Welding woes

I have a SIP Migmate. I think its a 120. It was given to me so i cant complain too much. It welds fine for a few minuets, but then starts spitting and stacking the welds up with no penetration. I think its had it. Can anyone recommend a mig thats good but not going to break the bank, as money is very tight. Cheers

Get on eBay and look for something half decent

If it's spitting, farting and building up, check your feed speed and your current settings!

Oldseadog said:

If it's spitting, farting and building up, check your feed speed and your current settings!

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+1
Lower the feed speed increase power, also take the wire line off machine blast some air down it or get a new inner liner, it may be snagging the wire then it's backing up. Make sure the wire rollers and little guide nozzle are free from wire filings and that the guide nozzle isn't split. A good clean up usually can save most welders.

for the clueless who don't want to read the mig welding forum atm.. what's a decent budget make to keep an eye out for on ebay?

(i have super man flu )

the little GYS welders seem popular and can be had for about £200 second hand

Dr_evil said:

the little GYS welders seem popular and can be had for about £200 second hand

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thought that was for freelander welding

gaylanders don't rust




















They burn

Is this one any cop?

I coulda sold you my Sealey 190 if you'd been a month earlier


Sealey ones aren't too bad

Dr_evil said:

I coulda sold you my Sealey 190 if you'd been a month earlier


Sealey ones aren't too bad

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D'oh! I'm seeing sealey 150A's going for about £200. Is that going to have enough grunt as well? Mine seems like a bit of a toy one, and I'm ready to move on to the big boys toys...

Well I sold mine for £285 posted with a more or less full roll of wire

Hmm ok cool. I'll look into this a bit further, but i think i might go with a sealey mightymig 150. Thanks for the info.

Can you get a second opinion on the welder ( get some else to try a weld)
SIP is not a **** make

sirwingalot said:

I have a SIP Migmate. I think its a 120. It was given to me so i cant complain too much. It welds fine for a few minuets, but then starts spitting and stacking the welds up with no penetration. I think its had it. Can anyone recommend a mig thats good but not going to break the bank, as money is very tight. Cheers

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Those types need a bit of modding to get a stable wire feed. If you've got abit of wiring knowledge you can wire up a seperate transformer to split the main power and the power fed seperately. Its a pretty simple cheap mod and works a treat. I recoomend bridging the two rollers and changing the wire sleeve from plastic to metal also. You'll notice a massive difference. Its been well covered on several welding forums so theres plenty of info to help you it yourself on the cheap.

Got a clarke 135 TE a month a go. I'm not expert on welding but I like it

Well, thanks one and all, but a purchase has been made......Thanks to Dr Evil, i am now the proud owner of a Sealey 190A MIG. So happy days. When I've got the new one, I'll have a play, then if someone wants to make an offer for the SIP to play with/fix, be my guest. As for me, I'm happy - NEW TOY!

sirwingalot said:

I have a SIP Migmate. I think its a 120. It was given to me so i cant complain too much. It welds fine for a few minuets, but then starts spitting and stacking the welds up with no penetration. I think its had it. Can anyone recommend a mig thats good but not going to break the bank, as money is very tight. Cheers

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thats its low duty cycle kicking in, if you can be bothered fit a fan to it which does work

if you are using .8 wire, use a 1.0 tip, so on a long weld it does not pinch wire as it gets hot,

pressbrake said:

thats its low duty cycle kicking in, if you can be bothered fit a fan to it which does work

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Yes, I'd second that. The ones that don't have their own on-board fans don't last for more than a few minutes before the cut out switches them down, so if you have a lot to do you spend more time waiting for the machine to cool down than you do welding. We had one where we used to take the casing off and point a household fan at it which kept us at work for a little longer before having to take a break. But next time I buy one I'll be sure of getting something with an adequate cooling system.