Welder

[braydenh28]

Hi there,

I am on the market for a welder for welding afew things around home and that and also wanting to build a trailer. I went into e hayes and sons today and was talking to the guy there and he reconed that if i went over 160amp i would need a differnt power supply i think it was a 15v plug he said

I have a budget of just under $2000.

I am considering buying this one off trademe it is 250amp but is a chinese brand. Has anyone had experience with this welder? Is it a good welder or would i be better with somthing else. The guy at e hayes said I am wasting money buying a 250amp and ony need a 160 to build a trailer and all, but i have also read it is best to buy the biggest machine possaible.

Here is the link to one im looking at, im abit iffy onit as Im not sure about these asain tools

https://trademe.co.nz/928930034

Will i need a differnt pug like the guy in e hayes told me? He said its still single pase just a 15v

Another one that i looking at
http://shop.blackwoodsprotector.co.nz/s ... ction=3508

[Mehrts]

He'll be meaning a 230 Volt, 15 Amp rated outlet, as opposed to the usual 10 Amp ones around the home. The only real difference between the two is the earth pin on the plug & outlet is physically larger, so it will not be able to be plugged into a 10 Amp outlet. You can however run normal appliances from a 15 Amp outlet no worries.

[Big]

15 amp plugs are bigger on the earth pin.. you can do what I did instead of installing a special plug for it.. grind a wee bit off the pin to fit the 10 amp plug socket.. it will work and run great until you want to weld say 10+mm plate at max.. otherwise it'll be sweet as.. its not going to hurt the welder.. and the 10amp socket most likely will have a 20 amp relay from the fuse box so depending on whats going on at the time.. should be ok

[mudlva]

Std domestic house cabling will not be able to supply enough for a 250a unit.
The issue of running more than 10 to 12 amps out of a domestic is that the plug itself can burn out.
2k will get a good unit but personnaly a 200amp unit will perform nicely for the power supply given.
Im runnimg a 250a unit but my shop has been wired with 4mm cabling and can ran at 80-90% all day with no issue. I also use a 32a commercial plug which help deliver the required juice

[braydenh28]

What is a 200amp unit you could reccomend and where to purchase? Have you had experiance woth the mitech welders?

[skidmark]

A bigger unit might have a higher duty cycle at a low amperage.. as in a 160amp might have a 30% duty cycle at 160amp where as the 250 could be 100% duty at 160 amp...don't quote me but my impression is it would be better to use a bigger one at half capacity then maxing a smaller one all the time.

I have a 200 amp China might that has been back for repair under warranty.. has only been used light since coming back as brought a tig and father brought a old 3 phase miller. My 2c

Alistair

[mudlva]

Great machine and good blokes to deal with
Look at a 200a unit
Will weld 3 to 4mm all day and 6 to 10mm with rests inbetween

[mudlva]

From weld tech in east tamaki auckland

[braydenh28]

Cheers mudluva, what are they worth and do you use on a standard plug

[mudlva]

Cant remember price but around the 2k mark. Had it for a few years now.
Personnaly you should be looking at the 200a unit
Give wayne a call on 09 274 1246

Note in previous post im using a 32amp plug as my unit is drawing well over 25amps at full 100%

Oh dont ran a welder through an rcd as the current will arc the switch gear creating a fault as well

Dont buy by price alone either as cheep and quality dont go together.
I look for quality plus value plus after purchase service.
Generally a dedicated welding/ metal work shop will give better advice than the likes of blackwoods or internet only crowds. Just need to ensure that they use a sharp pencil when quoting there prices
Also look for after sales support for machine consumables. Tips nose cones etc etc

[callum007]

not sure about the comment on modifying the 15 amp pins to fit 10 amp socket. you can make a simple adapter with correct plugs or get a sparky (or diy) to fit a 15 amp outlet in your shed where you use the welder.
Ideally it will be close to the submain or switch board and if the wiring is short then you could (just) get away with the higher current on the standard 2.5mm wiring.
I have 6mm run to my welder outlet, 3m from the s/b fitted with 15amp plug. runs the 200amp welder all day.

The lower duty cycle of the cheaper units can often be heat related. My german Deca welder had only a 40% duty cycle at full heat, I fitted 2 large 230v electronic equipment fans to it. Ive once got the cutout to go since and was doing a 900mm bead on a digger bucket. went on the second pass..

Do your homework, shop around, ask your local engineer?

[kbjj]

^^^ What he said. I wouldn't recommend modifying 15A plug to fit a 10A one. It's not only the earth pin that's different, the phase and neutral contacts are heavier on 15A sockets as well. Could void insurance if it's deemed the cause of a fire... just saying. Your willing to spend good money on a welder, so spend the extra on a decent supply to get the most out of your welder... imho

[ski]

Hiya I have a mitech welder 200 ,So far been awesome.Hand piece and earth are abit short but thats being fussy. plenty of grunt when needed. I have welding tickets so suits me for the shed at home.Cheers.

[Ashohman]

Dont modify 15A plug and dont assume you have 2.5mm 2c+e tps (20A circuit protected) running to your ppts many places only have 1.5mm 2c+e tps. (16A circuit protected)

[Big]

dont assume you have 2.5mm 2c+e tps (20A circuit protected) running to your ppts many places only have 1.5mm 2c+e tps. (16A circuit protected)

Ah quite right MY BAD.. if the home is relatively new( 5-10 years old).. then you could do as I suggest.. I have and have had no problems but all my circuit breakers are 20 amp.. so most likely has 2.5 wiring..

[braydenh28]

The welding shop has told me thisnis the welder i need it is a strata xm 205 pro, come with mig tourch, arc leads, regulator and 24 month warrenty for 1696+ gst. I have done a search on google and have not found a hell of a lot of info on other forums about this welder or even this brand (atcualy nothing). But with a 24month warrenty the supplier must have some confidence in this brand...

[tomsoffroad]

The Lincoln 180c is a good little mig. It is a 15A plug though. Generally any 1ph welder will benefit from an up graded power supply. Im running 25mm ground cable from the boundry box to the work shop (which is where the meter is, the house is a sub main now ) Then 16mm cable to the workshop fuse box, then 6mm to a 20A welder dedicated plug, then 4mm to my 250A Cigweld.
I had the same set up on the Lincoln 180c I had previously and it transformed that welded 100%.
Don't trim or change a 15A plug as it voids the warrantee.

[De-Ranged]

Come on guys he is welding a trailer and possibly a few other jobs lol don't stress all this bs about wiring, effectively all it will do is drop the performance of his welder

For those that don't know me I ran a auto custom shop for yrs using a 250amp welder with a 15amp plug (went to PDL and got the bits to make a short plug in adapter lead).... on old 1960's wiring with a 15amp breaker at the fuse box... I welded up chassis's, bumpers etc.... I've even welded up forestry equipment that I made from inch thick plate (this last bit required a bit of technique)

Catch is if you run a larger single phase machine you will effectively have more welder potential than your power supply... in my case above as an honest guess I'd say that my 250amp welder was only able to give me somewhere around 160-180amps at that shed (more than enough to weld 10mm plate)
The bonus you get with the bigger welder is a better duty cycle (google it lol) to be honest the breaker on your house wiring will trip before your duty cycle, and if like me and Tom you decide you enjoy doing this.... then upgrade your wiring and your welder is already to go to a whole new level lol

Just a note try not to run the welder off an extension cord and the closer your plug to the fuse box the better.... this is about performance, the longer the wire from the mains to the welder the greater the voltage drop and less welding power you have.... hmmmm just thinking about this I don't know if it still applies with the new inverter welders, my old copper windings 250 was very noticeable on this....

Can't give you any advice on the strata brand, I run miller, smootharc and hobart... I wouldn't recommend you spend the money for miller lol but the smootharc that is a very nice welder to the point people I've let play on mine have gone and bought these (BOC's Chinese made brand), Another brand that has surprised me is the XA brand (E Hayes & sons) this is another Chinese made under contract... there are a few shops in Napier using them and the warentee support has been above and beyond and they are just as nice to weld with as my smootharc also heard good things about the Mitech (I have a plasma on this brand)
To be honest for what you plan a crappy gasless Mega10 welder will do what you want.... so I'm guessing this is a bit of a toy and want a nice one lol best bit of advice is talk to different shops and let them know your keen and talking to other shops.... I got over 25% off the marked price when I got mine and got spare consumables lol

Oh off topic has E Hays still got that home made engine in there lol it really does work! that shop is always worth a walk around when I'm down home

[Im a Tumor]

I have one of these welders http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-farmi ... 489953.htm (didnt pay 1/3 of that price tho) and its been an awesome welder to learn with.
Run C02 with it. have welded exhausts, tow hooks, patched rust holes and my mate has even made a bumper and winch mounts with it. Can weld upto 8 - 10mm steel if u have to but wouldnt want to do it all day.

[Clint]

I've had a good run out of my Mitech TIG - they have been selling welders in NZ for around 10 yrs now, they stock spares & the service is good.

Good advice above re getting your wiring sorted. Wiring in a decent size socket & making sure there's a good heavy feed coming straight from the switchboard is not rocket surgery & worth doing if you want to run a 200A+ machine.

Cheers
Clint

[diogenese]

I have just bought a Lincoln powercraft 180i with a tig torch, mig torch and arc leads. It is a Chinese unit but has a three year warranty and I reckon if it will last three years it will get past any dodgy build quality
I have used it to weld 5 mm angle for bench framing and built a 50 mm rhs gantry with cored mig wire and it performed very well. It does tig with an optional torch and argon gas and I can use it for bodywork on my cruiser and I have never used a tig before
It's light and the controls are nice to use, the build quality feels good but the operating instructions were pretty limited. Overall I'm happy with it at $1800 plus another 700 for tig torch and an ownership argon bottle.

On the wiring thing, I swapped my nearest power point to the sub box for a 15 amp socket, about 20 bucks.

[The WEHI]

I Just Bought a Strata XM250PRO awesome well spec'd welder

I found the guys at Proline Welding supplys were bloody awesome to deal with to give them a ring and see what they reccomend

[JONO250]

I have one of these welders http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-farmi ... 489953.htm (didnt pay 1/3 of that price tho) and its been an awesome welder to learn with.
Run C02 with it. have welded exhausts, tow hooks, patched rust holes and my mate has even made a bumper and winch mounts with it. Can weld upto 8 - 10mm steel if u have to but wouldnt want to do it all day.

how do you find welding with co2?? im considering using it for my mig i just bought but just not to sure how good it is? seems to be alot cheaper than getting a bottle rental and buying argoshield. do you have to run a special wire with co2 or will normal mild steel mig wire be ok??

[tomsoffroad]

You use normal solid wire with Co2. The weld won't be as pretty as Co2/argon mix but will still do the job well.
Co2/Argon bottles and Co2 bottles have a different fitting so depending on the regulator your using you may need an adaptor

[JONO250]

thanks for that, sounds like co2 will be good enough for what I want. I see on trademe they sell heated regulators for co2. Do I need to run one of these?

[tomsoffroad]

Nah not unless your doing full on industrial welding. Big arse digger buckets yes, building wicked trucks etc..... no

[tomsoffroad]

I use cig weld regs. Had no reason not to like them