Aldi Welder The Go For Brew Frame?

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jpiwek

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Hi Guys an Girls,

I was in BOC the other week and saw a welder for $399 I would have picked but diddnt have the cash. I just saw in the Aldi Catalogue this one


[attachmentid=13954
[ATTACH]13954.IPB[/ATTACH]

Welder and Mask
No load voltage 48V
Current range: 45-100A
Suitable electrode: 1.6-2.5mm
Thermostatic protection and fan cooling
Includes electrode holder with cable, earth clamp with cable, wire brush, protective mask, hammer and power supply cable
Accessories not included
$ 79.-*



Would this be the ticket for a budding welder? I really want it to make a three tier brew frame to put all my all grain gear on

Could the welders out there recommend this one or should I save up a bit mor and go for a higher speced one?

Big thanks, Jason.
 

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God bless Aldi, the only shop to go to when you need a bag of apples, palette of toilet rolls, a microwave oven and a welder!
 
Jason,

I can only speculate on this as I have never seen one of these up close.
It would probably be good for 12 gauge rods but I would not expect too much from it.
The old saying "You get what you pay for" would seem to apply here.
If you plan on welding in the long term give this one a miss & get something with a bit more quality even if it is more expensive.
Hope this helps?

:beer:
 
I couldn't really tell you the first thing about welders, but find with a lot of that stuff these days there's only two options - super expensive, or cheap chinese crap. I tend to just go for the cheap chinese crap and buy it often.
 
discoloop said:
I couldn't really tell you the first thing about welders, but find with a lot of that stuff these days there's only two options - super expensive, or cheap chinese crap. I tend to just go for the cheap chinese crap and buy it often.
Click to expand...


Yep... Its funny how things have changed. Look at tools in Bunnings there so cheap for what you get. Also Aldis return pollicy is one of the best Ive seen. If you dont like just take it back no questions asked.

HMMM...I might just give this a go...?
 
When it comes to power tools, I never skimp. A welder manufactured, shipped around the world, stored, distributed, advertised and sold for a profit retailed at $79 is going to be crap. I'm sorry, there's no two ways about it. You might get a duty cycle of about 5 seconds per minute, meaning long continuous welds are out of the question. It'll probably burn out before you finish your first pack of rods. Do we really want to keep encouraging the Chinese to keep making this crap?
 
you could probably hire a decent one for 79 bucks from a hire joint.
 
Im with PoMo on this one, dont be cheap buy the better item. you'll thank yourself in the long term.
 
PostModern said:
When it comes to power tools, I never skimp. A welder manufactured, shipped around the world, stored, distributed, advertised and sold for a profit retailed at $79 is going to be crap. I'm sorry, there's no two ways about it. You might get a duty cycle of about 5 seconds per minute, meaning long continuous welds are out of the question. It'll probably burn out before you finish your first pack of rods. Do we really want to keep encouraging the Chinese to keep making this crap?
Click to expand...


Wow!!! sounds like it could be a big soldering iron :huh:

Thanks for the input.
 
Horses for courses...

I have an Ozito cordless drill that was dirt cheap and just will not die. It followed a B&D which died quite quickly. My jigsaw is a Makita, my pedestal drill and angle grinder Ryobi. I figure it depends on how much you reckon you might use it. The cheap things might work just fine, but there is a reason tradesmen don't use them...
 
If you are welding up a brewstand, the duty cycle is going to be really low so you would be hard pressed to do any damage. There is little inside them to go wrong, just a few bucks of copper and iron and the labour was either a shed full of Chinamen or an automatic machine, either of which would spit one out the door every minute or so. If you pay $400 for that somebody is getting rich.
 
I bought a fan assisted Ozito stick welder from bunnings for $98 with all the accessories. I used this to make my stand. I found it cut out after about 10mins of welding then needed about 10 mins to cool down. This did not bother me at all as I'm not much of a welder and it will only be used once in a blue moon. I'm really happy with it as it has done the job I bought it for. I think it is rated to about 130amps.



cheers

Browndog
 
I've bought plenty of cheap power tools from the likes of supercheap. The cordless drill i bought last year for instance even has a 3 year guarentee; it's continually used & hasn't missed a beat; if it does I'll simply return it for a replacement or refund. A lot of the European goods have huge price tags that don't justify the cost, especially with a lot of them being made in China now anyway.
I can understand a craftsman spending out on his tools to get quality, but for the average home handyman the access to these cheaper goods is great & allows us to have a range of tools we could never have afforded in the past.

cheers Ross
 
Dude, shop around... i'm sure you will find something better...well if not better cheaper..

$400 is a bit steep for an elcheapo stick welder...

i just bought an elcheapo plasma cutter off ebay for $600 and i know its a ****** chinese import but hey..who cares if it does the job.. if it blows up it blows up..its a gamble but even the good ones blow up from time to time..

When i built the shed i went through 4 elcheapo angle grinders at $20 each...(and i flogged them) a decent one is at least $150.. i'm still $70 in pocket in my mind.. plus i reckon i would have killed a good one anyway.. :p

if its a starting point for welding then get a cheapo and upgrade when you need it..

I used a $150 stick for ages and then lashed out and bought a $2500 mig...

i still use the stick from time to time as its a lot more portable than the mig..

Sqyre...
 
I own plenty of top quality power tools,I also own plenty of GMC power tools.
As Browndog says if it's not used often you really don't need trade quality tools.As for the welder it's sounds like you can give it a try,then take it back if you don't like it.


Batz
 
Batz said:
As Browndog says if it's not used often you really don't need trade quality tools.
Click to expand...

I take the view that if you only use it once a year, but on a big job, then it pays to get the tool that will not break, unlike the three $20 angle grinders that my friends used to cut a hole a single stainless vessel a couple years back.

Most of my tools are mid-range, ie Makita (circular saw, jigsaw, orbital and belt sanders, hammer drill), and I have a 1980's "B&D Industrial" angle grinder, which is still going strong, cuts thru SS like butter. I've been thru two cheap B&D cordless drills, which I only use as screwdrivers and the only reason the first one died was the charger could not be replaced for less than the cost of the new B&D drill... grrrr. That ***** me too. Having to toss a perfectly good tool because the shape of the battery changed. What a waste!

I'm not a trady, nor particularly handy, but when I sand, drill or saw something, I want to do so with confidence that the tool is not going to bang in my hands. YMMV.

But yes, at least with Aldi you can return it for a refund. Please do return it when it breaks.
 
My brother is a full on trady, and he now buys the cheap crap from super cheap etc.

Yep, after years of buying the top shelf stuff only to be stolen or lost or just not looked after he says he now throws the cheap stuff (yep throws) them in the back of his ute and thats it, no toolbox lock and key etc.

How many hot Ozito drills would you find for sale at the pub !
And as Ross says, if it ***** itself and you can be bothered, take it back on its 3yr waranty.

10 yrs ago, who would have thought powertools would be disposable after a job or two ?.

:)
 
I bought a cheapy "stick" welder quite some time ago (15 odd years) and I found it worked a lot better when I replaced the earth and the feed lead with a better quality wire. I also replaced the rod holder and the earth clamp with something that was a little more industrial.
It was good for about 100 amps and could weld 3mm mild steel quite well with a no 12 gp rod.
I also found when using it from home to ensure that other items like air conditioners etc weren't cutting in and out and causing power fluctuations. Using these things on an extremely hot day is also unreliable as the power supply is generally on the low side due to others use of the resource.

I was lucky to find a 140 amp lincoln welder in a sale for 100 bucks so the cheapy and I departed company.

Cheers and happy welding if you chose to go that way. :unsure:
 

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