DutyFreeSaviour
Europe
Back For More heartbreak and disappointment.....
Posts: 2,944
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Oct 19, 2006 13:30:28 GMT
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Saw the TiG work Blownimp - outstanding ;D
One day!!!
Did have a go Oxy welding a loooong time back with my old mans rig. Not looking to go through the cr@p over here in Brussels to sort it though - not for 'hobby' ( read PASSION! ) work.
Will go gas/MiG and keep borrowing time on the TiG from my local friendly garage guy.........
Thanks fellas. Looking at MachineMart site - probably go new as safer for warrantee etc... - any other places to look?
John
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Back from the dead..... kind of
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phatphord
Part of things
Scorpilow
Posts: 674
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Oct 19, 2006 14:23:35 GMT
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Just to echo Slater,gas is also very important,I had no probs setting myself an account up with Air Products for their Integra Ferromaxx gas and its lovely.
I got my welder from machine mart cos my sister works there and i got a discount. Can't fault it so far.
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1994 Ford Scorpio Lowrider
um...and some bikes...
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Oct 19, 2006 17:57:26 GMT
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I agree that a professional mig is loads better, but it is still worth considering a decent home use mig if you don't have that much use for it. If you have a garage and plenty of space then get a bigger one and just leave it set up so its ready for use. If you are gonna be packing it away in a shed and it needs to be as small as possible as its only gonna get used once a year (MOT time ;D) then a hobby mig will serve the purpose.
I used to be able to get good quality welds with my old SIP 130 top mig , but you did have to try a lot harder than with a decent Mig.
I always ran it with 0.6mm wire as well and never had a problem. I used to find I got more problems with 0.8mm wire on smaller hobby migs as they would often struggle to feed smoothly and a full size mig I would never consider using 0.6mm on.
Anti spatter spray is worthwhile when working on dirty metal as well, nozzles and shrouds last loads longer.
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tux
Part of things
Fat Bloke
Posts: 417
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Oct 19, 2006 20:50:14 GMT
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.......Air Products for their Integra Ferromaxx gas and its lovely. Hmmm. Never heard of that before what is it? Similar to Coogar5 or Weldap8? And how does it compare on price? Sorry for all the questions! ;D |
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Oct 20, 2006 17:18:07 GMT
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Clarke 150 here bought on recommendation and I will heartily recomend it. It was about £200 a few years ago but I know you can get it for £160-£180, it's money well spent and you won't realistically need anything bigger. It takes disposable gas bottles for convenience and you can convert it to refillable bottles. It takes 0.6mm wire which I use for most stuff, 0.8 and 1.0, and takes the bigger sized reels which work out much cheaper. I've done a whole car with it and loads of other stuff up to 5mm thick.
Also get an auto dimming welding mask, it's a very good investment which will make all your welding a lot easier.
Don't bother with gasless mig, from all accounts it makes a messy weld.
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phatphord
Part of things
Scorpilow
Posts: 674
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Oct 20, 2006 17:26:56 GMT
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tux- ferromaxx is a new product and comes in the new integra cylinders. It's similar to Coogar. I find it works really well and gives good coverage. The integra cylinder has the reg as part of the cylinder, which air products certify and maintain. Works out £6 a month to rent and £34 a fill,but it is at 450bar so you get a decent amount of gas.
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1994 Ford Scorpio Lowrider
um...and some bikes...
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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Oct 24, 2006 19:10:15 GMT
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Thanks for the advice, I'm going to soak it al up, look at the listed sites and come up with a short list. Looks like the budget is £300 absoloute max, £250 preferred.
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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Oct 24, 2006 20:44:47 GMT
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So far it's between these two:
Sealey SuperMig 150-5
Clarke 150TE
Does anyone have any views/experience of these?
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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phatphord
Part of things
Scorpilow
Posts: 674
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Oct 24, 2006 21:10:07 GMT
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I have a 165te and love it..go the extra mile if you can
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1994 Ford Scorpio Lowrider
um...and some bikes...
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Oct 24, 2006 21:10:23 GMT
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Out of the two I would choose the sealey. I have used a sealey 150 before and it was a pretty good welder.
I had a quick look for pics for the two and although I am sure the clarke would be a pretty good welder, the sealey has a couple of advanatges. First it has an MB15 type euro torch, easy to get hold of spares and easy to change torches should you damage one or need a longer torch and two even though it will still only take a 5KG roll it looks and feels more like a professional welder and has a decent wire feed.
I havent used the clarke 150 but it looks very similar to all of the hobby clarke welders and I used to find the torch a bit uncomfortable in use.
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Oct 24, 2006 21:35:34 GMT
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150TE is the one I've got. I really like it and haven't had any need to go more powerful.
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I have a SIP Turbo Top MIG or something. I bought it because it was reduced from like £350 to £200 in a sale! Handles fatter wire no problem, I forget if its 150 or 170 amp model, takes big bottles only which can be a PITA is you only use it occasionally because the bottle rent has to be paid every month... I hear that getting spares for SIP stuff can be hit & miss but I've not needed any yet...
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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I liked the Sealy as it has the mountings for a proper gas bottle which from the pictures I've seen the Clarke doesn't appear to have.
However, this bottle rental lark sounds expensive.
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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Yeah I use mine in short bursts then it sits in the corner doing nothing for another year or 2. Looking at what others pay for bottle rent and refills in the long run it costs me much less using disposables and takes up less space. Use CO2 though as you get more gas in the bottles than with argon/mix.
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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How about pub gas bottles? What's the crack with those?
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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Oct 25, 2006 19:00:08 GMT
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A lot of people complain about using pure CO2 (pub gas) but I don't really have a problem with it. In general I have done most of welding using CO2/Argon and there have been times when I have gone through a full full size bottle and 15kg of wire in a day (I used to do a lot of welding at the time ;D).
But on cars it has normally been with CO2. You do get less penetration with CO2 (you can normally getaway with this by running the welder hotter than with a mix though), but other than that as long as the metal is clean I have never had a problem with it.
It costs me around £10 to exchange my bottle at home and now I am welding inside I don't use much (you need a higher flow rate when its windy otherwise you don't get a shield and you are left with a weak porous weld). I use my welder pretty much every week and my bottle lasts me around six month. There is no rental charge on that. I got my first bottle given so don't know how much they would charge you for your first one though.
At some point in the future I will probably start using CO2 argon at home but at the moment I really don't have the need.
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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Oct 25, 2006 20:03:26 GMT
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Right, after a bit of advise from someone who claims to be a service/repairer of welders and who has dealt with all the mainstream companys there is a revision to the final choice..
Clarke 160TE
Sealey Supermig 150-5
Both are 150amp welders and both are set up for use with refillable bottles so the spec is pretty much the same for both machines.
The Clarke is the one that's been recomended and also happens to be the cheapest at £235 as opposed to £249.
Does anyone have any experience of these two machines?
I spoke to a friend of mine who uses refillable pub bottles and he said he has to pay £70 a year rental. Where are you getting your £10 exchange bottles from PheonixC?
Thanks all for all your help with this, I have learnt a great deal in these last few days.
Cheers,
Smiler.
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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Oct 25, 2006 20:39:30 GMT
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When I googled the two choices the other night I found the Sealey for sale for £199+vat so it might be worth shopping around (that was including the regulator as well). I you want to go for a Clarke see if you can wait till there next VAT free day as that will save a fair bit. There was one last week, but not sure when the next one will be. Or have a look in machine mart and see if there are any ex demo`s for sale. I bought this for £400 including vat from my local one a few month ago. www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=010115220&r=2031&g=105 Copper wound transformer as well so I can work it pretty hard and it should last a fair while. With regards to the gas I just go to my local gas suppliers (Spoors @ Bishop Auckland). I don't know them, I don't have an account with them and there is nothing dodgy about it. I just phoned them up before I went down the first time and asked if they could exchange a CO2 bottle I use for welding and they said no problem. Since then I just go down and ask for an exchange for a CO2 bottle and doesnt matter who is working there at the time there is never a problem. Try phoning your local supplier asing them if they can supply a cylinder if they say they are only available for rental then ask if they can exchange one if you already have one. Maybe have a look in your local free ad mag and see if anyone has a cylinder for sale. But If you are gonna have to pay rental then get an argon mix one. |
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Last Edit: Oct 25, 2006 20:40:26 GMT by PhoenixC
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Oct 25, 2006 20:42:18 GMT
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Oct 25, 2006 20:57:51 GMT
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