what mig welder

[roger352]

Hi All

Ive got disco 1 its has a few months MoT on it but its going to need some welding im looking at getting a mig welder and do the work myself.

Can anyone recommend a diy mig welder or can you advise me on the amps out put i would need. Ive used a mig welder before.

Cheers

roger

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=19375

[nicks90]

avoid SIP welders - they suck donkey balls as far as welding goes.

I was unfortunate enough to get a SIP 150 as a hobby welder thingy cheap. Now i know why they are cheap second hand! Wire feed is atrocious, motor is pants and the tube it runs up has alot of friction. This gives a rubbish wire feed and frequently leads to stoppages.

duty cycle is appalling and it only accepts stupid diddy bottles. waste of time.

if i have to do more than 10 minutes of welding i break out my arc welder and spend some money on quality rods. i can even weld thin (>2mm) steel now without blowing holes by using the right rods.

[LandyManLuke]

avoid SIP welders - they suck donkey balls as far as welding goes.

Indeed they do.

Have a look at www.mig-welding.co.uk, there's a helpful forum on there.

Luke

[yalan]

avoid SIP welders - they suck donkey balls as far as welding goes.

I was unfortunate enough to get a SIP 150 as a hobby welder thingy cheap. Now i know why they are cheap second hand! Wire feed is atrocious, motor is pants and the tube it runs up has alot of friction. This gives a rubbish wire feed and frequently leads to stoppages.

duty cycle is appalling and it only accepts stupid diddy bottles. waste of time.

if i have to do more than 10 minutes of welding i break out my arc welder and spend some money on quality rods. i can even weld thin (>2mm) steel now without blowing holes by using the right rods.

I've read alot of damning reports over SIP welders so thought I'd add my experiences.

Traded up to a SIP TopMig Turbo 170 after some decidedly below par experiences with a no-gas clarke.

I got the SIP from work where we had just bought new Lincoln Mig and Tig machines which I use quite regularly.

Although not quite so professional nor easy to use as the new Lincolns, the SIP welds very well indeed for both long and short runs. Thin body panels or thicker plate. Perhaps it has just been well looked after but I certainly wouldn't share the opinions above. Admittedly its not a hobby size machine & runs off my 32A socked and size Y bottle.

Perhaps the comments above are more relevant to the size of the machine (domestic DIY level) rather than the brand.

[LandyManLuke]

Yes, I think the bigger, more industrial, SIP welders are quite different to the low end DIY models.

Certainly the opinion on the lower powered models is almost 100% unanimous.

[biodoctor]

I use a mig welding forum quite a lot ,and lots of the guys on there recommend "clarke" welders from machine mart,I've got a clarke 120e MK2 ,and its never let me down and produces good welds,unlike some stuff from Machine Mart their welders are good, whatever you decide to buy ,check the ampage goes low enough for car restoration ,most go down to 30a but some go even lower ,mine goes down to 30a, i recently re-built my mates Disco inner wings ,and in places i wish it went down to 20a as the metal was a bit thin,it all came good in the end though coz it passed the mot.

IMHO avoid gasless mig welders ,they dont give quality welds, the welds tend to be pourous,with a mig you might want to sort out a larger bottle of gas ,the small argon mix bottles from M M only last for about 20 mins ( if your lucky),most big companys BOC ,Air products etc will only rent you a bottle and you have to be on contract,some frieldly pub land lords might let you have a CO2 bottle then all you need is regulator from a welding suppliers.