Advice needed from fellow builders

[poshguy]

Does anyone have any opinions on the ones below and also what is the difference bewteen the blue and red machines

The 3 im looking at but when looking at the specs they all seem the same.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...ig160tm-welder

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...rbo-mig-welder

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...rbo-mig-welder

all help appreciated thanks

[MarkB]

Try adams gas for small handy sized bottles of 5% argoshield as it is way better than straight co2, it's cleaner too.

[baz-r]

the 160tm looks like it will take a proper gas bottle thats a bonus
find the spec's and look at the duty cycle ratings the higher the better

all have very simmular specs by the looks of it and you will realy struggle with the low duty cycles when you get to weld your chassis fully, do your rear uprights etc
if it has a duty of 20% at 130A that means at this power setting it needs 8mins rest (on so fan can cool it) to 2 mins of welding and so on any more than this and it over heats the transformer and cuts out and you have to wait ages for it to cool down also transformer effeincy drops badly as it gets hot

150A=10%
130A=20%
75A=60%
55A=100%

units that have all copper windings is what you need to look for as the dutys will be higher (will be real heavy). hobby gas bottles give low flow and realy work out to be expensive unless your just doing the odd job here and there.

[poshguy]

Baz thanks for the reply i have looked and all the 3 machines have amperage at 60% duty is 75.

i dont need to weld a full chassis but at the same time if im going to buy 1 i would like to buy one that il be of use in the future also for other car projects etc.

[baz-r]

tbh you need to move up to the next range higher but the mony steps up to a point where there will be better units elsewhere for less money
thats why i pointed out thoes other units earlyer
has a euro torch and copper transformer and choke
both the same with a diffrent badge on the side basicly a copy of a old lincoln 180c
practical classisc gave it a good review not long ago
you may find a used one badged as butters 170c (butters now gone)

pm me your postcode and i can look at ebay so see if there is anything good s/h local if you like

[Davey]

For the VAT inclusive price of the 160TM you could get the Siegen 180 that I just bought (327.99 with free delivery via ebay). It takes full 15kg reels and has a man sized feed motor. I've run mine at full bore and it will happily go into "spray transfer" and produces superb welds very easily.

For anyone who doesn't understand what "spray transfer" is I will explain. The weld filler (wire) melts in the arc and is transferred to the pieces being joined. There are three transfer modes, "dip" , "globular" and "spray".

In dip mode which occurs at lower current settings the wire actually melts in the weld puddle, the wire is literally "dipped" into the molten weld.In dip mode you get the bacon sizzling sound.

In globular mode which occurs at mid range current settings the wire melts just before entering the puddle and forms into globules which transfer to the weld puddle.
In globular mode you get a hum with intermittent crackles.

In spray mode which occurs at higher current settings the wire melts into fine droplets which are sprayed into the weld pool. In full spray mode the familiar bacon frying sizzle is replaced with a simple humming sound.

The three different modes will occur at different current settings depending on wire thickness,feed rate and power setting. The best mig welder I've ever used was a Hobart synergic machine costing several thousand pounds, that beast could run 1.6mm wire in full spray mode at 500 amps with a 100% duty cycle, it was water cooled.

D.