shavenYak Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 Looking to buy a mig welder and learn to weld. Spied a cheap one on trademe that needs the lining replaced which seems to be a pretty straightforward job: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =323685413 But would this model be ok for bodywork? Does it go low enough for thin panel steel? Any advice would be excerrent, I don't know much about this stuff but am keen to learn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 Not sure what th liner is or cost of it. It will weld panel steel but may struggle with 6mm as only 140a. If spending money get one that is 170amp. Gaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testament Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 that is pretty cheap, but no idea on availibility of or cost of a liner for one of those. as gaz said, 140amp is enough for panel steel but mayl struggle with anything more than thin angle iron or box secton.if its only one or two hundred to fix it I guess it's not a bad deal but ideally I would go for something a little bigger. I would also ask how many power settings it has, the more the better as it gives you more control for varying thicknesses and situations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sentra Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 No idea about the machine but liners are a consumable get them from like kendal in auck etc edit they take like 1 minute to replace and cost like 15 bucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizzl Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 rubbish...my 100amp welds 6mm just fine..just need to practise welding ;P liners are easy to do,and can be easily purchased...pykels usually have them or can get them.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shavenYak Posted October 16, 2010 Author Share Posted October 16, 2010 thought the power settings might be on this: but I don't know how to decipher it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testament Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 rubbish...my 100amp welds 6mm just fine..just need to practise welding ;Pliners are easy to do,and can be easily purchased...pykels usually have them or can get them.. It might look like it welds 6mm ok. and it might be able to do it with preheat - but I doubt it is getting good penetration without preheat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eke_zetec_RWD Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 rubbish...my 100amp welds 6mm just fine..just need to practise welding ;Pliners are easy to do,and can be easily purchased...pykels usually have them or can get them.. It might look like it welds 6mm ok. and it might be able to do it with preheat - but I doubt it is getting good penetration without preheat. qft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizzl Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 none of my shits broken yet,and it gets a real hammering... also welded a 30mm pin onto a 20mm plate as a drawbar that pulls a 8ton trailer..hasnt broken yet after 6 months of work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 The instructions on the underside my Lincoln mig reckons it can do thicker steel with glassless wire (8mm from memory) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell'orto Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 thought the power settings might be on this: but I don't know how to decipher it.. Could be mistaken, but that has 3 levels there. 140a @ 10% duty cycle, 75a @ 35% d/c and 57a @ 60% d/c It'll be fine for panel steel, but it'll struggle if youwant to weld lots of thick steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eke_zetec_RWD Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farmi ... 828966.htm get this if you can afford. the new inverter migs punch well above their weight. stepless power settings also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testament Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 none of my shits broken yet,and it gets a real hammering...also welded a 30mm pin onto a 20mm plate as a drawbar that pulls a 8ton trailer..hasnt broken yet after 6 months of work and this was with a 100A mig? does the pin go through the plate or is it only the weld holding it in shear? if it goes through a hole in the plate and its a close fit then the weld may not really be taking the major stress. I'm not trying to offend you or anything, like you said you can make up for less power with technique and preheat to some extent but a large part my job involves pressure equipment and pressure equipent welding and I have seen a number of welds done by ticketed welders done with all the right gear etc. that looked perfectly fine and were actually shite when you saw the xray. As our independant welding inspector says , welding is shit, avoid it if you can. If its anything structual or otherwise has something significant hanging off it you want to do everything you can to make a good weld because it will almost certainly be shit if you dont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizzl Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 it sits flat on the drawbar... im not saying im a tiocketed welder, but i am saying you can do a decent job with half decent gear.. shit, id love to have a 240a sitting in my shed, but i dont.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truenotch Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 IMO stay away from anything below 160A.... They get less and less useful below this. The welder in the first post is a generic chinese unit that have come into NZ under several different names. I used to sell the same ones ones under a different label and TBH it's best to stay away from them. It was a common occurrence for circuit boards to die and they're not easy to get replacement parts for. As for liners - that one won't be easy to do as you need to de-wire both ends of the torch assy before pulling the core out... And there might be more damage by the look of the cable near the hand piece. I'm a fan of this one - it's a Mig/Arc IGBT inverter and has a lot of adjustability. They're small bit pack a punch. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farmi ... 452289.htm And these ones are a decent budget welder + parts and accessories are readily available. They're about $600 new from memory. http://www.thetoolshed.co.nz/products2/ ... s&pid=3478 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 whats that 2nd on worth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubblegoose Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 $600? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubblegoose Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 try to get a demo on one, some just dont like to weld and will put you off the idea pretty quickly. theres a nice looking clark unit in out place, looks good, costs a bit, welds like arse (think the voltage is too high) guy down the road had a ryobi one that cost about the same but welds soo much better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cute wee gem Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 generic chinese unitI'm a fan of this one - it's a Mig/Arc IGBT inverter and has a lot of adjustability. They're small bit pack a punch. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farmi ... 452289.htm And these ones are a decent budget welder + parts and accessories are readily available. They're about $600 new from memory. http://www.thetoolshed.co.nz/products2/ ... s&pid=3478 Aren't the 2 you posted just a renamed Mitech/Rilon welder? I had a Mitech tig, it blew up twice.. so they sent me a brand new one, which also blew up. I got it fixed then sold it for cheap with no warranty. Original cost was 1350 - then an extra 450 in blown boards and shipping costs. I now have an old NZIG Transtig My mate has a welder like in the first post (mig 160a) and it has done a shit load of work. Only problem has been the gas hose leaking at the torch end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteretep Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 i just got this one http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =324573949 seems ok, 30-170 amp italian brand, only thing im not sure about is the torch as it seems a bit wimpy but i'll see how it goes edit: I also looked at this welder as it looked pretty meke with all the gears and good power range, but then I found out it had a permanently live torch, wtf. I then looked up info on the net about it and it turns out some manufacturers make the wire permanently live as a money saving measure. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =323827230 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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