Mig Welder 180Amp ???

[happyjfish]

Hi everyone, PLEASE im a begginer wanting to buy a MIG welder in the 180 Amp range for projects at home, Im no expert but still dont want to go for the obvious cheapy and have it break down. My budget is just over a grand. I have been reading up on the following brands so if you have one of these machines or can Reccomend something better please do... And please differenciate which one is more Durable(amp-Duty Cycle%etc) ,Affordable and with good Warranty. Lincoln 180, Millermatic 180 auto set, Uni-Mig 180, Magmate 180. ???reason???? Thanks...

[Filthy4x4]

Hey mate,

First off ill say im no expert and am more than happy to be corrected if wrong but I would look for a welder with the best duty cycle.

Duty cycles will be worked out in %. Best way to figure it out is 100% duty = 10mins.

So if you get a welder that has a duty cycle of say 80% @ 120a then you can safely weld for up to 8mins at 120a then you would have to let it cool for 10mins.

Any particular reason for going for a mig as apposed to an arc?

Oh and stay well clear of gasless migs they are horrible to use and the quality of weld is not too good.

Cheers

Caleb

[DieselBoy]

Go look at all the flash stuff in the shops, choose the ones you like then go on the hunt for a 2nd hand one.

My uni-mig 240 was $800 2nd hand. $2500ish new. Love it. Stoked I
Got it and didn't waste the $$$$ on Chinese one like I was tempted to.

I put a new liner in it, a new earth clamp and a shield on the torch.

The BOC migs are good gear for $$$ to.

[Filthy4x4]

We have uni-migs at work, cant really complain about them they perform well allday everyday but they are 350 and 440amp 3 phase.

[tomsoffroad]

Ive got a Lincoln 180c which is the best 180 amp welder I've ever used. But they are abit over $1500. A mate of mine has a Magmate 180 and it seems to be a good welder and they are backed by Boc. I think he paid $1180 brand spankers for it. Try and buy one which takes a 15kg roll of wire (Mine doesnt ) 5kg = $50ish, 15kg = $40ish!!!

Duty cycles will be worked out in %. Best way to figure it out is 100% duty = 10mins.

This isnt quite correct. If a welder is 100% at 140A then it will go all day at 140A or under without a cooling down period. The percentage is worked out by the hour. So a welder with a duty cycle of 75% at full noise will go for 45mins in an hour then need 15mins cool down.
The other thing is Lincoln, Magmate etc are 15amp input and you really need a minimum of 2.5mm wire going to your plug.

Also dont be temped to buy a machine which has other shit on it like Plasma cutters or Tig set ups. They break down and then you aint doing no welding at all If you are tempted by a multi set up then buy a dedicated power pack with a seperate wire feeder.

[Hoodoo]

Make sure it has a cooling fan included. Saves a lot of waiting around, but reduces the amount of coffee you get to drink!
Regards,
Hoodoo

[rokhound]

There are Chinese units which are fine as well. The Magmate for instance (from BOC) is a chinese welder. I had a 180 a Telwin (italian) and it did not perform anywhere near as good as the Mitech unit I now have.
Go for one that holds 15kg rolls and has the bigger wire drive motor. For the money you are spending, it will be unlikely that you will get a sperate wire feed unit.
Tom is dead right on your household power supply though, voltage drop does affect your machine.

[DieselBoy]

Sure does, I have been caught more than once running the welder off the kitchen stove to reduce voltage drop!!!!!

[Terry]

And one other thought - you should go for the best grunt you can afford, but while you're at it try and check if you can run thin wire at low amps if you'll be doing body work (say .6mm wire) - I've got a really old 350A Cigweld that's a great welder, but had to keep my original cruddy 130A unit for rust repairs on crappy steel - the big one wouldn't dial down quite low enough to avoid blowing holes in the cheap-ass Suzuki steel (did lovely repairs on the Patrol though - odd). I'd second the 2nd-hand route too - if you throw a new gun at an old rig it'll usually go just like a new one (just check the wire-feed before you buy if it's over 5 years old). Oh - and budget for an auto-helmet, and more steel than you'd think - it's addictive

[muddyhilux]

yeh take ya time looking around,just picked up a uni mig 250 about 6 months ago,cost me 1200 and that was after the guy had feed motor recod,fan replaced,full reel of 1mm wire,bag of tips and all,its the older model ie 15+ yrs and still welds mint,as said above though keep in mind what your doing and buy to suit

[haydgq]

Go look at all the flash stuff in the shops, choose the ones you like then go on the hunt for a 2nd hand one.

My uni-mig 240 was $800 2nd hand. $2500ish new. Love it. Stoked I
Got it and didn't waste the $$$$ on Chinese one like I was tempted to.

I put a new liner in it, a new earth clamp and a shield on the torch.

The BOC migs are good gear for $$$ to.

Yea thats the way to go, is too find a model you like in the shops then look for a second hand bargin, but these days most of them are from China like the Uni-Mig's, there inverter Mig's are Chinese but the non-inverter models are Italian i think, usually the Chinese inverter migs preform better anyway if you stick to the good brands like Rilon/Mitech/Jasic etc, Rilon make the Mag Mate Pro machines for BOC and they are bloody good welders.

[pruggerdore]

when buying my second mig 10 years ago I looked right into the duty cycle thing and discovered that although the % to amperage thing looks straight forward to analyze and compare but unfortunately as different manufactures use different methods to arrive at those figures makes them somewhat unreliable. cant remember the ins and outs but decided to not disregard % ratings completely but to not put that much stock in them either. by going for a bigger amperage rating machine than you think you need will mean that the % rating will not be so relevant.
Power supply as said is important for good performance from machine especially with transformer migs. inverter migs use less power for the same output so will do better if the power supply is not great.
Inverter migs weld smoother and seem nicer to use to me. mine seems a bit tricky to get adjusted just right but once there is very nice to use.
chinese or not Chinese? virtually every thing we buy is made in china. a lot of stuff that says made in America or Italy or whatever is actually made in china any way under license for the Italian manufacturer ....etc etc. So does it really matter if it is made in china any more? other than the fact you pay less for it.
Im no welding expert but a couple of things there that I think matter.
my current machine chinese inverter 250 amp @85% makes me happy. and if thats not correct and its only 180 at 85% then who care cause its still plenty big enough for anything I want to do. at the end of the day it turns 12 mm plate to liquid real fast so thats good enough for me.
Go inverter

[happyjfish]

Thank You! everyone for the help and advise,
Cheers...

[Heath]

I got a plug wired up in my last garage (and in the new house too) to handle the power flow and a slow blowing circuit breaker (designed to allow a huge spike when you initially strike an arc before it settles down) as mine used to "pop" all the time.

When you buy if it has the bigger earth tang on the plug it is designed for a 15 amp plug socket not the 10 amp domestic. Dont be tempted to file it to fit as the draw will be more than the wiring (which will be the cheapest the sparky could find within the 10 amp range) can handle for an extended period, especially if it is a long run from the switch board. you dont want an electrical fire in the walls. Insurance co's love that sort of thing to get out of claims.

I ended up with a 180 amp arc and although its great I would love a Mig or Tig set up and am still looking for that 2nd hand bargain in Chch (HINT - anyone?). Might be able to rig a Tig off the Arc I am told but rather use a Mig (soooo easy to use).

Heath