Buying a welder?

[stalker]

Flatty and me are looking at buying a cheap welder so we can teach ourselves to weld (me more than him, but hes paying lol) and for me to just do little things on my car ie. rust work and any small brackets(without butchering it!)

Now I know nothing about welders and crap so can someone point me in the right direction and what to look for etc??
Ive been looking at the ones on trade me so far, but I wouoldnt know if they are good or crap... I know "you get what you pay for" but I just want something that will be good to learn with without costing an arm and a leg.

[Akane]

I don't know anything about welding, but just don't get ARC.

Gas or Gasless MIG should set you fine for some car panel work.

Might need TIG for some delicate stuff.

I think...

[RedMist]

I bought one of the cheap ahrse Mitec TIGs from Trademe. Its a very good TIG for the money. Only two things arent the best on it. Its a single stage reg, so it has to flow to regulate gas, as such it puffs when you first trigger it. And for some unknown reason the foot pedal bypasses the Amperage dial setting. As such you can have the dial set at 10amps and bury the pedal and get over 200.

[Stu-]

If your going for a MIG, look to buy one that is more powerfull than you need because alot of the cheaper units may state 160amps for example but have such a low duty cycle at that amperage that you can really only do a couple of short welds before the temp warning light or cut out plays its hand and stops you from continuing. However the good brand units like Lincoln Electric, UniMIG etc tend to be alot better. My old 200amp UniMIG machine used to sit on full power all day long and it never cut out or popped up a warning light.

[postfach]

And for some unknown reason the foot pedal bypasses the Amperage dial setting. As such you can have the dial set at 10amps and bury the pedal and get over 200.

Isn't that the purpose of the pedal? So you can control the current on the fly? My mate has the same machine. The regulator that comes with it sucks, very leaky unless you go overboard with the thread tape.

Don't bother with a gasless mig, they're pretty horrible and you won't be happy with it. As metioned above the UniMIG machines are pretty nice and not too expensive. I'd recommend something that goes up to about 200A so you have the option to weld thicker metal if you ever want to.

I find the TIG better to use, granted it is a lot slower and a bit more difficult than MIG, but it can be heaps neater. The downside is if you need to fill big gaps with it its very hard/impossible. (not a problem if you measure and cut properly!) Pretty easy to learn, it's mostly practice, only took me a day of playing around with it to get reasonably tidy welds.

[Stu-]

Yeah TIG is great but has its uses. I had a Lincoln Electric ACDC 205amp unit with footpedal - great machines but not cheap.

[stalker]

Whats arc welding like??

Ive heard of it, but cant for the life of me remember if its any good...plus they appear to be very cheap on tard me so im guessing stay with mig or tig???

[xsspeed]

Whats arc welding like??

Ive heard of it, but cant for the life of me remember if its any good...plus they appear to be very cheap on tard me so im guessing stay with mig or tig???

not something you wanna be using on your car

suits building insustry more than anything,

[stalker]

ahhh fair enough...plus google showed me some stuff...DANG!


Thank u

[Mr Revhead]

you should see if the local poly tech does a night class
i did one and it was awesome
welding is pretty easy, but the amount you can learn in a short space of time on a course is worth it.
with the one i did we were shown how to, then got heaps of time to actually do it, with the instructor there to answer questions or show us tips.
so learnt a lot that i may never have learnt, or taken a while to learn.

[stalker]

I never thought of that...will go hunting to see whats around.
Thanx heaps

[GTCRSHR]

when you do buy one,

just have a afternoon of playing, i learnt to weld my self, peice of piss now,

just try different things like the settings - speed - leaving it on too long in one spot etc,

[xsspeed]

stalker, i think unitec would be your best place to try, i havent done it but heard its good, i had to do a short course, just basics at aut as part of my mech eng degree at auckland uni, so maybe aut does night classes too

[d1 mule]

MIG is def the most versatile nd cost effective for car stuff. i got my BLUEWELD 160or180amp (cant remember) for $650 fromBNT and its perfect for car stuff. grunty enough to make engine mounts but small and light enough to throw in the boot and take to a mates place, its gas and gassless too

[method]

I've done a welding short course.

Was good

[evil_si]

get a Mig, very versatile, make sure it can run gas, purely gasless ones are a waste of time.

practice, practice, practice, you can never have to much, i think a short welding course is a good idea, they teach you things like material preparation, welding techniques and how to look after the gear

lincoln SP170t is one of the best value migs around IMO nice and compact and very grunty

i have a cebora mig, i find it excellent, from memory its 180amp, does every thing i want it to do,
for fine work and alloy and stainless i have a AC/DC tig, cost me fkn heaps thou

[rollaholic]

And for some unknown reason the foot pedal bypasses the Amperage dial setting. As such you can have the dial set at 10amps and bury the pedal and get over 200.

Isn't that the purpose of the pedal? So you can control the current on the fly? My mate has the same machine. The regulator that comes with it sucks, very leaky unless you go overboard with the thread tape.

the pedal is supposed to start at zero and ramp up to what the machine is set to once your foot is flat

i did introductory course at unitec in auckland last year, was great value.

[stalker]

Kool, thanx heaps guys!
Yea, im thinking ill find a cheapie on tard me and just muck around at home and test things out, and also look at doing a night class once I have got into it a bit.
Now the fun part...looking for one


Now I know you guys said to go for a 180+ unit...but what about this for just $^%#ing around at home and testing what its like to weld?
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =147244140
Its only 55-80amp, but its uber cheap until I know what im doing...or is that the wrong way to go, and I should just spend a bit more and get a semi-decent one to start with?

[ee904age]

I know that ones finished but dont waste your time and $$$ on something that small. Go for at least a 130A (note: most welders advertised as 150's are actually 130's). You will only regret buying a toy later on! Also ask for spec's ie: duty cycle at rated amperage. Most cheap welders called a **** 150 will have a duty cycle of 10% at <150A.

Duty cylcle of a good machine will be of 10 mins, so, 10% of 10m= 1min of full power weldding before it cuts out. Cheaper machines only work off a 5 min cycle.

[RedMist]

And for some unknown reason the foot pedal bypasses the Amperage dial setting. As such you can have the dial set at 10amps and bury the pedal and get over 200.

Isn't that the purpose of the pedal? So you can control the current on the fly? My mate has the same machine. The regulator that comes with it sucks, very leaky unless you go overboard with the thread tape.

the pedal is supposed to start at zero and ramp up to what the machine is set to once your foot is flat

i did introductory course at unitec in auckland last year, was great value.

Correctamondo. Its very irritating when attempting to weld something small gauge. Its very hard to regulate small amperages.

In regards to thread taping the reg. Its not doing a thing. The reg is designed to seat on the end of the fitting. If its not seating correctly thread taping the threaded section isnt going to fix it. Mine is very similar. I need to really swing on the gas key to get it to seat.