Recommendation on a Mig Welder

[chuckwood]

Hi all,

Just wondering where is the best place to buy a good/decent mig welder but with a affordable price?

I'm new to welding and I heard Mig gasless welder is the way to go for newbie.

I'll be mostly doing rust repairs, panel work and a very little of chassis work.

My price is max $500 (hoping that would include the safetly gear and etc).

Saw one in mitre10 called Starweld 130amp, any good?

[Burning Angel]

i have a repco gas/gasless welder and TBH its not great but it gets the job done they have them for $499 atm.

gasless is great for most work, you just have a bit of slag. but its completely useless for panel work like rust repairs because you'll keep blowing holes in the thin steel

the best for panel work is 0.6mm wire with C02 or argoshield gas(argoshield being better but more expensive)

its about $40 to fill a small c02 bottle but im not sure what it costs to hire a bottle(not alot i think)

you can talk to the guys at independent welding supplies(orari st), theyre really helpful.

[chuckwood]

I went to the shop this morning, the cheapest welder they got is a Cebora Mig Welder 130amp made in Italy @ $900.

There is a big jump of price with similar amp from the ones I saw on trademe, the only major difference is one made in China & other one made in Italy. Both have a year warranty but the ones on trademe are half the price and some of them has got more features than Cebora ones.

Anyone bought a welder from trademe? Are they any good at all?

[Bling]

the saying usually goes "you get what you pay for"

[Lloyd]

Go have a look in Mitre 10

[AJz]

Saw one in mitre10 called Starweld 130amp, any good?

Go have a look in Mitre 10

[Lloyd]

I'm actually a blind deaf mute so must have missed that. If you only want a checp welder for light work then start with a cheap one with a warantee on it

[Adoom]

The more money you spend, the more wire speed/current adjustments build quality you get.
My MIG was $1200 from BOC....it was the entry level one.
Dad bought a MIG from mitre10, It was a bit cheaper than mine.
The BOC one has a much better build quality.
Eg: To re-thread the wire through the hand piece on dads you have to take the hand piece apart. Mine just feeds through.
Dads has 4 power settings. Mine has 8.
etc...
I wouldn't buy a cheap one...save up some more monies. You won't regret it.

the best for panel work is 0.6mm wire with C02 or argoshield gas(argoshield being better but more expensive)

I second that. I tried using my mig on gasless when the gas ran out.....it was fkn horrible.
FYI:Car panels are normally 0.75mm thick. The two common MIG wire sizes I have used are 0.9 and 0.6mm. It requires more heat to melt the 0.9mm wire than it does to melt the 0.75mm panel so you get lots of holes. 0.6 is much easier to use.

its about $40 to fill a small c02 bottle but im not sure what it costs to hire a bottle(not alot i think)

It costs about $11 a month to rent a 'D' bottle from BOC. I forget how much its costs to fill up cause I don't do it very often. $50-$70 maybe.