Welder (sorry)

[sven8t4]

Hey all

Had a good search of the forum with regards to what welders people are using on thier builds. I'm looking at upgrading my old Clarke 110e, Its been great for doing car body panels but playingwith scrap at work its starting to struggle on thicker stuff.

Basically in the £200 - 300 price bracket can anyone reccomend a good light commerical welder?

Sven

[robo]

Might be best to go second hand here and buy something decent like a cebora or a murex. Keep away from the chinese stuff from ebay ,you need something with a decent wire feed when welding 25mm box, as the weld needs to be consistent for such short runs. Last thing you need is a welder that takes an inch to get itself going.

Bob

[TSM Locost]

The Clarke 150te from machine mart seems to be popular on here with 50% more power than your welder, £3OO wait for vat free day and save £50.

[shh120m]

Yes, cant beat the clark 150 for performance/price. I think machine mart have some deals on aswell at the moment

[SeriesLandy]

I bought the 160tm and it's been great. Machine mart have been doing loads of vat free days lately but you need to be signed up to their email thing. Also I'm guessing as you have a welder you don't need to buy all the extras like mask, gloves, rent bottle ect as this easily adds £100 to your total.

Ps don't buy a gasless mig

[sven8t4]

Seen a couple I like the look of:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400226772108&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

and

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330419052982&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

The Clarke 151, seems to have a shorter cycle on it and as I'll be using it on Narrowboat hulls too I dont want it short cycling all the time.

I'd never touch a gasless welder.... the clues in to title M - Inert-Gas! lol

I'll make some phone calls tomorrow.

Ps anyone know when 'Handy Andy' is releasing his MX5 chassis flat pack to us mere mortals so I can order one and stop re-reading the manual lol

Sven

[baz-r]

im useing a sip topmig 195 its old its cheap but about as big as you can go on a 13a plug :D fine for sticking 25x25 bits of box togeather

have alook around in gumtree and freeads somthing comes up every now and then :)

[Talonmotorsport]

For £250-300 you could get a good second hand sealey 180-200amp MIG with a euro torch with a 3-4mtr lead instead of the 1.5-2mtr toy torches. The hobby type 130-150amp MIG's have a low duty cycle whichs means running them at full power will cause them to over heat and drop power down to 2/3 the amps, not good when you only have 130-150amp to start with. If you are using 2.5mm wall black hollow section all the joint ends will need to be weld prep with a 2mm 45' chamfer and a slow hand.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mig-Welder-240V-180A-Sealey-Super-Mig-/110717199481?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19c7426479

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MIG-Welder-180Amp-230V-Euro-Torch-S0863-Siegen-Sealey-/190510053366?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c5b48b7f6

[sven8t4]

Thanks Talon!

Pretty much what I thought! Just have to keep my eyes open :o)

[robo]

When you get it do yourself a favour and get a 16amp industrial socket screwed to the wall as the 13amp plug tops dont like good welders.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRiadLqXuJiN4caTqIBwL1tD60fa7tP_ KuPyDPEGL7zKmzHipRcew


Bob

[sven8t4]

Cheers Bob!

Got one in the wall at work now!

[baz-r]

When you get it do yourself a favour and get a 16amp industrial socket screwed to the wall as the 13amp plug tops dont like good welders.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRiadLqXuJiN4caTqIBwL1tD60fa7tP_ KuPyDPEGL7zKmzHipRcew


Bob

nither do mcb's of domestic ratings :rolleyes: