MIG welding wire

If you are looking for a decent mig welder, which i was, i got a Sealy Mightymig 100, and got welding wire to suit it, standard sealy welding wire. Absolutely awful. I thought the welder was massively underpowered, but upon getting new welding wire, it was welding better than ever. Never get Sealy welding wire. Never. Instead of welding, it placed blobs of weld on the surface of the metal, instead of melting it. I'm no expert in welding, or equipment, but i now know that welding wire matters and Sealy stuff is not the right choice.

I use Halfords 0.8mm wire. Pretty good and their gas is o.k too. Especially with a discount card.

Sip or Halfords I use both good

I had a revelation recently when i got some lincoln supramig wire - was like i bought a new welder.

Previous stuff was sip.

Same thing with stick welding. Cheap machine mart rods are terrible. Branded rods from a pro supplier are totally different. Also matters how they are stored.
I tried welding upside down with discount rods and had a hell of a time with them.

useful info, I am currently looking at mig welders, has to be one that works off a 13 amp supply though.

someone on here recommended the r-tech mig 160 (now the 180) looks fab but weighs in around £450

I can't comment on the r-tech welder, but we have a plasma cutter of theirs, and is it superb - have also found their consumable backup very good too. They will talk to you too, which is always an improvement on some of their competitors!! Highly recommended.

Why a 13A supply? it should be relatively easy to get a 16A "caravan" type socket installed, or possibly a 32A one ???

Regarding storage of MMA rods - keep them in the house, somewhere warm, and get yourself a quiver - a heated box that makes damn sure they are dry before you weld with them - water, more specifically Hydrogen is your enemy welding mild steel with "normal" rods.

Most domestic welders will do 13 amp supplies on land rover friendly currents.

Only 4mm plus needs the 16amp ime.

I have a modified machine mart 160 turbo job and i use it on 13 amp set ups most of the time , only when im doing thick stuff do i bother to get my 16 amp extension out and bring the feed from the back of the garage.

I only plan to do bits as needed on the landy's - and some practice - so I can't see the point of paying someone to install an additional supply, although the electric meter, fuse box etc are all in the garage so I assume a sparky would be able to add one to the cooker circuit or add an extra circuit easily and it might not take that long so could be worth checking out.

Had looked at some of the machine mart ones, lot cheaper than the r tech and they have vat free shopping at the moment, for the amount of stuff I will probably do it might be worth starting with one of theirs and seeing how it goes.

honolulujoe said:

I only plan to do bits as needed on the landy's - and some practice - so I can't see the point of paying someone to install an additional supply, although the electric meter, fuse box etc are all in the garage so I assume a sparky would be able to add one to the cooker circuit or add an extra circuit easily and it might not take that long so could be worth checking out.

Had looked at some of the machine mart ones, lot cheaper than the r tech and they have vat free shopping at the moment, for the amount of stuff I will probably do it might be worth starting with one of theirs and seeing how it goes.

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Machine mart clarke later stuff is crap

thx for the heads up, guess I will give them a miss, no point buying crap just because its cheaper, although my usage will be low, I want something that works and will last

honolulujoe said:

thx for the heads up, guess i will give them a miss, no point buying crap just because its cheaper, although my usage will be low, i want something that works and will last

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sealey stuff on ebay

I find sealey to be hit and miss through their range , ive run a few beads on friends one and some are real easy to set up the next has wide variation on the current/feed controls .... Ie one steps too slow the next is too fast very hard to control ...

you really wont go wrong with the r tech and it will hold its value.

What do the baby portamigs come in at these days ?

portamigs seem to be a bit more than the r-tech, looks like the r-tech is the one to get I think, whilst the 180 does most things on 13 amps certainly anything I will be doing bodywork wise, I could get a higher current line installed later if needed and use the r-tech to its full capacity.

top drive said:

I find sealey to be hit and miss through their range , ive run a few beads on friends one and some are real easy to set up the next has wide variation on the current/feed controls .... Ie one steps too slow the next is too fast very hard to control ...

you really wont go wrong with the r tech and it will hold its value.

What do the baby portamigs come in at these days ?

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R tech are a maybe, wonder how they compare to esab quality and parts

honolulujoe said:

useful info, I am currently looking at mig welders, has to be one that works off a 13 amp supply though.

someone on here recommended the r-tech mig 160 (now the 180) looks fab but weighs in around £450

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If your cooker switch is on an outside wall, pop the cover off and drill a hole through to the outside. Its easy to spur off the switch and fix a 32amp socket on the outside wall. 32 amp extention leads are a bit pricey though.

Bobsticle said:

If your cooker switch is on an outside wall, pop the cover off and drill a hole through to the outside. Its easy to spur off the switch and fix a 32amp socket on the outside wall. 32 amp extention leads are a bit pricey though.

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And the loop impedance will be ok and rcd protection

I'm not going near any 32 amp mains wiring, I would probably end up black and crispy

sadly the cooker isn't on an outside wall though and it isn't that near to the garage, the garage and drive would be where I would do any welding so it would make sense to have someone put a socket there if I ever did it.

I use a Sealy supermig 130 and it dose everything that i need to repair the disco it will even do chassis work if cranked right up

I use that too!