Arc Welders??

[jagni401]

Gidday,

I was hoping some one could shed some light on small stick welders.
is 100amp enough, or should I be looking at a 140amp one?

Just wanting to do general bar work and tidying things up. Would be nice to weld quite thick steel up to 8mm.

Not wanting to spend too much - will look at getting a good gas mig at a later stage.

Cheers

Nick

[tomsoffroad]

Get 140A, you can always turn them down . I've got a little caddy 140A which I bought to weld some house beams onsite a few years ago (dont think its been used since ) With 3.2mm rods its a machine. Well worth the $500 I paid for it new.

[on2it]

Tom any particular mig and tig welders that you rate? (Just curious)

[tomsoffroad]

Tom any particular mig and tig welders that you rate? (Just curious)

Nah not really. As long as it spits out hot metal

[Mattman]

I sold my 140 on trade me a few months back for $50 after it had been sitting since the purchase of a mig.

Had done about 40 hours over 5 years and was in mint condition. Paid $400 for it.

I would buy a cheapish unit to learn with.

Matt.

[Ashohman]

don't waste your time with a stick welder just buy a mig there awesome and I reckon the best to learn and start out on.

[Big]

yip but don't buy a cheap Chinese one as they are crap.. get yaself a commercial grade at least 180amp and you cannot go wrong.. cause once you know how it works you WILL use it for shit it not designed for ( if you get a cheap Chinese unit) and then you will et very frustrated and fkd off then end up buying a good one anyway..

[Team Tonka]

If you want an arc welder I have a good one sat in the shed doing very little. Its 180 amp, oil filled, 50 & 80 volt welding, tap changer current control, multi input volts. As good as an MMA (stick) machine gets really. Strong arc that won't drop out easily and it will lay down of a box of 4mm rods without breaking into a sweat. With a 140A Italian thing you would be lucky to run 4 x 3.2mm rods before the thermal cut out does its thing. For welding stuff over 2mm MMA is fine. In fact for some welds I still prefer to use this method even though I have a decent mig. For the thicker stuff unless you get a mig over 220A and into spray transfer you'll get better penetration with MMA. Anyways, the welders is all yours for $200 if you want it. Could throw in a free welding lesson too! I'm in Rangiora so not too far away. Cheers Andy.

[109]

don't waste your time with a stick welder just buy a mig there awesome and I reckon the best to learn and start out on.

Everything has a place. Don't hate on the old stick welder , they have their advantages. Apart from being interesting to learn with, Once you get the hang of things they're as good as any mig , and can be more versatile in some applications. You can pick up a good quality unit usually quite abit cheaper than a decent Mig and you don't have to worry about hiring costs of a bottle of gas everytime you want to use it. Gasless wire is expensive and is shit. Park up an arc unit for months on end and bust it out anytime you want

Your right tho , if you got the coin get a decent Mig set up , way more learner friendly. Arc's not all shithouse tho

yip but don't buy a cheap Chinese one as they are crap.. get yaself a commercial grade at least 180amp and you cannot go wrong.. cause once you know how it works you WILL use it for shit it not designed for ( if you get a cheap Chinese unit) and then you will et very frustrated and fkd off then end up buying a good one anyway..

X2

[2.8SURF]

I run a 145amp mig with a co2 bottle so not renting bottles and it does anything I ask it to quite happily.
If you are just learning ild also say MIGs the way to go, sticks great but a bit of an art to them really, done right stick welds are very nice though

Oh and I also second avoiding the Chinese migs, mines an older steadymig brand transformer style so weighs a bit but will never blow up on me and quite forgiving to abuse

[jagni401]

Cheers guys,

I taught myself how mig weld a year or so ago and built a trailer and got the hang of that ok - so thought Id try a arc.

Andy that sounds like a mint deal cheers, I'll PM you.

Nick

[slidenyo]

if you buy a newer arc they have some cool features,
I've got a dynamic multi process machine mig / tig / arc.
to be perfectly honest I find arc the most enjoyable.
mines an inverter welder so it has a decent duty cycle,
it also has an arc flash knob whch can be wound up to maintain the arc even if you dip the rod in the pool,
this also helps with getting an arc started.
rod selection can then play a part I mostly use 6013's for bar work as the leave a nice weld when the chap behind the mask is on his game

[mikeyt1689]

if you are doing any kind of bar work arc is definatly the way to go mig's are easier to learn on but to get up to a decent size wired one you are looking at fair few dollars where arc welders are bit more affordable... if you do go with gas mig take into consideration where and how much issue it is to get. ive got a 140 amp inverter welder and will run 3.2 Low Hydrogen rods perfectly and have run 1.6mm rods on bout 30 amps which can weld .8mm panel steel up to heavier guage steels good enough for my needs.

[Im a Tumor]

I have a WIA (Welding Industries Australia but built in Takapuna Auckland) 180amp Mig welder and its fantastic!
Trucked build his complete front bumper and winch mount with it and has done a few exhausts aswell. Can wind it down low enough to do panel steel repairs aswell.
I run mine on c02 and .8mm mig wire.
Your more than welcome to come have a look/play with mine to give u an idea if u want a Mig or not.
I picked mine up off trademe for $350.
Im in CHCH too