welder

150amp mig with gas.

as above. if your gonna buy a mig welder spend a bit more and get a decent set. the clark and sealy stuff is ok for basic things but if you want or might want to weld something more than thin sheet get yourself an decent welding set. i bought an ESAB Origomig C251 Compact MIG Welder and it is superb !
if you are looking for something smaller then look at ESAB Origomig C151 Compact MIG Welder this should be more than capable for most auto applications. heres the link for energas:
Engineering & Welding Supplies
for the price of the cheaper stuff it makes sence to pay a little more and get quality and the price difference between the sealy rubbish and something of quality isnt very much.

Super. Will start saving and smilling sweetly at my other half.

I'd recommend getting a welder which takes the 5kg reels and the big bottles - the tiny little 1 litre bottles are are a waste of time and money in my opinion. The rental rates on BOC bottles are quite high, but shop around locally and you might find some good deals from other suppliers - like no rental fee. If you can find a supplier then using pub gas works out very cheap. You'll get a slightly better weld with argon/CO2 mix though. Note that if you want to use propper gas bottles BOC type bottles and pub gas bottles need a different regulator (the regulators suppled with most small mig welders only fit the teeny tiny 1L bottles). I'd go for a welder that can do at least 150A. I'd recommend getting some lessons in using it as you'll learn much faster.

£90 for 3 years rental and £20 a refill for "garage gas" local to me.

:hysterically_laughi

The Mad Hat Man said:

£90 for 3 years rental and £20 a refill for "garage gas" local to me.

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3 years! you'll never finish it in that time :confused2:

bastid

The Mad Hat Man said:

bastid

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who me ?:scratching_chin:

:hysterically_laughi :hysterically_laughi

The Mad Hat Man said:

£90 for 3 years rental and £20 a refill for "garage gas" local to me.

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thats cheap ! whats the 'garage gas' ?
im paying £86 a year from energas for a full size bottle of mig20 and 20 quid a refill.

erm.. its a mix of Argon... 95% with just 3% CO2 & 2% Oxygen.

Last time I got some CO2 pub gas it was £7.50 for a refill with no rental. There's a motor factor local to me who will do Argon/CO2 bottles with no rental with about £25 a refill I think.

i found pub gas was crap ! the weld isnt as smooth as with proper gas mixes.
reckon you got a good deal on that there garage gas !

WAYNE3427 said:

Hi Folks, after advice, AGAIN!!! Got "K" plated 200tdi disco. Proper old farm truck. Needs loads of work. I'm hoping to do more and more my self. Regarding welding: What would be the best type of welder to use? MIG with or without gas? ARC or blutac???? Don't want to waste money getting wrong gear. Cheers :whoosh:

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Do yourself a favor and sign up here for advice & send a pm to "weldequip" for the best prices and service available, also helps if you state how much your willing to spend on a welder..

PS. Use argonshield type gas, not co2 and buy the best welder you can afford plus an automatic shield...

pub gas is the best gas to use while learning, it's cheap and easy to get - to get properly setup with with argosheild or equiv is going to add at least another 120 quid to your initial costs

if you can weld with pub gas welding with the proper gas will be a doddle

don't forget to get a twin guage regulator as gas flow rate is also important to get right

vivnap said:

i found pub gas was crap ! the weld isnt as smooth as with proper gas mixes.
reckon you got a good deal on that there garage gas !

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sounds like his bottles are from gas direct, there a bit cheeper but they dont have a local dept .
so i decided to stick with gas & welding supplies lol

i was looking at them esab welders the other day, whats yours like to use ??

Sean said:

pub gas is the best gas to use while learning, it's cheap and easy to get - to get properly setup with with argosheild or equiv is going to add at least another 120 quid to your initial costs

if you can weld with pub gas welding with the proper gas will be a doddle

don't forget to get a twin guage regulator as gas flow rate is also important to get right

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Its possible to get rent free bottles for co2/mix...

Sean said:

don't forget to get a twin guage regulator as gas flow rate is also important to get right

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The gas flow meters with a floaty ball thing seem to be much more accurate than the normal needle guage type - that's what I use on my Tig not to waste that precious argon gas. I set the gas flow on my mig welder with it's pub gas by listening to the sound of the gas coming out of the nozzle - not very scientific I know!

mark 4x4 said:

i was looking at them esab welders the other day, whats yours like to use ??

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I have a 20+ year old ESAB Compact 160 that's never given me any trouble, but to today I'd buy a "Portamig" British built to order quality, no question where my next welder will becoming from....

mark 4x4 said:

sounds like his bottles are from gas direct, there a bit cheeper but they dont have a local dept .
so i decided to stick with gas & welding supplies lol

i was looking at them esab welders the other day, whats yours like to use ??

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like i said i bought an ESAB Origomig C251 Compact MIG Welder, it cost me about £1200 + the 86 quid for the bottle rental, i have just had the volt/amp meter fitted which has added £200 to it. i have just been welding a mates workshop wood burner which is 5m/m plate steel and it was welding perfect at just under half power !

the machine is 96KG excluding the wire reel and bottle so its heavy but the weld is as good as the three phase machines ive used, but that is the reason why i went for the maximum single phase machine i could get. i think its better to have a machine thats more than you need as to have one thats not powerfull enough.

it is easy to use and is a clean looking machine and engweld the place i bought it from are always helpfull, they even gave me a full size roll of 1m/m wire for free when i collected it after having the volt/amp meter fitted.
looking at sealy and some of the other ****e that is out there i was supprised this machine was only about 3 to 4 hundred quid more and unlike sealy your getting quality.
if you need any more help or info im happy to help out if i can.