Buying A Welder

[Ducatiboy stu]

Looking at buying a welder mainly for doing around the farm work. Most likely steel up to 6mm..

What I need to know is what the Amp range would be suitable and if I should buy a combo stick/mig.

I have had a look at a few, but they are cheap ass low range ones with crap duty cycles..

Anyone got any ideas...

 

[dicko]

Hi Ducatiboy stu

I recently got one of these and I recon it is pretty good.
You might just check the specs for 6mm but I recon it would handle that no problems.
I am using mine at the moment to modify my brewing frame.

http://apac.thermadyne.com/IM-Uploads/DocL...chure%20NEW.pdf

Cheers

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

hi Stu , if your going to be in the shed welding , with mains power a mig will do all you want .
however if you plan on building gates and yard and welding out in the wind you want a stick .. also you need a big generator to run a welder , even that 175 A that Dicko linked to needs a 9kva ...

You got old smoky running ?? why not look around farm sales for a tractor pac by lincon , they are bloody great welders and good power around the farm as back up / power tools .. I 've welded from 1.6mm RHS up to 12mm plate with one , done miles of hard facing and built a few sets of stock yards . I have always wanted one but I also need a tractor so not really set up for it ,lol

cheers

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

http://www.dunlite.com.au/store/listItems.asp?idCategory=110

I've got one of their generators as my electricity source of last resort and it's fine.

 

[matho]

if your buying a MIG its best if you pay more and get one with a good wire feed. i bought a toolex brand from gasweld and while it has been great and has never missed a beat the wire feed can piss me off sometimes and requires a bit of fiddling to get it right but what can you expect from a $499 MIG welder.

I have welded mild steel from 0.6 mm up to 6mm and Stainless steel from 0.5mm to 1.2 mm and it has been great.

cheers matho

 

[tavas]

Lincoln Arc

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Ned... I know about the lincon tractor-packs.... very hard to find now... wish I had one as It would power the house during blackouts

Have got a PROPER 32Amp CCt to the shed .. 8mm copper in 50mm conduit with breakers at each end

Would really like a stick & mig..

What are the gasless flux cored wires like... are they worth it, or am I better off getting a full MIG setup

 

[booargy]

gasless wire is not real good. It is also expensive. but take into account the cost of gas and it works out about the same.
Gas will give you a much better weld. Although I have seen gasless welds that were perfect. (I am just a shitty welder)
If you need to weld in the wind then it is very handy.
Go the stick/mig will give you more options. get on the gas. I am using UNI MIG 190 with 316 stainless wire at the moment. it is good for lots of things.
A welder is the best investment for a shed.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Just wondering...

Is it worth just getting a Mig and not worrying about a stick welder.....

 

[matho]

I have a MIG and a cheap stick welder, I never use the stick now i have a MIG but most of the things i weld are thin sheet. Having a seperate stick welder is good to lend out to people when they ask if they can borrow a welder :lol:
So how much do you want to spend Stu, I found This which can do stick, MIG and TIG it has a fairly good duty cycle and 160 amps would be fine for 6mm.

cheers matho

 

[glaab]

can't beat a mig if youre' in a shed and building trailers or something they are the fastest and easiest to use but not too transportable . you could always sort out a crate or something. you know better than any of us what you will need it for so you'll need to work it out for yourself really. I been welding 30 yrs on and off and most in the game would only buy a cig, wia or lincoln if thats any help but they are pricey, you get what u pay for. gassless mig wire is crap , u wanna avoid. mathos comment about the feed can be true of all migs, if somethings not set right she'll slip. like matho I never use the stick welder anymore, I gave it away. my cig 210 mig will easily weld 6mm plate, a 150 would but I'd go bigger. more confused now :blink: ? Cheers

 

[wynnum1]

Whats the electricity like where you are 3 phase cheaper to pick up at auction .

 

[raven19]

I have a gasless MIG welder and I have no issues with the draw wire sticking.

Just have to keep the nozzle clean after a weld. A light tap on the ground loosens any gunk and flux near the nozzle so its great for next time.

The CIG unit I purchased can alse be used for gas, however I dont see me ever needing it. Welds great up to 6mm also.

15A socket in the shed and you are set.

 

[yardy]

Lincoln or WIA would be my choice Stu, my old man has a UniMig that he's used for years so throw them in the hat as well, avoid gasless wire like the plague. If you get a Stick welder you'll kick yourself for not getting a MIG if most of your welding is in the shed.

cheers

 

[mika]

I'd agree with the other sentiments here. Advantage of the Stick is it works a little better out in a windy paddock, otherwise MIG all the way. Certainly can't beat the MIG on a bit of RHS work. MIG seems to need some more balls. I've got a 150Amp WIA running CO2 (because Argon is a lot pricier), it works fine on 3mm stuff. 6mm it would do, but you'd have the dials wound up pretty well and at least in suburbia, depends a bit on what time of the day it is. Some newer houses are using some pretty light wiring, even when running 15A to the shed. It'll handle it alright, you just get a bit more voltage drop and it doesn't seem to perform quite as well as it should. Though that could just be MIG's as well, my Brother (professional welder) calls them the 'females' of welding machines.
I'd look at consumables as well, more the availability than the price. I had a nice Bernard handpiece on my machine, but was starting to have issues (age and neglect) so ended up with a Tweco (I think) handpiece which while not as nice, was a lot cheaper and will cope with the handyman type use I'm exposing it to, as opposed to the Industrial use that Bernards and what have you are designed for.
Seen a few people with the SIP machines, another cheap welder with limited controls, but haven't heard too many people complain about them and from what I've seen, half the price of the WIA equivalent.

 

[yardy]

+1 for Tweco handpieces, we run them on all our machines.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Power in the shed aint a prob, its a 32Amp cct. :beerbang: I should know, I put the cable in... the sparky ( who i used to work for ) said Fark me...we would not even run that size cable. Has a 2v drop between the shed and main SWB

That Uni mig looks very nice, but a $1000 is a bit scary, but the idea if stick/Mig/Tig makes it look good. If only it could plasma cut :icon_drool2:

But then again a Mig only can be had for $500 ish...

I dont mind spending the $$$$ to get something decent... after all a $100 ozito is more of a PITA than worth the money. I dont want to have to do a 30 sec weld and wait 5 mins for the machine to cool down

 

[woodwormm]

So how much do you want to spend Stu, I found This which can do stick, MIG and TIG it has a fairly good duty cycle and 160 amps would be fine for 6mm.

cheers matho

i've got me one of those exact ones...

brilliant little machine, best value i could find at the time...

my pre requisites were a euro style gun (easy replacements and upgrades) ability to do gas and gasless, though i havent bothered with gasless yet..

the stick torch is pretty cheapo, mine didn't come with tig torch but can easily get one.

they're a good little machine, though if i had my time again i'd go for the bling and bragability of owing a WIA!

for what it's worth my new workplace is into serious fabrication, we run WIA Fabricator 500's for the hardcore and CIG Transmig 350's for the daily grind. the boss just spent 100k on welders!

 

[mayzi]

My two cents worth...
A couple of considerations for you. If you only intend to weld mild steel in the shed, the MIG would be the only option I would consider really. A major advantage of a stick welder though is its portability, ability to weld in winds etc. You only need a breeze about 5kmph and the gas shield is compromised on a MIG. I you want to weld a few different mediums, such as stainless from time to time, a stick welder is handy as you don't need to invest in a full roll of MIG wire and in some cases a bottle of special gas. There is a massive range of consumables for stick welding, and you can buy as few as 15rods if its a one off job. The current welders that you can purchase which are MIG/STICK/TIG only have a DC Stick option. You cannot weld using AC. For most people though this is not an issue.
Really its all about what you are going to weld, how often and your budget. Like most tools you can spend nothing or mortgage the house on them. There are some very good welders out there for home use now which are pretty inexpensive. Buy a decent auto darkening helmet though and whatever you buy as far as a welder goes, your whole welding experience will be better for your helmet.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

So... what is the difference between AC and DC stick welding...