into a decent welder. My own welder is a budget job and it's never let me down. You'll find when you take the cases off a lot of those sub £250 welders they're all the same internals. Some companies make them for others to rebadge.

If you don't mind putting some extra money to it, you'll probably notice you can spend a grand quite easily on a better machine but it's hard for most people to justify.

It's all well and good saying 'buy cheap, buy twice' but sometimes you have to just go in the middle somewhere if you're not buying for business reasons.

 

[Antoin]

To buy a waist high bottle is roughly £120 I reckon these days from either Fyffes or NIFEX. That size bottle will last ages if its occasional use, plus you own the bottle. (I haven't refilled mine in the 2 years ive had it).

So a price list;

Gas - £120
Light reactive helmet - £40-£***
Sealey 130XT from Lightning - £190
Disposable bottle adaptor - £30
Big bottle regulator - £35

Roughly £415 all in to get you started.

Then you have grinders, cutting discs etc.
Its a big enough outlay at first but invaluable over time!

Or just get the Sealey 130XT for £190 (Or similar), a mask for £40 and use disposables for while and upgrade later.

Edit - I forgot to incl the reg as @Bazmcc says.