First time welder purchase

[ArvinSlayer]

Heya,

So i am moving to greymouth, and i finally have a garage, yay! So i am looking to get a cheap welder, pref something that can weld steel from 1.5mm ono. Possible uses might be welding steel exhaust pipes, brackets, some work on the car, exoskeleton, maybe fab myself a bumper? So what would be a good purchase? I was thinking maybe gasless, as it would be cheaper as i wouldnt need to get bottles, and probably something that wil cost bout 200 - 300? I am looking to get a cheaper set as then i can have a god crack at it to learn where my limits are, then invest in a good unit. I do have used a MIG welder at work before. Thanks in advance for the advice!!

Peace

Arvin the local noob

[nismo26]

Don't go gasless I think they are sh*t, Co2 is good for home, argosheild is better but cost more.

Better off saving and getting something good from the start and something with enough grunt, like any tool you get what you pay for.
Mitech is good for the price. I couldn't comment on any of the non name china stuff.

I've got a Lincoln 180c for sale pm me if you are interested I have used it to do all the stuff you are wanting to do.

[tomsoffroad]

I've got a Lincoln 180c for sale pm me if you are interested I have used it to do all the stuff you are wanting to do.

I've got a 180c too Love it and have put many, many kgs of wire thru it.

[G34R5]

dont know much about welders, just had a quick look through the thread to try learn something haha but gave a quick trademe search for the 180c, theres one in greymouth atm for $1100 nice and close to you haha

[Chewy69a]

Gasless are a complete waste of time in my opinion, I had one (French "GYS" brand not a superscheap special) and to be fair it was okay for doing panel steel and small stuff.

You think they are cheap because you dont have the rental of bottles etc but as soon as you do any reasonable sized job eg some bullbars you soon find out how expensive the flux wire is and also how short it lasts!

A little 1kg roll lasts two secconds and is $30 the 5kg rolls are about $130 which is still a tiny roll compared to a full 15kg roll that is about $35 for a "real" mig.

I upgraded to a "real" mig when I bought my first stockcar and I'll never have to buy another welder in my life.

It is a uni mig 180 and my welding significantly improved from using the gasless crapper, a good welder does a lot of the work I guess and it was the best $800 I've spent. My friend also has a 180 (I think its a Cigweld) and it wasn't cheap (over 2k!). It is half the physical size and weight of my Unimig but the price tag led us to believe it must be pretty mean. unfortunately however when building a trailer it kept cutting out on us when welding on full power for more than a few minutes(has an overload/heat sensor) and we had to reel in mine to finish the job so I guess theres quite a difference between some brands.

If you've only got $300 I'd be getting a good arc welder, don't be fooled by thinking arc's are no good as I know some guys that won't even touch their stockcar with anything else (top auckland car 95a strictly arc...) If you know about stockcars then you'll know that good welds are essential.

[teamorange]

I bought a cheap gasless mig on TM 2 years ago I never figured out how to weld with it so thought it was me and my lack of experience, it just splattered rather than welded. I ended up putting it back in its box and leaving it there for 2 years.

A friend then offered to teach me to weld, I used a decent mig welder with CO2 right from the first pull of the trigger I was welding, 2-3 hours later and having welded everything in site I went home unboxed the gasless mig set the power and line speed and it still just splattered rather than welding anything just as before. That night I put it back on TM and started looking around for a new welder.

I found a 230A mig its about 15 years old but works perfectly I did buy a new CO2 cylinder but there are other options like using throw away bottles from Repco. The difference from a cheap gasless welder to my new mig is amazing especially for the inexperienced welder like me. Just my 2c's worth

Cheers

[Dirtydog]

hey dude you have to make sure the polarity is switched for gasless, thats why it will be splatting.

i personaly have had great use out of my gasless stuff, managed to find a good brand for around 100 bucks for a 5kg roll, so its not too bad.

i will be upgrading to gas soon though, just need to get a regulator, and a co2 bottle.

it is only a little 120amp mig, but none the less it is great for doing thin stuff, but then again ive welded some thicker stuff with it too with great results.

great if you are working outside with it on a windy day, no interuptions...

[lownslow]

Get a well known brand and some Argonshield.

Sounds like a few towns are starting to get places you can fill your own bottles good thread here;

http://oldschool.co.nz/2011/forum/index ... ntry944799

Gasless can work nicely on thick steel, and my Lincoln's manuel actually says to switch over to Gasless once you get towards the max thickness the MIG is capable off. Would never try it on anything thin

http://oldschool.co.nz/2011/forum/index ... ntry969111

[nismo26]

I've got a Lincoln 180c for sale pm me if you are interested I have used it to do all the stuff you are wanting to do.

I've got a 180c too Love it and have put many, many kgs of wire thru it.

Its surprising what they will do for the size the are, I can't fault it for the year I have had it, can't say the same for the new Lincoln tho.

[zukmeista]

So is gasless ok for thin steel? The new project Zook has some rust apparently, and I want to do a guard chop as well. For those that don't know, Zook panels are paper thin, about 0.8 I think. On a tight budget, so the cheaper the better. Thought I might give it a go myself seeing as a panelbeater quoted $1500 just for the guard chop!

[Big-AL]

i got one of these off trademe as my first welder:

Gas / gasless. got an old 3kg co2 fire extingisher off my dad, paid maybe $70 to have it tested and changed to welding regulator fitting by a place in auckland, $10 to fill now.

i have had no problems at all with it. will only weld to 6mm max tho, and has a low duty cycle. have welded rust repairs on a zuk no problem.

nice and light, just throw it in the boot and take it anywhere.

[Big-AL]

alernatively i have an old "Young's" arc welder you can have for $100. i think it is a "b". the old school guys swear by these welders, i believe they are nz made and have stood the test of time, i just dont have the patience to learn to arc weld haha.

[Dirtydog]

gasless is fine for thin stuff, just make sure you get the settings right.

grap a scrap piece and turn up the power till your burning through it, then turn it down a notch, and make sure you stager your welds so it doesnt warp, and give it time to cool down.

i did a repair job on my brothers falcon with my welder, worked fine.

the only thing is you get a little bit of splatter here and there, but if ya cant clean that off ya shouldnt be welding lol.

oh, and make sure the metal is clean.

[Nivapulledout]

Stick welding is the strongest weld of all the types but hard on panel etc,

Mig not the strongest of welds both stick and Tig beat it for strength but cannot beat its versatility, can welt panel then an I beam with same machine, Also can weld Alloy if you are good and have a teflon lined gun.(how all major alloy production is welded)

If going to be used for home use(even very heavy home use) I recommend going Chinese a 200 amp machine will do everything you ever need and should last until you are too old to weld as it wont be stressed with most stuff you are using it for.

Go for

Mitech,Rilon or Jasic they are the best built and last well, this from mine and friends experience of thrashing of these brands.(saying that cannot find any mitech migs/tigs on trade me anymore pity they were a nice unit)

Cheers

[Heath]

I'm selling my arc welder (CIGWELD Transarc 180EC) if you decide to go for an arc.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =545189646

[wjw]

Stick welding is the strongest weld of all the types but hard on panel etc,

Mig not the strongest of welds both stick and Tig beat it for strength but cannot beat its versatility, can welt panel then an I beam with same machine, Also can weld Alloy if you are good and have a teflon lined gun.(how all major alloy production is welded)

If going to be used for home use(even very heavy home use) I recommend going Chinese a 200 amp machine will do everything you ever need and should last until you are too old to weld as it wont be stressed with most stuff you are using it for.

Go for

Mitech,Rilon or Jasic they are the best built and last well, this from mine and friends experience of thrashing of these brands.(saying that cannot find any mitech migs/tigs on trade me anymore pity they were a nice unit)

Cheers

http://www.pmtmotorsport.co.nz/200-amp- ... ig-welder/

[The WEHI]

http://www.pmtmotorsport.co.nz/200-amp- ... ig-welder/

Looks like a decent welder spec wise just be careful even though its single phase
with a 15amp plug it has an input amperage of 27.6amps easily Blow household fuses or trigger circuit breakers regularly (at a high current)
best welding improvement you could do to a welder is improve the wiring from the plug to the mains a few people would agree

Its Just my understanding Could be wrong i am quite often lol.

p.s i have an el cheapo welder and it works primo depending on if i set it up right and its running gassles and had to change the polarity

[ArvinSlayer]

i got one of these off trademe as my first welder:



Gas / gasless. Paid $300 for it 3 years ago. got an old 3kg co2 fire extingisher off my dad, paid maybe $70 to have it tested and changed to welding regulator fitting by a place in auckland, $10 to fill now.

i have had no problems at all with it. will only weld to 6mm max tho, and has a low duty cycle. have welded rust repairs on a zuk no problem.

nice and light, just throw it in the boot and take it anywhere.

I was looking at this on trademe as i am not a supergood welder to head out and get something expensive, is it stl selling on tardme?

Peace

Arvin

[skidmark]

I brought a chinese weldtech 200a mig rrp for around 1200 I think.havent done alot of welding with it, but has done what i want so far..would reccomend upgrading to a decent torch tho. Just put a bizzel(I think) 4m long torch on today inital test seemed to weld alot better.

my 2c anyway

[Big-AL]

[I was looking at this on trademe as i am not a supergood welder to head out and get something expensive, is it stl selling on tardme?

Peace

Arvin

Have a look on trade me, you could try searching for "ryobi welder".
P.s. i would do it in the next 11 hours tho, and it was in chch too.