Which Welder to buy

[cazman]

Hi guys,

My name's Cam, I think I introduced myself a while ago but havent posted since.

Its come time for me to buy myself a welder. Ive previously been using my bro-inlaws gasless mig (SIP 90amp gasless) and have achieved decent results without being great ( Works well with sheet metal but the penetration is pretty crap when trying to weld anything decent.

I started looking at a Toolex ( made by SIP in Italy) welder at gasweld at they could sell me a 120Amp model (gas / gasless) for $529 ( which got me thinking maybe this is too cheap). So I got talking to some guys at BOC gases ( customers as well). They were telling me that the cheap mig welders are crap (anything under 220amp) and I should look at a decent stick welder.

They refered me to another place that sells these cool little DC inverter MMA ( Manual Metal Arc) welders. Ive never had much luck with arc welders in the past and this one looked way too small to weld anything. The owner came out and took one out the back and got me to weld with it. Much to suprise it was easy to use and the penetration was brilliant. Not to mention that you can put a TIG attachment on and use it as a TIG welder as well! The price tag for this little beast is $800. Im starting to think I should shell out the extra dosh and get one of these

These are the 2 models that I have been looking at. The pictured mig is actually a SIP but the toolex is exactly the same....
The MMA / TIG that im looking at is the kemppi 110amp on the left

 

[Sparky]

I prefer my Lincoln 220V mig. Easy and fast.

 

[quadcam boat]

Just remember, most inverters are DC only and will only Tig steel and stainless steel. You need a very expensive AC invertor to TIG aluminium, probably upward of $2500.
You will also need to get the tig kit to go with the invertor.

I have a BOC and a WIA mig welder and both have served me very well. Don't weld gasless unless you are welding stuff out in the open, gas is so much better! Go for a quality name and make sure you have a good dealer nearby for spare parts such a contact tips, gas shields ect for you mig gun.

You should be able to get a mig under $1000 which will run on a 15amp plug, which is great for home use.

Inverter, advandages compact and lightweight.
Disadvantages stick welding requires more skill and isn't as good for small or intricate jobs. Will weld steel and stainless. Need to clean slag up after weld.

DC tig on the other hand is the best for small and intricate jobs in steel or stainless steel. AC tig is required for aluminium welding (and AC tigs are expensive)
Tig also requires the most skill to do.

Mig disadvantages bulky, bigger and heavier than invertor. usually use gas when welding.
advantages, easier to use than stick or Tig. Can be set up to weld steel, stainless or aluminium.
Beter than stick, but not as good as tig for small and intricate jobs.
No slag to clean up
A lot quicker to weld than tig or stick.

Not an expert but thats my summary of welding.
It depends what you want to do but unless you particually want to stick weld, a mig leaves a stick welder for dead! Don't use a mig gassless unless you really have to.
If you have the skill (or do a tafe course) a Tig leaves everything for dead when it comes a small intricate parts, especially on stainless and aluninium, but is slower. Also an inverter capable of AC tig (for alumium) is very expensive.

For most welding, you can't go past a mig.

 

[Sparky]

An ac/dc Miller Econotig with a high freq. start is only about $1200 and will do aluminum fine.

 

[quadcam boat]

1,200 US Dollar = 1,569.45 Australian Dollars, sounds like a good value unit. I wonder what they sell them for over here. Does it come with foot pedal current control?

 

[cyber600]

I too am looking at one of these tig inverter units, I have been doing some homework. As I never go over 3/8in and havent welded aluminium yet, (thats what my oxy setup is for) I figure these tig inverters are pretty good value. I have been speaking recently to quite few people on this subject locally from a factory builder to other rod builders and everyone seems to agree that anything thick do it via the stick and if you want to do sheet metal use the tig side of it. Also the small portabilty of them make it very handy. As personally I have a decent oxy setup (henrob) and very old arc welder I can weld stick quite well just would like some of the new options that come in these new units. Like non stick and easier starting? Price wise they look very good also in a cramped garage I really dont have the room for a large mig plus its bottles.

cazman, where did you see the tig units? I am try to find a suit model to go for in Melbourne and a ruff price with the tig torch.

Dave.

 

[cazman]

thanks for all the info guys


cyber600, Im going to have another look at the welder tommorow so, I'll give you some more info on how much the TIG setup costs for it.

The unit I looked at was a Kemppi 110amp that runs off a 10amp plug. The place I looked at was in Wollongong (I forget the name of the place, they are in Lady Penryn Drive Unanderra). They are selling them for $800. They sell the same model at BOC gases, however they are branded as a BOC industrial and cost $950.. They make another model which 140amp and runs off a 15 amp plug an I think its around $1200

Its quite funny, the next tool I want is a henrob torch. How much do they cost ?

 

[Sparky]

1,200 US Dollar = 1,569.45 Australian Dollars, sounds like a good value unit. I wonder what they sell them for over here. Does it come with foot pedal current control?

I believe the foot control was optional. I forgot to say that it is a 220v unit. I like 220v units because of the power available for thick metals and can be run easily off household current. I don't know about Aussie voltage but our clothes dryers run off 220v and makes for a really easily accessable plug as they are usually in the garage anyhow.

 

[cazman]

everything household runs off 240v in australia, we have mansize voltage on tap overhere

 

[Flylux]

Cyber600, can you give me your honest opinion of the Henrob oxy torch? I have read a lot about what they can do and how easy they are to use but that has all been from people who sell them so I'm guessing they could be a little biased. Are they too good to be true or really as good as they say?


Cheers.

 

[cazman]

hey cyber600, I ended up buying that welder, I checked with the guy there and he said that the tig setup would cost around $300 including gas regulator

( less of course if you have your own reg )

 

[jpi1]

Just bought Miller 200DX, it will do anything and everything that you need. Of cousre it isn't cheap.
JPI

 

[Lextreme II]

I got one from Clark. Its 130 amps with or without Gas. It runs off 110V. Very handy..... Its cheap too. I paid two hundred something USD.

 

[SCV8]

I just purchased a very inexpensive unit from Harbor Fright, has a contactor, gas solenoid, which I didn't expect to find in that cheap of a welder.
I'll let you know how it works here soon.

 

[Sparky]

Those cheap units will work fine. You'll find its the little things in a welder that make it much more pleasant to use and its the more expensive brands that have the details all worked out.

 

[bubs]

I just bought a Lincoln Redimig 255 Remote

A tip go down to your local industrial welding supplies and ask for traded in units if you can't afford what you need new

 

[vn1uz]

im a boilermaker and we have a kemppi 160amp that we use for some of our on site welding we run 3.2mm electrodes no problem
the duty cycle is a bit low and it cuts in and out running full power but for tig work should be good
it works good with mild steel and stainless but as said before you need a high frequrancy AC welder for alloy
i would get at least the 140amp because of the duty cycle

 

[poid]

i've been thinking about a Toolex 180A model (a touch over $1k new)...been looking at auctions for a few months now and nothing suitable has come up. Would love a TIG but again i'm yet to come across a well-priced model yet

 

[stevechumo]

I prefer my Lincoln 220V mig. Easy and fast.

I agreed. I've been using the Lincoln 230V stick welder and found it to be very easy to work with on my previous turbo fabrications. One thing that I really like about it is its price of $220 at Home Depot. Although it's cheap, but it's really heavy duty as advertised. It can really cut some steels up to 1/2".

 

[turboandrew]

Another vote for miller, 180SD (what I have). Here's someone's review of it:
http://home.pacbell.net/jdismuk/miller_tig.html

Personally, I have been very pleased with it.