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Mig Welders - What Do Folks Recommend?


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#31 tiger99

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Posted 13 January 2017 - 04:27 PM

Just to add to the discussion about inverters to make you all aware of one limitation. If you ever need to run it from a generator, or on a long extension lead, you may have lots of trouble, This is common to ALL inverters, not just for welding, and does not reflect badly on any one manufacturer. The model under discussion is better than most, and will work, with a large generator, I think they say 8KVA minimum (but check their web site) which has a proper automatic voltage regulator. You would not get away with a 3.5KVA generator, which would seemingly cope with anything that could run from a 13A plug, and if you tried, you would probably blow up the welder. I just don't wang anyone to be disappointed.

 

Having said that, inverters have very many advantages, and since my MIG is currently broken, the next one is going to be the inverter type. The control that you get makes a lot of difference to the ease of use, and will certainly not have a negative impact on weld quality. I am seriously thinking about a synergic pulse model, which can be expected to become somewhat cheaper than they currently are, as most of the added electronics costs peanuts compared to the inverter and wire feed. I have a generator, but sadly it will not do. It will however run a compressor or several large power tools adequately.

 

I had previously evaluated a Clarke 151TE and found it satisfactory, but I did not need it immediately and am glad that I waited, as the long expected technological leaps happened in the meantime. Actually synergic pulse dates back some time, and as far as I can tell originated at The Welding Institute in the UK, although engineers had been idly speculating about the possibility for as long as I can remember. The breakthrough is that it finally came to affordable machines. almost simultaneously with arc stabilisation, which brought closed loop control to the masses.



#32 Daz1968

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Posted 13 January 2017 - 05:11 PM

The parweld invertor welders are pretty good and have a good warranty, if my welder broke it's what I would change to, think they are around £500,
However they still aren't as reliable and easy to repair as a transformer set.

#33 nickadees

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Posted 15 January 2017 - 12:40 AM

I have a par weld acdc tig which is a brilliant bit of kit, i love it




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