Which welder

johnnyoxford · Jan 26, 2010

Hi all, quite new on here, bought a defender 90 200tdi last week, so far so good.

I am going to get myself a welder for doing repairs, and refurb work on it. I did a little bit of arc welding 20 odd years ago, never really did any mig welding but that seems to be the norm these days.

Questions:

1 - Will a mig welder be up to doing any chassis repairs if I get into that in years to come?

2 - There seem to be gasless MIG welders these days, this sounds appealing on the face of it, are they as good as with gas?

My budget will be about £150, can anyone recomend a semi reasonable model?

Many thanks

Johnny.

90truckcab · Jan 26, 2010

hi, i prefer gas mig to gassless as the welds are cleaner being sheilded with gas , the wires cheaper than the fluxed gassless wire , ( half the price)

you can weld 2 - 22 mm with a mig , so ideal fer chassis,

clarke welder fer £150 will do yer proud ( machine mart )

get an adapter fer pub style bottles (£5) then yer gas will be even cheaper

landowner · Jan 26, 2010

I've done some loverly welds with me gasless mig

I've also done some crap ones as well

Gas is in the wire so shields right where you need it, some say they are useless but I find it OK for what I need, saves remembering to turn the gas on as well

90truckcab · Jan 26, 2010

landowner said:
I've done some loverly welds with me gasless mig I've also done some crap ones as well
Gas is in the wire so shields right where you need it, some say they are useless but I find it OK for what I need, saves remembering to turn the gas on as well

i had a sip gasless to start with and i got on well with it, but the rollers went so i upgraded to a gas , the welds i found wer cleaner, all depends on the steel, the gas is expensive tho, so evens out the cost of the flux wire

fanatic · Jan 26, 2010

Clarke or sealey -only buy an established brand as screwfix and similar chinese offerings are wores than useless

robint · Jan 26, 2010

i got a sip 151 brilliant thing that was my ebay bargain last year ............. full reel of wire , full bottle of co2 mask , gloves, regulator all for £80 wot a bargain keep your eyes open they do crop up from time to time

Sean · Jan 26, 2010

sealey n sip

hmmm

fanatic · Jan 26, 2010

So we suggesting clarke hobby mig's as best value for occasional repairs then Sean?

Being fair other than the lance length, the 151te I had did me proud.

jai_landrover · Jan 26, 2010

Gassless is great for in the middle of the field repairs such as comp safaris weekends where its likley to be windy no gas to worry about lugging about and no worries in blowy conditions

jai_landrover · Jan 27, 2010

I wouldn't buy a gassless one tho

Sean · Jan 27, 2010

fanatic said:
So we suggesting clarke hobby mig's as best value for occasional repairs then Sean?

Being fair other than the lance length, the 151te I had did me proud.

yer i recon cant go far wrong with clarke for the price they are, sips all seem to suffer feed issues after not so much use and sealeys appear to be generally badly made but ok ish for general use

peeps on that welding forum ave similar views

Tig9619 · Jan 27, 2010

have had an sip 195 for 6 years which has had a very hard life indeed. still is perfect to the day, welds perfectly. Done everything from thin bodywork to roll cages and winch bumpers. Nice long lead with a small torch, perfect for tight spots!
cant vouch for some of the smaller cheaper ones though i must admit although i have used a sealey 150 alot which seems to be very good. its got the buttons though not dials which annoys me as sometimes you just cant get it perfect!
Did have a gasless once which i learnt to weld with when i was about 10, still worked until recently but never really liked using it. Gas all the way!
Dont rule out an arc welder either. have fixed a few chassis before now with an old oxford oil cooled 150 arc. very good it was too, takes a lot of practice though, mig is much easier to use.

Sean · Jan 27, 2010

contradiction appears to be obligatory on here these days - methinks it's time i retired from LZ

SIP Migmate problems! - MIG Welding Forum

andrewblueboy · Jan 27, 2010

hi all

i use the clarke 150 which can be converted to gas or gasless so it gives me the option to choice when ever. i tend use it on gas mainly with pub bottle and it takes a descent size wire roll aswell not the small ones which run out after a few days. also the torch aint peramenly live only when i pull the trigger in and makes contact does it become live. i still miss me old trusty oxy act brill for heating and bending metal lol,still might consider a portable pack for that . but will always have a mig to hand

big dave2 · Jan 27, 2010

ive had a clarke 105e for 26 years barring i problem 10 years ago its been no bother welds chassis,body work even heavy steel [mind you it takes a few passes on heavy steel].i only had 1 problem it was the liner the text said it was a steel liner b ut it wouldnt feed,the lads from machine diagnosed right first time its the liner mate ,i took it to bits liner shredded,fitted a new steel liner its been champion ever since.ive seen a couple of posts @ duty cycle,if uyou use it flat out it does get hot and switches of,but its better than burning out,i put the windy pipe in it to keep it cool when doing heavy work but normally no bother doing bodywork or chassis welding..i have used CO2 pub bottles with good results ,for the best result use boc argoshield its superb but expensive .you pays yer money you takes your chance.....dave

Landy DL · Jan 27, 2010

sip is a good budget welder but if you want to go a bit better Murex/Esab is the job , if your going to do any amount of welding you'd need to be spending close to 1k

Landy DL · Jan 27, 2010

heres an ideal welder for light body work to heavy chassis welding

buy good buy once

Welding Equipment - Mig Welders - MUREX-TRADESMIG-201-PACKAGE

Tig9619 · Jan 27, 2010

Sean said:
contradiction appears to be obligatory on here these days - methinks it's time i retired from LZ

SIP Migmate problems! - MIG Welding Forum

mine is a topmig perhaps they used different parts to the smaller migmate ones.

I'm sure it will die one day but for now its still good.

fanatic · Jan 27, 2010

Landy DL said:
sip is a good budget welder but if you want to go a bit better Murex/Esab is the job , if your going to do any amount of welding you'd need to be spending close to 1k

Bollocks, if you going to use it every day for the next 10 years maybe an ESAB.

Bit like comparing a mondeo to a mercedes -mondeo will do the same and move you from a to b, but doesn't have all the goodies.

For me a Digital display is a waste of time, plus the last clarke I had did 10 years and my mate has it.
Bought another bigger one-been happy with some extensive use.

Co2 is fine for underseal/seam sealer paint etc

Landy DL · Jan 27, 2010

fanatic said:
Bollocks, if you going to use it every day for the next 10 years maybe an ESAB.

Bit like comparing a mondeo to a mercedes -mondeo will do the same and move you from a to b, but doesn't have all the goodies.

For me a Digital display is a waste of time, plus the last clarke I had did 10 years and my mate has it.
Bought another bigger one-been happy with some extensive use.

Co2 is fine for underseal/seam sealer paint etc

my opinion isn't bollocks

, i use murex/esab/sip/olerkin every day and the murex or esab is the best and by the way some of the murex i use is 15 years old no Digital display, any welder will do ten years if hardly used

, i'd like to see the how strong a weld from a £150 welder is and the quality of it there is alot of bird **** machines out there

Which welder

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