Advice needed from fellow builders

[TheArf]

I use a clarke 151 en turbo, it works fine provided you remember it is designed for hobby work and not 40 hours a week working, so treat it as such and it wont let you down. You can easily set it up for larger gas bottles quite cheaply through ebay for regultor etc.

Arfon

[monsterob]

As touched on the best thing to do once you have purchased a welder is convert it to run off pub co2 bottles I pay the same for a large pub bottle as you would for the small canisters and it lasts a gazillion times longer still trying to find a way to get argoshield into it ! But the co2 gives a great weld factor in about £30 for a bottle and regulator .

[Davey]

Having just invested in a new mig welder (sealey siegen 180, £327.99 delivered) all I can say is get the best you can afford. My old machine (Cem 160) took 5kg reels and the feed motor was puny, it did a fair job but would frequently stutter and splutter because of inconsistent wire speed. The Siegen can take full size 15 kg reels and so has a much more robust feed motor. In comparison to the Cem it is just so much easier to produce consistently good welds. If you can afford it go for a machine that takes full size wire reels.

D.

[poshguy]

Cheers guys im looking to prob spend around £200-£250 as it is vat free aswell so i can look a little above my price range but like i say it is not required for a full chassis as i will be getting that pre built.

[baz-r]

all hoby rated migs have a fairly low rated duty cycle so upping the amp size is a good idea.
a bigger second hand semi pro unit will be a better buy.
anything to take a real gas bottle is a good idea and use mixed gas (5% co2)

[spud69]

Hi Poshguy,

I'm not to familiar with these machines but my general advice would be to choose a mig that takes 15kg rolls, has a good smooth motor feed, at least 150amps as this will stop it overheating and fitted with a Eurotorch and 4m lead (will find a 3m lead is too short reaching round chassis, plus eurotorch is much more robust and can be cheaply replaced if damaged - £40 for lead and torch).

Happy hunting....>AndyH

[poshguy]

Spud thanks for advice im taking everyones advice and trying to find the best 1 in the range for the money so will prob post again for peoples thoughts when i find 1 lol

[MarkB]

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