Welders

[Red Dog]

Advice from a weldor, ex welding equip salesman now welding teacher.

Don't buy any welding equipment from Bunnings- it will only end in tears and their consumables are over priced.
If your looking for a Mig welder: Check out the Lincoln SP180 or any other brand rated at 180amps or above. 250 amps is a good size for home use.
Stay away from cheap auto helmets as you will not be able to get spares for them and they will cost you more in the long run. WIA do one for around $100 and is good value for home.
All Stick inverters are made in China so keep your receipt for warranty (you may or may not need it) CIG weld have some reasonably priced units.
Gasless welding is just as good as MIG welding and can work out more economical in the long run, just make sure you have decent ventilation in your workshop.
Shop around for pricing, you will be amazed how far pricing can move due to attitudinal fluctuations of salesmen and customers.

 

[Krankin]

Hey, that was no dummy spit

I try to avoid the burning my keys on this forum

I'm on your side

Wish I had the coin to TIG...



D21 vs. D22 ribbing just gets people confused, might give up trying

But look under a Datsun 720- it looks familiar...

Because if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

sorry, just the way I read it...all good.

I didnt think there was a D21 v 22 thing,
just us v the D40 girlymen.




.

 

[simonk8]

red dog,

would something like this be worthwhile (ie combined machine), or is a combined machine not as good as the individuals?

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=W182

 

[Red Dog]

Simonk8,
Unimig welders are fairly reliable, since the inverter technology has taken off the combination machines are an economical way of getting the multiprocess capability for less money than actually buying three seperate machines.
When Unimig first came out they were loked at with scepticism, however if you look at how many are still working they can be regarded as the welder Hyundai. Cheap and realitively reliable.
If I was in the market for a welder it would be one that I would consider for my shed.

 

[Watchdogg]

Mig = easy but more expensive to buy

Stick/arc = a lot harder to master but machines are cheap.

Only the smallest machines will be 10 amp.

I would tell you to buy a 15 amp machine and file the earth pin down but then I would get into trouble haha.

What he said ^

besides that last bit lol!!

MIG or ARC. depends what your welding. But if its generally going to be thick metal, I would say ARC. go CIG weld. 100 percent. My old mans had the same one for like 15 years

 

[mitch92]

I'm a big fan of cigweld equipment, seems to work pretty good for me.

Mitch

 

[Red Dog]

I'm a big fan of cigweld equipment, seems to work pretty good for me.

Mitch

Cigweld gear is reasonably priced, and as long as you steer away from the small portable MIGs, will usually suffice for the home handy man. They have a handy man range branded as Weldskill which are slightly cheaper again.
For MMAW inverters don't buy anything below 150amps and for MIG welders don't go below 250amps that way your welder will have enough grunt and duty cycle to do most welding jobs around the home workshop.

 

[RustyNav09]

Well I was at the trade show in Brisbane thismorning to spend my bday cash and I purchased myself a cigweld stick inverter 130 amp for using around the house. Uses any rod size up to 3.2mm and will run that size all day. Got it for $295 which is around $60 cheaper then other stores. Oh also uses a 10amp plug so can be used anywhere

Now have to give it a go and finish ky 1/4 started bench project made from scrapped steel at work. Will post up my dodgy weld skills when its done.

 

[pointblank5]

castolin eutectic powermax are quite nice, light enough to actually use as a caddy unlike some LOL
also has the provision for TIG if you buy the torch and gas.
10amp plug, goes to 140 or 150 amps cant remember, so good enough to run 3.2mm sticks but i usually only use 2.5's

actually lets you enjoy welding LOL

 

[RustyNav09]

Oh that's the other thing. Has tig function I'd u get leads and regulator

 

[mitch92]

Just to dig up a slightly old thread. I'm looking half assed at welders. Want a mig, and want a tig. Have come across the CIGWeld Transmig 175. Anyone got an opinion on these??

Mitch

 

[Leprechaun]

Just to dig up a slightly old thread. I'm looking half assed at welders. Want a mig, and want a tig. Have come across the CIGWeld Transmig 175. Anyone got an opinion on these??

Mitch

175 amps is OK for panel and light duty welding, say up to 6mm plate. The old CIGwelds where reliable machines, but I don't know much about the new ones. Basically sticking with the named brands and you cant go wrong, you'll have a machine for life.

ESAB, Kempi, WIA, Lincoln.

 

[Matt76]

I have a 250 amp CIGweld, it is about 4 years old now and has done a hell of a lot of work. Id buy another in a heartbeat.

Unimig are definately worth a look too.

 

[mitch92]

I have used heaps of CIGweld and do like them. The main reason this one caught my eye was the fact it has stick/tig/mig all in the one. Though i probably would mostly use the mig/tig functions the most, with mig being on anything up to 10mm, definitely some 8mm.

Mitch

 

[Leprechaun]

I have used heaps of CIGweld and do like them. The main reason this one caught my eye was the fact it has stick/tig/mig all in the one. Though i probably would mostly use the mig/tig functions the most, with mig being on anything up to 10mm, definitely some 8mm.

Mitch

Try and get a 200Amp if you want to weld 8-10mm. A 175 could struggle to do a decent fillet, you might need to back weave to get the heat in, or grind in a weld prep which is a bit of a pain. A 200+ welder is far more robust in terms of duty cycle too.

 

[Matt76]

If you want to weld 10mm I would be getting the biggest single phase you can get, a 175 will lay a bit of filler wire down on 10mm but won't even go close to penetrating properly. Even my 250amp wont burn into thick material like that like a 3 phase one would.

 

[mitch92]

Ended up ordering a 255amp remote feed CIGWeld today, got it for a very good price.

 

[brendan]

i think you are being miss lead here.

175amps is heaps. will do 20mm steel if you wanted too just means multipull runs. welding 10mm fillet weld you probably going to run a 3.2mm rod (proviing this is MMA) which the max amps a 3.2mm rod will handle is 135 i think. now if we are talking MIG welding i still feel 175amps is heaps proving you have the correct wire and gas for the application and have the voltage/wire spend properly setup.

the trouble with MIG welding is cold welds, which is basicly a weld with no penetration due to an idiot on the end of the gun.
MMA welding is a bit harder to pickup on, but once you do i feels its probably the best option for heavy steel work.
TIG welding is where its at. no need to say anymore on this.

you will find most pipe welding is done with TIG and MMA. same as site work all tig and MMA.

MIG in my opinion is for production, knocking stuff up quickly.

i happen to own all 3 machines and my TIG and MMA get used the most. mig only comes out when i need somthing done quick.

i personaly would get that cigweld transmig. its does MIG/TIG/MMA.

 

[Red Dog]

In my opinion the 175amp MIG welder is too small to weld 10mm plate. Looking at the specs it runs near 23volts which is still really cold regardless of whether you use 0.8 or 0.9 wire. We won't even mention the 25% duty cycle.
You need to be running at least 25 - 27 volts to get the penetration/fusion into the joint otherwise the weld will just fall off.
I wouldn't be Mig welding any more than 3mm with a 175amp MIG welder.

On another note GTAW is great for thin metal and small diameter pipe, otherwise it is not cost effective.

 

[kempseyken]

For the last 30 years I've pretty much only used 4 brands of welders Lincoln electric , Esab ,esseti or Kempi , my first 2 choices would probably be Lincoln electric or Esab. For the last ten years used these to brands with nothing at all going wrong with either, you pay more , but you get what you pay for.