Best MIG for an amateur

[Coog]

This is the main reason why I went gasless. No point paying for all the Mickey Mouse disposable gas stuff to junk it later for the bigger bottles. When I use it enough to warrant gas then I'll go get the decent bottles, regs, etc instead of effectively paying for it twice.

My old welder used the disposable bottles and I think it was something like 10mins of welding from a bottle. Pain in the hole and not that cheap either!

 

[forde]

Thanks guys

baz I thought there were ones that came with the reg and **** on them for big bottles already or is that always to buy seperate ?

Looks like I probably will buy a sealey

Antoin cheers for all the advice i have a sick mask and all grinders and tools etc just need the welder to complete the set.

I notice u listed a disposable bottle adapter, I thought the welders came ready to use with disposables and you just bought the regulator thing to change to big bottles. If u have to buy some sort of adapter for the disposables I would forget them altogether and just buy the reg and go to big bottles. Which I think I will anyway as those wee ones were damn expensive when I googled it.

lightning how much for the 150amp? Although tbh I may never turn it up that high so could be a waste but let me know anyway lol

 

[Dave..]

I was thinking about buying one of these: http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/Mig_Welder/240V_Mig_Welders/Mig_Welder_R-Tech_IMIG180
All feedback welcome as I no nothing about welders and don`t want to waste my cash.

 

[forde]

Mark c and pete moore said they are good there and them bais know what theyre on about

 

[Bazmcc]

You need to buy a regulator separate. BOC just give you the bottle, it's up to you how it's connected to your welder.
When you buy a smaller welder a very small fitting for the disposable bottles comes with the welder. It's plug and play. You don't need anything else other than the small gas bottles.

This is all you need to convert to the large bottles:

 

[PeteMoore]

The R-Tech stuff comes with the regulator from memory.

See for gas, just go for BOC. The hobby weld bottles are charged to about 1/3rd of a BOC bottle.

I can't remember the figures now, but with my useage I actually save £300 a year by staying away from hobby weld and CO2 pub gas.

A waste high bottle on the volkszone deal works out at £112 or there abouts and £37 for each fill after that. Hobby weld was something like £50 for the same size bottle, but they don't charge them to anywhere near the same pressures and you end up changing more often.

 

[Dave..]

@PeteMoore
Can you use a `J` bottle or would this be too big?
We used to get a quad of O2 and Helium for our diving gas from BOC.

 

[PeteMoore]

I will check in a bit. I have two.

Have you any helium bottles left over?

 

[stevieturbo]

You can use any size bottle that's available really.

I think BOC only offer the medium and massive bottle now though ?

The Y, medium with the Volkzone deal is good value though. The Hobbyweld looks almost as big, its thinner...but holds nowhere near as much gas.

IMO only go down this route if you really will be occasional use, or the Volkzone deal isnt available and you're still light-moderate use.

For lots of welding...BOC makes sense regardless.

But not all machines can take the bigger bottles per-say...ie some small units are a welder only, with no trolley. So there physically isnt anywhere for the bottle unless you buy a trolley.

Having to drag a bottle about with no trolley...I wouldnt be doing it. So bigger welders again make more sense for this reason.

A machine that takes a 5kg roll is plenty. 15kg is huge and for occasional welding, will last a very very long time. Best just to go with the 5kg.

 

[Dave..]

I will check in a bit. I have two.

Have you any helium bottles left over?

No helium left, sorry.
We used a Haskell booster to get every last bar we could

 

[Woodcutter]

I have been hearing people talking about Albee gas, which is a rental free system apparently.

Some place in Dungannon sells it. Not sure where it is price wise though.

http://www.albeegascylinders.com/index.html

 

[PeteMoore]

You can use any size bottle that's available really.

I think BOC only offer the medium and massive bottle now though ?

The Y, medium with the Volkzone deal is good value though. The Hobbyweld looks almost as big, its thinner...but holds nowhere near as much gas.

IMO only go down this route if you really will be occasional use, or the Volkzone deal isnt available and you're still light-moderate use.

For lots of welding...BOC makes sense regardless.

But not all machines can take the bigger bottles per-say...ie some small units are a welder only, with no trolley. So there physically isnt anywhere for the bottle unless you buy a trolley.

Having to drag a bottle about with no trolley...I wouldnt be doing it. So bigger welders again make more sense for this reason.

A machine that takes a 5kg roll is plenty. 15kg is huge and for occasional welding, will last a very very long time. Best just to go with the 5kg.

My W bottle is too big to lug around. So I got a length of hose that allows me to move the welder round the garage and out into the driveway without having to take the bottle.

Tig stays in one place generally with the Y bottle on the volkszone deal.

Just an alternative so save your back and keep the place tidy.

 

[ryanpatterson]

Mine is the same setup as pete. Big bottle and a spare tucked in the corner with a long length of hose to wheel it round the workshop. Makes it alot easier to wheel about.

Tempted to buy a tig over summer as it's something iv always wanted to try. Anyone got any recommendations for one?

 

[PeteMoore]

Mine is the same setup as pete. Big bottle and a spare tucked in the corner with a long length of hose to wheel it round the workshop. Makes it alot easier to wheel about.

Tempted to buy a tig over summer as it's something iv always wanted to try. Anyone got any recommendations for one?

Have to say the RTech stuff is serious value for money and the support is fantastic.

 

[Antoin]

Thanks guys

baz I thought there were ones that came with the reg and **** on them for big bottles already or is that always to buy seperate ?

Looks like I probably will buy a sealey

Antoin cheers for all the advice i have a sick mask and all grinders and tools etc just need the welder to complete the set.

I notice u listed a disposable bottle adapter, I thought the welders came ready to use with disposables and you just bought the regulator thing to change to big bottles. If u have to buy some sort of adapter for the disposables I would forget them altogether and just buy the reg and go to big bottles. Which I think I will anyway as those wee ones were damn expensive when I googled it.

lightning how much for the 150amp? Although tbh I may never turn it up that high so could be a waste but let me know anyway lol

I meant some of the smaller welders come designed for disposables as baz says. The adaptor is to allow you to use big bottles, as baz has pictured

 

[forde]

Im confused by you saying you went gasless coog.. So if a mig is called gasless it actually means that it doesnt take the wee bottles but will still take big ones if you buy a reg? I thought it meant you could never use gas with it

Ok so I now want to buy a welder that I can use gasless wire in when I first get it then ill get the gas bottle later when I save more money lol

 

[Bazmcc]

Personally I'd advise against gasless. Look up the welding forums on gas vs gasless discussions and you'll find most people feel the same.

 

[stevieturbo]

I think the gasless is more down to wire diameter than anything.

If the unit can accomodate the size of wire, then you should be ok.

But trying to weld thin metal as found on cars with gasless....would probably be like banging your head against a wall...even more so if you're learning.

As said before, you'd never know if it was the machine that was the problem, or your abilities.

Hobbyweld bottle first time out is £60 down, and then £30 for the gas. The £60 is a one off payment.

But the Volkzone deal isnt far off that for the initial bottle/rental and offers a huge amount more gas. I'd say as it's a new machine, it would be worth paying the extra as you'd use a lot of gas at first when trying to learn.

Then after a year or so you can decide whether it's worth sticking with

If you cant afford it straight up...always credit card to spread the load.

 

[Andy044]

My own sealey has the capability to be used with or without gas, and I have always used it with CO2 without any problems.
Bottles and refills supplied by Denis Wilsons

 

[Bazmcc]

I used to use CO2 as well but since changing to Argoshield light I'd never go back to CO2 unless I really really needed it for heavier stuff.

The CO2 increases the heat in the pool so for thin bodywork sized metal it'll blow holes far more often and cause more heat distortion than Argoshield Light.

 

[Antoin]

I used to use CO2 as well but since changing to Argoshield light I'd never go back to CO2 unless I really really needed it for heavier stuff.

The CO2 increases the heat in the pool so for thin bodywork sized metal it'll blow holes far more often and cause more heat distortion than Argoshield Light.

Once this CO2 bottle is finished I might see if I can get switched to an argon mix. That being said I rarely do anything as thin as bodywork so its hasn't really been a problem so far.

 

[PeteMoore]

Also CO2 bottles normally contain about a third the amount of gas as the BOC argosheild light bottles.

Anything other than Argosheild is a false economy in my opinion. Back to the whole buy cheap, buy twice theory

 

[stevieturbo]

Also CO2 bottles normally contain about a third the amount of gas as the BOC argosheild light bottles.

Anything other than Argosheild is a false economy in my opinion. Back to the whole buy cheap, buy twice theory

IMO that only applies if that Volkzone deal exists, or some other deal can be arranged

Outside of it, BOC's prices are ridiculous. Not even so much the gas, but the yearly rental.

Over the last 20 years, I'm sure Ive given them near £2500 or so just on rental alone. That's just plain obscene.

 

[Sam.]

Agree about going for Argoshield, the Volkzone deal is great.

I'd also make sure you get something with a euro torch connection. Makes replacing the torch/getting spares easier.

 

[FM155]

I've an old (25 yrs) Clarke 100E which I just use on an occasional basis. I had the torch apart years ago and changed the wire feed tube to a PTFE one from BOC. The original Clarke ones were straight plastic and kept clogging up with crap getting dragged in with the wire off the drum. I've done a load of welding with it and changed to a BOC bottle and regulator years ago, the disposable ones are useless imo. The only time I've had issues is when I was doing lots of long seams on thick material making trailers etc and it was getting too hot so I just left it for a while to cool down and all was good.
I'd never be without one as it gets you out of so much trouble just being able to knock up a repair and move on.

BOC prices are highway robbery though.